89 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
89 lines
4.9 KiB
Plaintext
Libertarian Labor Review #15
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Summer 1993, page 12
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BRITAIN'S DIRECT ACTION MOVEMENT
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Editorial Note: The following article appeared in Number 4 of
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K.S.L., the bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library. The Kate
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Sharpley Library publishes several interesting pamphlets on
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syndicalism in Britain and other countries. Write them at:
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KSL, BM Hurricane, London W.C.1 3XX, United Kingdom
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The DAM (British section of the International Workers
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Association) was founded in 1979. The founders of the DAM, which
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included the Manchester Syndicalist Workers Federation, rump of
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what had been since the 40s a national organization, recognized the
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need for better organization and for anarchists to address working
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class issues in a more coherent way than the existing Anarchist
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Federation (last of many such attempts) which was grounded in
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disorganization and with too many interested only in pacifism and
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the punk scene. In a way, the DAM could be said to have fulfilled
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part of its original aims. The DAM's early years were spent in
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finding its feet and consolidating the organization as well as
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intervening in industrial disputes wherever possible.
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The big break for the DAM came with the miners' strike [in
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1984]. This had a twofold effect. Firstly it shook a lot of the
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anarchist movement out of its life-stylist torpor and into
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activity. More importantly for the DAM it showed the relevance of
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syndicalist ideas for the British working class. The sterling work
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done by DAM members and other anarchists won them the respect of
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many of the most militant miners.
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The middle to late eighties saw a number of other disputes
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which the DAM supported, including Kent Messenger, Silent Night
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Traders, Meathouse and the printers' dispute at Wapping. Particular
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mention must be made of the Ardbride workers. DAM members mounted
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a consumer boycott of Laura Ashley, Ardbride's chief customer,
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which was later mounted internationally through the IWA. This
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forced Laura Ashley to threaten Ardbride and force them to make
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concessions. Unfortunately, the union (for recognition of which the
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workers had been fighting) called off the strike at a critical
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moment and the strikers failed to get their jobs back.
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Experience of these disputes led the DAM to develop a new
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industrial strategy. This broke decisively with the previous
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syndicalist tactic of working within the [TUC] unions. The unions
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were seen by the DAM as beyond reform and to have failed the
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working class. New strategies are needed, based on direct action,
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workplace assemblies, and strike committees. The first step is to
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form 'industrial networks' of militants in the service industry
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whose long-term aim is to form an anarcho-syndicalist union. (The
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change of direction was not unanimous and a number of people left
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the DAM, some of whom went on to set up the short-lived Anarchist
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Workers Group.)
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The DAM tried to implement this strategy over the last few
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years, with mixed success. Workplace groups, which would be the
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basic building block of any union, have yet to be established. Nor
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is the DAM able to develop the ideas much further than at present.
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This is in part due to the nature of the DAM--a political group
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with its own share of dogmatism. But it is also because any further
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development must come from the practice of workers organizing
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rather than the theory of those who aren't.
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This lack of progression on the industrial front is linked to
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the DAM's high turnover of members, and stagnation of the last few
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years. However, the DAM was never going to be perfect and it's easy
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to criticize such things as the poor internal education, but it
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doesn't look so bad compared to other anarchist groups.
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The DAM has been involved in a number of campaigns where it
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had a disproportionate influence to its numbers. In the anti-Poll
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Tax movement, the only challenge to the dead hand of the Militant
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[a British Trotskyite group] came from the DAM. Needless to say,
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others who hadn't heard of the Poll Tax before Trafalgar Square
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were quick to claim responsibility. Nor will it surprise us when
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the historians say these organized it!
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DAM played a capital role in the re-launching of Anti-Fascist
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Action, the organization which actually fights fascists rather than
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just talking about fascism (or shouting at fascists, like the SWP-
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organized Anti-Nazi League).
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Whatever the future of the DAM, it has certainly made a great
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impression on the anarchist movement in Britain. Anarchists are now
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better organized than they were in 1979. The task now is not to
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organize the anarchists, but for the workers to organize.
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M.H.
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LLR Note: The author unfortunately left out DAM's one
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industrial success, the Despatch Industry Workers Union. DAM
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members successfully organized a number of urban messenger
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businesses in the early 90s. A report on the DIWU was printed in
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LLR No. 10. A pamphlet published by DAM on its industrial strategy,
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Winning the Class War, was reviewed in LLR No. 13.
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