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Section 1: Defining Anarcho-Syndicalism
The basic strategies of anarcho-syndicalism can be broken up into three parts: agitation, education and organisation. Each aspect follows from and builts on top of the previous one on the scale and depth of activity. The classic tactics of anarcho-syndicalist unions include forms of direct action carried out while still on the job, and -- at particular flashpoints in history -- general strikes. The basis of all anarcho-syndicalist strategy, however, is collective action. If most of the problems in the world can be traced back to blind worship of the money-god at the expense of any other value or principle, and if the money-god has financial power and the support of state power, individual attempts at resistance will be, are, have been and always will be totally annhiliated. Therefore, the only thing that can defeat the formidable power of the money-god is the people power which they themselves make when they organise themselves into a common, collective resistance. 1e1a1. What is the significance of the Red and Black Flag? The red and black flag is the primary symbol of the international libertarian labour movement. [1] Its colours symbolise the basic principles and goals of anarcho-syndicalism -- red for material and social equality and the black of the anarchist flag for freedom and solidarity. To that extent the colours of the anarcho-syndicalist flag are a constant reminder both of the libertarian means by which the anarcho-syndicalist fights and the goal of freedom from statism and wage-slavery that she or he fights for. Originally the red and black were placed vertically, one of top of each other. A later innovation placed the red and black diagonally along a line running from bottom left to top right, with a red triangle placed on top and a black one below. This crossing of the flag represents the internationalist aspect of the anarcho-syndicalist movement through the nullification, in a sense and with a purpose similar to that of the pure black of the anarchist flag, of all other flags. The direction of the diagonal line holds important symbolic value also, and tends to be strictly adhered to. If red symbolises the economic struggle that the anarcho-syndicalist union takes on on a day-to-day basis, the black symbolises the anarchist principles and goals which inspire the desire to fight the authoritarianism of the present, and to resist collaboration and itegration into the system of class oppression. The direction of the diagonal line, with the anarchist black rising from underneath to its fullest area at the right, symbolises the growth of a revolutionary temper alongside the growth of the movement as a whole -- a decline in activity based (for lack of a better word) only on an animalistic knowledge of one's own immediate needs and a growth in activity based on idealism, knowledge and education, and a desire to struggle for liberation from wage-slavery. In a nutshell, the direction of the line is a statement against reformism and the reduction of the union to an instrument of class collaboration and a mechanism controlling and taming the workers, as opposed to performing its proper role as one of liberation. Like the anarchist flag the red and black flag of anarcho-syndicalism is used by libertarian labour activists around the world in place of their national flags. The use of the flag is a statement against nationalism, the lie which enslaves and victimises the majority of a people to a minority of exploiters and oppressors from amongst their own ranks, which makes patriots out of those with no patrimony. By the same token, use of the red and black flag is a statement in favour of internationalism, and the unity and solidarity, undivided by made-up lines on maps, of all humankind. 1. Thanks go to Jorge Garcia of the Terrassa CNT for the following information. 1e1b2. What is the significance of the Sabcat symbol? The Sabcat symbol was designed by Ralph Chaplin, a prominent figure in the IWW in the United States, and is used throughout the world as one of militant unionism (the picture of a wild cat suggests -- unsuprisingly -- a wildcat strike, or one undertaken by a local or locals against the wishes or commands of a union bureaucracy or boss).
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