Assessment: Deflclences and strengths TKE MILITANTS are not soclal-revolutlonlsts, determlned to overthrow capltallsm and bulld the new soclety. Thelr attltude ln respect to capltallsm and social problems In general, dl!ters in no essentlal respect from the ultra-conservatlve or llberal-bourgeols vlews o! thelr unlon leaders-men llke George Meany or the deceased Walter Reuther. They seek only plecemeal, gradual reforms wlthln the system and wlthln the unlons. Most of the revolts are of short duratlon. They usually rlare· up when new contracts wlth the employers are belng negotlated, and then the revolts subslde. In the years between contracts, actlvlty remalns dormant and worker apathy sets in. A report o! the !our day wlld cat strike In 1974 agalnst Chrysler's Dodge Truck plant concludes that: «the simple fact is, that a wlld cat strlke, by its very nature, is most llkely doomed to fallure. Just too many forces are arrayed agalnst a simple group o! workers ... • A wlld cat strike is necessary to spark actlon but must eventually go further than that and be superceeded by coordlnated actlon on a wlder scale. There Is no long-range perspectlve or an overall program capable o! lnsplrlng the workers: nor 1s there a permanent organlzatlon to turn the sparks of revolt lnto a steady !lame. There are no organlzatlonal organs to unite rebelllng local unlons In dlfferent work places owned by the same employer; or to unlte locals In the whole country and Ganada; or to unite rebel groups In other Industries wlthln the same clty, reg!on, or natlonally. However the !oundatlons !or such a movement are already In exlstence. The workers In the course ot struggle have unconsclously created llbertarlan !orms o! struggle and organ!zatlon. Aronowltz concludes that the workers wlll have to repudlate thelr unlons, reruse to accept contracts torced upon them by the trlckery o! the labor bureaucracy and that: • ... the spontaneous revolt will have to develop lts own collective forms o! struggle and demands... (and that these) «alternatlve forms, rest on •· .. the impulse to dual !orms o! organizatlon -shop and !actory commlttees, wild cat strlkes, shop stewards movements- may become lmportant ln the labor movements of the !uture ... > (Workers' control, p. 105106.) Stanley Welr Is more expllcit, he notes that: «... In thou104
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