A-Infos (en) Avustralia: ANCOM: Why the working class (ca, de, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Humanity has long fought against oppression, but the job never seems 
done. ---- Take the end of British rule over India. Through immense 
struggle, colonised peoples forced the racist British state out. 
Nonetheless, exploitation persists on the subcontinent. The governments 
of Pakistan and India threaten each other with nuclear sabre-rattling, 
while their populations work long hours in poor conditions, often for 
the profit of British companies. ---- Feminists in the 20th century made 
huge strides for women. Despite this, women still face the threat of 
domestic violence, are paid less than men, and continue to do most of 
the housework. While entering the workforce was liberating for some 
women in the 20th century, in the 21st it has come to mean both partners 
of a couple have to work to get by. It's more difficult than ever to 
survive on a single income. While women have more legal means to leave 
abusive partners, financial dependence often makes it impossible in 
practice.

Climate activists have prevented some amount of CO2 emission by tying 
themselves to port and mine infrastructure. But only ever for a few 
hours' worth, after which the operation starts right back up and the 
climate activist is left staring down a long court process or prison 
sentence.

If we could build a movement that unites all of these issues, we would 
have a real chance at solving them permanently. We could make genuine, 
deep change in how our society operates.

Luckily, there is a common thread.

All of these struggles are lived and fought by the working class. Indian 
and Pakistani workers are workers. Women are workers. We are all 
directly affected by climate change. The working class is as diverse as 
humanity itself - this is one of our great strengths.

By organising at work, we bring together the entire working class. This 
form of organising builds a bridge that brings all the working class on 
side into struggle. There is no pathway from individuals locking onto 
bulldozers to a million people storming a coal mine. But there is a path 
that starts at winning no unpaid overtime at work, and ends at the whole 
country going on strike to stop CO2 emissions.

Small wins in the workplace build our colleagues' appetite for mass 
action. When we win at work, we learn first-hand that collective action 
works. People who were sceptical the first time round become more 
willing to join in. Then, we set our sights higher, and win more, and 
again, and more. Each step is achievable, each win adding to the 
snowball until it becomes an avalanche.

Most of our coworkers are people who would never consider activism. 
However, collective action teaches solidarity. A worker who engages in 
union struggle to improve their own life will learn the values to fight 
for their coworkers too. When those coworkers are trans, migrant, or 
otherwise marginalised, that means fighting transphobia, racism, and 
discrimination. Union action teaches solidarity with the whole working 
class, which means fighting oppression of all forms.

This is what makes workplace organising so powerful: if our organising 
never leaves our social circles or cliques, we will never build a 
movement that can change the world. By organising at work, we have the 
potential to bring the entire working class together. We see people at 
work we'd never see at a climate activism meeting or a trans rights 
rally. The picket line can bring these people into the fight for a 
better world. Workplace organising can build solidarity that stretches 
between all of us, touching every community and subculture.

The issues facing the working class today - racism, declining wages, 
queerphobia, sexism, poverty, climate change - are not separate. All of 
them are integrated into capitalism's structure. That's why workers in 
India and Pakistan continue to be exploited by British companies, why 
genuine gender equality seems forever out of reach, and why governments 
continue to do nothing in the face of climate change. There is money to 
be made.

If we stick to separated movements, fighting this and that oppression, 
the root issue will remain. Capitalism is dependent on our 
marginalisations. We have to deal with capitalism as well as racism, 
sexism, and all the rest.

We cannot respond to divide-and-conquer techniques with divided and 
separate movements. We need a movement that fights all injustice, 
everywhere. However they try to divide us, wherever we fight. To win, 
that movement must be by and for all of us - the working class.

https://ancomfed.org/2025/07/why-the-working-class/
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