A-Infos (en) France, OCL CA: Invitation to the Alternative Current Journal Commission, 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 hold 
the Journal Preparation Committee meeting for the January 2026 issue of 
Courant Alternatif on the weekend of November 22nd and 23rd.This 
committee meeting will begin on Saturday, November 22nd (3 pm) with a 
debate on "Trade Unions and Unionism." ---- Commission Programme Journal 
---- Saturday, November 22 ---- 3-5pm: debate "Trade union and trade 
unionism" (See the introductory text on the page below); 5pm: short 
break; 5:30-7:00 PM: Review of issue 354 of November 2025: we will 
quickly discuss all the articles to then provide written feedback to our 
colleagues at the OCL;
7pm: drinks/meal;
8pm-10pm: preparation for Board meeting no. 356 of January 2026.
Preparing the journal doesn't mean you're not committed to writing an 
article. An issue of the journal is organized far beyond the comrades 
present at the Journal Committee meetings. We'll discuss possible 
articles (topics/themes), find potential writers within the OCL network 
on such subjects, article proposals from other members, and so on. But 
any willingness to submit an article will be welcome.

Sunday, November 23,
9:30 a.m.-12:00 p.m.: Preparation for Board meeting no. 356 of January 
2026 and/or internal questions at the OCL;
12:30 p.m.-1:30 p.m.: drinks/meal.

Practical organization

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, practical information on how to get 
there will be provided.

Either you come solely for the debate;
If you share Saturday evening's meal, and/or Sunday lunch, with us, we
plan ahead and budget EUR7.50 per meal... unless you're broke;
If you require accommodation, please let us know and bring a sleeping bag.
Please notify us in advance (before 17/11 for logistical reasons) by 
email to OCL Finistère:

Saturday debate (3pm-5pm):

Trade union and trade unionism
Within anarchist/council communist/autonomous currents there exists a 
radical critique of trade union organizations as agents of integration 
of the proletariat into capitalism, going so far as to consider that 
trade union activists are part of the "management class of capitalism" 
(see among others A. Bihr "  Between bourgeoisie and proletariat, 
capitalist management  ", 1989 and Courant Alternatif n° 354 of November 
2025).

It is indeed clear that union leadership acts as a buffer between 
capital and the proletariat, using popular anger to present itself as 
the preferred interlocutors for "negotiation." Recall, 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 proposed days of staggered, impromptu actions 
to create leverage... in order to be included in such negotiations. 
Similarly, when strikes break out at the local level, local union 
leadership most often positions itself as the "interlocutors" and 
decides (often behind the strikers' backs) to end the strike for a pittance.

Conversely, companies with unions are less affected by management 
attacks. The rank-and-file members of these unions strive for the common 
good, giving generously of their time and effort to help their 
colleagues. These grassroots unions serve as a collective force of 
resistance within a company or government agency, bringing together 
those who refuse to be exploited. They allow militant workers to avoid 
isolation, 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 entity 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 at 
their disposal (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. Here's a summary of some 
problems associated with unionism:
1/ Released union duties remove union members from the workplace, 
cutting them off from the realities of their colleagues;
2/ The protocols of "social dialogue" (official bodies and meetings with 
management) take up a lot of time and energy (reading files, giving 
opinions, etc.), leading some unions to see their "militant" members 
absorbed by these processes, leaving them without the resources to do 
grassroots work (that's the purpose of these bodies: to overwhelm union 
activists);
3/ By being elected and participating in these bodies, you're no longer 
just an ordinary employee. You're rubbing shoulders with management. 
These individuals consciously try to create relationships of complicity 
(calling elected representatives by their first names, chatting before 
or after meetings, etc.). The risk then is becoming a minor figure of 
influence, but above all, believing they "have the ear of management," 
believing they "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 colleagues.

From all this, it follows that when collective anger emerges, 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 leading the movement rather than letting it 
self-manage... and thereby becoming a union "bureaucrat."

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

Our discussion will therefore focus on the interests, risks and 
difficulties of engaging in trade union activism for revolutionaries .

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