Capitalism, Anti-Capitalism and the Trade Union Movement

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Capitalism, Anti-Capitalism

and the Trade Union Movement

GLI International Summer SchoolNorthern College, UK

4 July 2016

Asbjørn WahlAdviser at the Norwegian Union of Municipal and General Employees

Director of the Campaign for the Welfare StateChair of the ITF Urban Transport Committee

Chair of the ITF Working Group on Climate Change

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“Great disorder under the heaven”

• We live in very difficult and dangerous times – economic, environmental, social and political crises

• There is no time (any longer) for illusions• Everything can be changed and nothing is forever –

some parties go under, new initiatives arise• Now more relevant than for a long time:

It is a question of socialism or barbarism • According to Mao: “The situation is excellent”

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Focus on five particular issues

1. Capitalism! – Which capitalism?2. What is it that gives workers power?3. The political/ideological crisis on the left4. What has to be done?5. To be honest, are we able to do it?

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1Capitalism!

Which capitalism?

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Neo-liberalism and the crisis

• Neo-liberalism did not create the economic crisis• Quite the opposite: the crisis created the need for

the neo-liberal ideology – as a response to the crisis• It was the internal contradictions in capitalism

itself which led to the crisis – a systemic crisis• Neo-liberalism won hegemony also due to the lack of

resistance from the trade union and labour movement

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Considerable redistribution from wages to profits played a decisive role

for the development of the financial crisis. The purchasing power became too weak

to buy all the goods and services which were/could be produced.

This was partly compensated for through increased loaning, which together with

massive speculation resulted in a gigantic financial bubble.

A crisis of overproduction

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Financial capital and GNPTr

illio

n $

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Capital’s need for expansion

• Enormous surplus of capital (financial capital)• Desperate hunt for profitable investments• Public sector the biggest potential (since the entire

world was already conquered = imperialism)• Resulted in an unparalleled financial speculation • ‘Globalisation’ is not a law of nature –

it is the result of market deregulation and capital’s strategy for restructuring and expansion

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What then is anti-capitalism?

• Why cannot capitalism be regulated politically?• Keynesianism, civilised social partnership, social

dialogue, the welfare state – have all tried that• The ‘Golden Age of Capitalism’ ended in the 1970s• Anti-capitalism then must aim at replacing

capitalism with something else – hopefully with a human face

• This means we have to go through a formidable struggle with very powerful vested interests

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So it is a question of power!• The capitalist class has concentrated enormous power

through the ownership of the means of production• This private ownership is constitutionally protected• This means the state apparatus is (mainly) on their side• Experiences have proved that they are willing to go

very far in using their economic and physical power• Workers’ power is more about numeric strength,

organisation, alliances and strategies and tactics

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2What is it

that gives workers power?

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Workers’ power in practise• The ability and right to organise and to strike• Trade union/workers’ rights won through

struggle• Permanent jobs and job protection• Social security when unemployed or out of work• Strong trade unions – able and willing to fight• Political instruments (parties) able to represent

the interests of workers and to lead the struggle

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A class war is going on

«There is a class war going on, and my class is winning.»

Warren Buffet, US financial investor

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The war on workers (wage share)Lohnquoten in der EU15, in Deutschland, den USA und Japan, 1975-

2006

62

64

66

68

70

72

74

76

78

80

82

1975 76 77 78 79

1980 81 82 83 84

1985 86 87 88 89

1990 91 92 93 94

1995 96 97 98 99

2000

2001

2002

2003

2004

2005

2006

in %

der

BIP

zu

Fakt

orko

sten

EU-15 USA Japan Deutschland75Quellen: European Economy , 6/2002 und 6/2006, jew eils Statistical annex, table 32

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Unsecure jobs (15-24 years - 2011)

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The decline of trade unions

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3The political / ideological

crisis on the left

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Labour movement in crisis• Deep political-ideological crisis on the left• System criticism is more or less non-existent • Few attempts at mobilising for a power

struggle• No efforts to curb the power of financial capital• The labour movement is losing trust, since it

has supported the policy which led to the crisis• Left parties in governments have been a failure

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Regulation of capital

Fixed exchange ratesCapital control

Regulation ofinvestments

Trade protectionism

Labour legislation Huge public sector

Private capital

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The neoliberal offensive

Capital control


Trade protectionism


Private capital

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Trade protectionism


Private capital

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Trade protectionism


Private capital

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Private capital

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Labour legislation Reduced public sector

Private capital

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The current situation

Attacks on labour legislation Reduced public sector

Private capital

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This was just not enough !

