publications

A DAM pamphlet from the 1980's outlining what is wrong with trade unionism, then a mass movement, and the anarcho-syndicalist alternative

The union makes us strong

"The union makes us strong is an axiom most people would agree with, but if we look at the question closely doubts appear.

In Spain we are able to provide cheap holidays, where you, the tourists, have value for your money, good cheap food and fine hotels which provide good service at prices you can afford — altogether splendid value.

How do we do this? We keep the cost of living low, by preventing strikes that would put up wages. Our absence of strikes makes your holiday cheap.

LENIN AND WORKERS' CONTROL

by Tom Brown

DIRECT ACTION PAMPHLETS NO. 8

HOW LABOUR GOVERNED

1945-1951

DIRECT ACTION PAMPHLETS NO. 5

Table of Contents

• 1. What’s wrong with the unions? [1]
  • Craft or industrial unionism? [2]
  • Doss house organising [3]
  • Coffin clubs [3]
  • Climbing the social ladder [3]
  • Trade unions and the state [4]
• 2. Strike action [4]
  • The lightning strike [5]
  • The boycott [6]
  • ”Work to rule” [6]
  • The social strike [6]
• 3. The social general strike [7]
  • Can it be done? [7]
  • The "June days” in France [8]
  • The balance sheet [9]
• 4. Workers’ control of industry [9]
  • Government by amateurs [10]
  • A new social principle [10]
• 5. A Spanish lesson [11]
  • Collectives everywhere [12]
  • The fertile land [12]
• 6. Revolution of construction [13]
• Aims and objects of the International Working Men’s Association [14]
• I. Introduction [14]
• II. Principles of revolutionary syndicalism [15]

First published in 1940 by Freedom Press, 27 Belsize Road, London. Revised and enlarged edition published October 1942. Reprinted Sept. 1943