A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA - Invitation to the Courant Alternatif Journal Committee Meeting, November 22nd and 23rd, 2025, in Brest (ca, de, fr, it, pt, tr)[machine translation]

Courant Alternatif is the anarchist communist monthly published by the 
Libertarian Communist Organization (OCL). ---- The OCL Finistère will 
organize the Journal Committee meeting on the weekend of November 22nd 
and 23rd to prepare the January 2026 issue of Courant Alternatif. This 
meeting will begin on Saturday, November 22nd (3 pm) with a debate on 
"Trade Unions and Unionism." ---- Journal Committee Program ---- 
Saturday, November 22nd ---- 3-5 pm: debate on "Trade Unions and 
Unionism" (See the introductory text on the page below); ---- 5 pm: 
short break; ---- 5:30-7 pm: review of issue 354, November 2025: we will 
briefly discuss all the articles and then provide written feedback to 
the OCL comrades;

7 pm: drinks/dinner;
8-10 pm: Preparation for Board Meeting #356 in January 2026.
Preparing the journal doesn't mean committing to writing an article. A 
journal issue is organized by a large group of people beyond those 
present at the Journal Committee meetings. We will discuss possible 
articles (topics/themes), find potential writers within the OCL network 
on such topics, article proposals from other members, etc. Any 
willingness to submit an article is welcome.

Sunday, November 23
9:30 am-12 pm: Preparation for Board Meeting #356 in January 2026 and/or 
internal OCL matters;

12:30 pm-1:30 pm: Drinks/lunch.

Practical Information

Location: Brest. The exact location in Brest will be decided based on 
the number of participants, so please let us know as soon as possible. 
Carpooling is possible along the Nantes-Vannes-Lorient-Brest route.

Depending on the chosen location, we will provide practical information 
on how to get there afterward.

You can come just for the discussion;

If you'd like to share Saturday evening's meal or Sunday lunch with us, 
please let us know and budget EUR7.50 per meal... unless you're really 
broke;

If you'd like accommodation, please let us know and bring a sleeping 
bag. Please notify us in advance (before November 17th for logistical 
reasons) by emailing OCL Finistère:

Saturday Debate (3-5 pm):

Trade Unions and Unionism
Within anarchist/council communist/autonomous movements, there is a 
radical critique of trade unions as agents of integration of the 
proletariat into capitalism, going so far as to consider union activists 
as part of the "management class of capitalism" (see, among others, A. 
Bihr, "Between Bourgeoisie and Proletariat, Capitalist Management," 
1989, and Courant Alternatif no. 354, November 2025).

Indeed, it can be observed that union leadership acts as a buffer 
between capital and the proletariat, using popular anger to appear as 
the privileged interlocutors for "negotiation." Let's remember, for 
example, the last pension reform movement, where the only real demand 
from the inter-union group was to be invited by the political 
authorities to "discuss" the reform. We propose staggered days of action 
to create leverage... in order to be included in such negotiations. 
Similarly, when strikes break out locally, local union leadership most 
often positions itself as the "interlocutor" and decides (often behind 
the strikers' backs) to end the strike for a pittance.

Conversely, it is companies where unions exist that suffer less from 
attacks by management. The rank-and-file members of these unions try to 
work for the common good, sparing no effort or time to help their 
colleagues. Local unions serve as a collective resistance force within a 
company or government agency. They bring together those who refuse to be 
exploited any longer, allowing militant workers to avoid isolation and 
providing a collective space to gather and organize resistance. 
Furthermore, unions protect militant individuals (through union 
mandates), can create a more effective center of protest than 
individuals, are the only ones in the public sector authorized to file a 
strike notice, and can initiate collective action through union 
information meetings. In addition, they have technical resources (strike 
funds, equipment such as megaphones, leaflet printing, media 
connections, etc.).

In short, unions aren't all bad. However, union activism can be 
distorted, even for rank-and-file members. In summary, we give some 
problems associated with trade unionism:
1/ The discharges remove trade unionists from the exploitation, cutting 
off the discharged union members from the reality of their colleagues;
2/ The protocols of "social dialogue" (regulations and meetings with 
managers) take up a lot of time and energy (files to read, giving 
opinions, etc.) and mean that some unions see their "militant" activists 
absorbed by this process, leaving them without the resources to do 
grassroots work (this is the purpose of these meetings: to overwhelm 
union activists);

3/ By being elected and participating in these meetings, you are no 
longer just an ordinary employee. You interact with managers. These 
managers consciously try to create relationships of complicity (calling 
elected representatives by their first names, chatting before or after 
meetings, etc.). The risk is then becoming a minor figure of influence, 
but above all, believing you "have the ear of management," believing you 
"know the issues better" than other employees...;

4/ Union activity today is essentially about supporting individual 
situations, transforming militant unions into service unions in the eyes 
of their colleagues.

As a result, when collective anger emerges, elected union 
representatives often position themselves as the "natural" leaders of 
the social movement. They can sidestep the demands of their colleagues 
under the pretext of relying on their knowledge of the issues, their 
familiarity with management, and their ability to "negotiate" on behalf 
of their colleagues, thus directing the movement rather than letting it 
self-manage... and thereby becoming union "bureaucrats."

However, some unions are trying to counter these distortions: grassroots 
unionism (without hierarchy within the union), rotation of mandates, 
minimal time off work, etc. Is this enough?

Our discussion will therefore focus on the advantages, risks, and 
difficulties of union activism for revolutionaries.

http://oclibertaire.lautre.net/spip.php?article4544
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