Fixed exchange ratesCapital control


Trade protectionism


Private capital

Ownership Democratic control

Mobilisation of social power

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The social partnership ideology I• A true-born child of the class compromise

• The result of a very specific historic development in which the balance of power shifted towards labour

• Capitalists felt their interests threatened and gave in to workers’ demands to damp their radicalism

• The need for popular support in the Cold War against Soviet Union contributed in the same direction

• Exploitation of the third world created a bigger surplus• The result: 20 years of unprecedented social progress

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The social partnership ideology II

• Social progress was less and less seen as a result of certain power relations in society

• The compromise itself – social peace and social dialogue – was seen as the cause for social progress

• This contributed to depoliticising, deradicalising and demobilising the working class/trade unions

• Changed the character of social democracy – from a class movement to a mediator between the classes

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«Neither society nor democracy»

«In the last decade European social democracy has ceased to be about either society or democracy. In government it has embraced liberal economic principles that undermined solidarity and association. Along the way the idea of the common good has been lost and there is no vision of a 'Good Society'.»

«The Future of European Social Democracy»

published by the social democratic Social Europe Journal

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4What has to be done?

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Is there an alternative solution?• The crisis gives an opportunity to disarm

financial capital and regulate the markets• The public sector should be used to damp the

effects of the crisis and stabilise the economy• A radical redistribution of wealth is necessary • Only the trade union movement has the

potential to push solutions in this direction• Potential is one thing, practice something else –

a formidable mobilisation will be necessary

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Need agency and strategies

• We need alternatives, but not without also considering agency – who is going to carry out the struggles – social forces, alliances

• Wishful thinking and arm-chair theories, alternatives and models are easy to produce

• What is realistic, what is possible, how do we prioritise – and how to we get there (strategies)?

• This is too little discussed on the left today

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Right wing populism/extremism• The capitalist crisis creates a real basis for alienation, exclusion, discontent and polarisation

• Workers feel betrayed by their ‘own’ politicians

• The extreme Right supports all discontent and channels it in perverted political directions

• The only alternative: A policy of the left which politicises the discontent and channels it into real fights for collective solutions

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A strategy for the unions• Alternative analyses – a system-critical view• Building of new, broad social alliances• Development of concrete alternatives• Due to the party political misery, trade unions

must take a broader political responsibility• Develop solidarity across all borders• Create democratic and action-oriented unions

prepared for the confrontations which will come

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What about the new initiatives?

• The short life of the Arab Spring, and possibly also the Latin-American Spring

• Movements like Social Forum, Indignados/M15, Occupy Wall Street, Alter Summit, #NuitDebout

• Political parties like Podemos and Syriza• New tendencies in old parties – Bernie Sanders in

the Democratic Party and Jeremy Corbyn in Labour• Post-Greece movements – DiEM25, PlanB, Lexit…

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Emancipation is our goal!• The (positive) effects of a class compromise can

never be more than a temporary achievement• Emancipatory social policies presuppose

a huge shift in the balance of power in society• Today, we demand too little and accept too much• As authoritarian rule and oppression increase,

our response has to be bolder and more radical• If the right to strike is restricted or banned, trade

unions have to win back the right in practise

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A minimum programme• Fight austerity – defend our public services!• Redistribute our wealth – let the rich pay!• Cancel public debt created by the financial crisis!• Socialise banks and financial institutions!• Defend democracy – break with trade & fiscal

pacts!• Unify the environmental with the social struggle!• Organise, mobilise and meet the confrontations!

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5To be honest,

are we able to do it?

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Paris, 9 March 2016

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Paris, 9 March 2016

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Athens, 5 July 2015

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Dublin, 4 July 2015

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Brussels, 21 June 2015

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London, 20 June 2015

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The Rise and Fall of the Welfare State

In an age of government imposed austerity, and after 30 years of neo-liberal restructuring, the future of the welfare state looks increasingly uncertain. Asbjørn Wahl offers an accessible analysis of the situation across Europe, identifies the most important challenges and presents practical proposals for combating the assaults on welfare.

£ 15,-

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Capitalism, Anti-Capitalism and the Trade Union Movement