Red International of Labor Unions
A sentiment among the masses very conducive to the creation of a united front from below is aroused at the approach of conflict. On the eve of the conflict it is necessary to convert agitation and propaganda for the united front into organizational channels. Towards this end the following is necessary:
1. The best and most militant workers of all beliefs,—Communists, Social-democrats, Catholics, unorganized, etc.—must be included in all bodies which are elected.
2. Strike committees must commission various groups, comprised of strikers of all beliefs, to make reports to the unions, etc., on the progress of the strike, thus breaking the monopoly in the catholic unions of having reports made only by catholics, in the social-democratic unions of having them made only by social-democrats, etc.
3. It is necessary to allow non-party and reformist workers to carry various functions within the strike committee in order that they may be drawn into the immediate struggle.
4. In making reports on the activities of the strike committees, the workers (non-party, catholic and social-democratic), must see to it that their reports are printed in their press.
5. It is particularly helpful during strikes and lockouts to convene special broad conferences of organized and unorganized workers (men, women and young workers), in order to pick out and place the best and most energetic of them in posts of militant leadership.
6. During the strike or lockout special attention must be given to the struggle against various combinations among the leaders and attempts to set up a united front from the top.
7. Deserving of the most relentless condemnation are those adherent of the Profintern who enter into agreements with the reformist leaders, for mutual nonaggression, for the rejection of mutual criticism, etc., during the strike. This is not the united front. This is a malicious perversion of the united front.
8. United fronts during strikes or lockouts are established to increase the fighting power of the masses, and not for the mutual protection of the leaders. That is why our line for a close united front with the workers of the reformist organizations must go hand in hand with the sharpest fight against the reformist trade union bureaucrats.
9. One of the most effective means of developing the united front, of cementing and welding the ranks of the fighters together, is the organization of mass demonstrations and parades, under the leadership of the elected committees, against the bourgeois and social-democratic police, against the bourgeois and social-democratic local authorities, etc.
10. The successful formation of a united front during a strike or lockout must be utilized after the termination of the struggle to maintain and strengthen the contacts which have been established among the masses by the adherents of the Profintern. What forms this work shall take must be decided in accordance with the situation in each country, in the branch of industry, the relationship of forces within the working class, etc. It is absolutely essential to utilize and strengthen the work accomplished.