Unions- Keeping socialism at bay for seventy years

I was reading my copy of Workers Forum, monthly magazine of the Communist party of Canada (Marxist-Leninist), and I was reading about the various developments in the Canadian labour sector. Workers Forum, like other Canadian socialist papers, reports mostly on the union/labour movement in Canada. In fact, I would say that workers Forum reports almost completely on the Canadian labour movement, with very little analysis of the Canadian/global political situations. While other publications such as Peoples Voice and FightBack are more balanced in this regard, ultimately all major socialist publications in Canada seem to come back to the labour movement.

It was then that I really started thinking of the Marxist connection with the organized labour movement. On what grounds are they our "Comrades"?

Are modern day Canadian unions really our friends?

Somehow, whenever I am working with union folk to show solidarity, I always get the feeling that I am a barely tolerated annoyance from the union workers. They rarely acknowledge me or my comrades, are continually on our case about our politics, and do not seem to share any goals with our organization.

In the fall of 2005, we even marched a parade in the "make poverty history" campaign right past a group of striking Telus workers in Edmonton, Alberta. We waved to our union "Comrades". Our union "Comrades" gaped at us as though they had no idea what was going on. Not one smile, not one wave. So much for Solidarity.

Speaking of Solidarity, if I remember my history right, there was a group in Poland calling themselves "Solidarity", comprised of trade union members from all over the country. How did these unionized Solidarity comrades get along with their socialist government? They overthrew them. In at least one country, it was the trade unions that were instrumental in crushing socialism underneath their jack boots.

So out of curiosity, why do we still think the trade unions are our friends?

The conclusion that I have come to is very simple: Modern trade unions are not only anti-socialist, they are anti-worker. The Canadian labour movement in the twenty first century is overall opposed to the needs of the people, and the building of a new society.

Yes, I said it. Unions are no friends of the people, let alone socialism. This may sound like blasphemy coming from the mouth of a Marxist, but it is true. This is a different time, Comrades. It isn't the forties or the fifties anymore, no one is being shot or arrested for striking, and unions are no longer striking for the workers rights on the job sites.
Most labour unions are archaic institutions, behind the times and devoid of any progressive
elements. They exist now, only to make profits. They share a small percentage of these profits with their members occasionally, so that they can keep raking in union dues. The whole concept of the modern trade union is social-democratic and reformist. Unions have become just another
social-democratic institution of the capitalist welfare state, existing only to make capitalism more tolerable.

I think that the time is now for the Canadian socialist groups to stop supporting the union movement in Canada, and instead present the workers with a true alternative, a true workers organization, in the form of the Communist party.