The General Workers' Union of Germany (; AAUD) was a factory organisation formed following the
German Revolution of 1918–1919 in opposition to the traditional trade unions.
The AAUD was formed by the
left communists in the
Communist Workers' Party of Germany (KAPD) who considered
organising based on
trade
Trade involves the transfer of goods and services from one person or entity to another, often in exchange for money. Economists refer to a system or network that allows trade as a market.
Traders generally negotiate through a medium of cr ...
s as being an outmoded form of organisation and instead advocated organising workers based on factories, thus forming the AAUD. They were influenced by the
industrial unionism of the
Industrial Workers of the World
The Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), whose members are nicknamed "Wobblies", is an international labor union founded in Chicago, United States in 1905. The nickname's origin is uncertain. Its ideology combines general unionism with indu ...
.
The council communists organised these factory organisations as the basis for region-wide
workers' councils
A workers' council, also called labour council, is a type of council in a workplace or a locality made up of workers or of temporary and instantly revocable delegates elected by the workers in a locality's workplaces. In such a system of poli ...
.
A section of the AAUD led by
Otto Rühle split from the AAUD, forming the
Allgemeine Arbeiter-Union – Einheitsorganisation.
The German-Dutch Communist Left - Philippe Bourrinet
/ref>
See also
* Council communism
Council communism or councilism is a current of communism, communist thought that emerged in the 1920s. Inspired by the German Revolution of 1918–1919, November Revolution, council communism was opposed to state socialism and advocated wor ...
* Cuno strikes
* Factory committee
* Left communism
Left communism, or the communist left, is a position held by the left wing of communism, which criticises the political ideas and practices held by Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninists and social democrats. Left communists assert positions ...
* Works council
A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of re ...
References
{{reflist
External links
Program of the AAUDTheses on the Role of the Party in the Proletarian Revolution
Council communist organizations
Communist organisations in Germany
Labor history of Germany
Left communism in Germany
Organizations of the German Revolution of 1918–1919