The Political situation in imperialist Europe *
14th World Congress of the Fourth International 35 reference points.
4.5.4. The trade union movement is more than ever the privileged place of day to day militancy for the workers vanguard, and the instrument par excellence for labour to resist the bosses offensive.
In this framework, we have to consider two aspects of the union recomposition.
(a) First, the problem building of an alternative leadership of the workers movement
- the decisive questionremains in its entirety, despite the formation of left wings in the mass unions and minority unions outside the federations.
The union left in the big traditional unions generally remains very weak, poorly organised without and an alternative programmatic response on these key questions (in the first place unemployment).
The of experience
"Essere Sindacato" - left sector of the CGIL, did not succeed in lifting the hegemony of the principal union organisation in Italy.
It is essential to pay attention, without prejudice, to trade union recompositions taking place inside these big federations, but also outside, which seem to show a real legitimacy and action on a mass scale.
Work in this direction remains key for the construction of our organisations and to intervene inside political regroupments.
(b) Second, the control of the union bureaucracy over the different strata of the apparatus, the activists and the workers has clearly weakened. With two unprecedented consequences (in several countries): an enlarged space tor political debate in the union structures, with the possibility of fighting for alternatives; the possibility of taking initiatives with or through the union structures, addressing society and workers on the political-trade union terrain.
This idea is fundamental: the real foundation of a "Socialist" workers party will not happen without the participation of an important sector of the working class.
4.6. The present stage
4.6.1 Our political-organisational objective should be to be part of a pole of left regroupment an engagement in the prolonged crisis of the traditional workers movement and the dead end of the green current.
This perspective is thus different to that of advancing towards a new "communist" or "revolutionary" party based on a complete programme.
Practically, it means pulling together (or forming an alliance with) significant fragments coming out of the traditional workers movement, breaking with the social democratic policy of joint responsibility for the economic crisis. And we try to create a dynamic capable of attracting combative sectors of the social and union movement.
4.6.2. Whatever the strength at the start, the difficulty of take-off should be stressed, independently of the form that the regroupment takes.
First, such a regroupment should avoid the double danger of small group marginality (which implies the relatively rapid conquest of electoral and institutional legitimacy) and of a discussion club (which implies a genuine will to intervene politically and socially).
Second, regroupments coming out of the traditional labour movement, must overcome the characteristics of their origin and rapidly show their will to renew methods and symbols. The creation of new frame work is often indispensable.
To bring about this new stage, the role of certain sectors or personalities coming out of the social movement or the intellectual milieu is decisive.
Often, a "moment" of brewing is necessary to overcome the old organisational frontiers, to refound ditterent political-theoretical bases, to mix the different militant practices. This corresponds to the idea that a new historical cycle of the left has to be opened, carried by a new generation, and looking to the future.
It does not mean at all that we have to abandon our own political conceptions and organisational frontiers. But it does imply a completely new capacity for dialogue.
Even the stronger and more stable regroupments -because they are anchored in a party type regroupment (PRC, IU, PDS in West