Anarcho-syndicalists

Trade unionism

Anarcho-syndicalists see trade unions not only as a means by which workers can organise for immediate improvements to their living and working conditions; but also as a means of training workers for management, with the goal of establishing workers' control over production and the creation of a socialist economy. Anarcho-syndicalists believe that trade unions are better suited for these tasks than socialist political parties, as workers often still require trade unions to protect their rights even under socialist governments. Anarcho-syndicalists consider trade unions to be the vanguard of the labour movement; they believe workers' power resides in the economic sphere, as they are responsible for producing the wealth that society relies upon. For anarcho-syndicalists, trade unions represent the prefiguration of a future socialist economy, the foundation that a new syndicalist society will be built on. Workers' education is therefore at the centre of anarcho-syndicalism, which aims to use trade unions to prepare workers to take over management of the industrial economy.