Editing Syndicalism (section)

=== Views on class struggle ===
[[File:1906 - Grève pour les 8 heures.jpg|thumb|{{lang|fr|Bourse du travail}} in Paris during a strike for the eight-hour day in 1906]]
In the syndicalist conception, unions played a dual role. They were organs of struggle within capitalism for better working conditions, and they were also to play a key role in the revolution to overthrow capitalism. [[Victor Griffuelhes]] expressed this at the CGT's 1906 congress in the following manner: "In its day-to-day demands, syndicalism seeks the co-ordination of workers' efforts, the increase of workers' well-being by the achievement of immediate improvements, such as the reduction of working hours, the increase of wages, etc. But this task is only one aspect of the work of syndicalism; it prepares for complete emancipation, which can be realised only by expropriating the capitalist class." For unions to fulfill this role, it was necessary to prevent bureaucrats{{spaced ndash}} "whose sole purpose in life seems to be apologising for and defending the capitalist system of exploitation", according to Larkin{{spaced ndash}} from inhibiting workers' militant zeal. Battling bureaucracy and reformism within the labor movement was a major theme for syndicalists. One expression of this was many syndicalists' rejection of [[collective bargaining agreements]], which were thought to force labor peace upon workers and break their solidarity. The Wobblie [[Vincent St. John]] declared: "There is but one bargain that the Industrial Workers of the World will make with the employing class{{spaced ndash}} complete surrender of the means of production." The [[Argentine Regional Workers' Federation]] ({{lang|es|Federación Obrera Regional Argentina}}, FORA) and the OBU accepted such deals, and others began accepting them eventually. Similarly, syndicalist unions did not work to build large strike funds, for fear that they would create bureaucracy separate from the rank-and-file and instill in workers the expectation that the union rather than they would wage the class struggle.{{Sfnm|1a1=Darlington|1y=2008|1pp=28–31|2a1=van der Linden|2a2=Thorpe|2y=1990|2p=19}}

[[File:Anarchist black cat.svg|thumb|The black cat used by the [[Wobblies]] as a symbol for [[sabotage]]{{Sfn|Darlington|2008|p=35}}]]
Syndicalists advocated [[direct action]], including [[working to rule]], passive resistance, sabotage, and strikes, particularly the general strike, as tactics in the class struggle, as opposed to indirect action such as electoral politics. The IWW engaged in around 30 mostly successful civil disobedience campaigns they deemed [[free speech fights]]. Wobblies would defy laws restricting public speeches, in order to clog up prisons and court systems as a result of hundreds of arrests, ultimately forcing public officials to rescind such laws. Sabotage ranged from slow or inefficient work to destruction of machinery and physical violence. French railway and postal workers cut telegraph and signal lines during strikes in 1909 and 1910.{{Sfn|Darlington|2008|pp=32–39}}

The final step towards revolution according to syndicalists would be a general strike. According to Griffuelhes, it would be "the curtain drop on a tired old scene of several centuries, and the curtain raising on another".{{Sfn|Darlington|2008|pp=39–42}} Syndicalists remained vague about the society they envisioned to replace capitalism, stating that it was impossible to foresee in detail. Labor unions were seen as being the embryo of a new society in addition to being the means of struggle within the old. Syndicalists generally agreed that in a free society production would be managed by workers. The state apparatus would be replaced by the rule of workers' organizations. In such a society, individuals would be liberated in the economic sphere but also in their private and social lives.{{Sfn|Darlington|2008|pp=42–45}}
<!-- To-do: Flesh out last two paragraphs, check what other authors have to say (Thorpe, The Workers Themselves), industrial vs craft unionist discussion (Peterson: The One Big Union in International Perspective, ...). -->