Inside Workers Power: thoughts from a former activist

Submitted by Anon on 16 July, 2006 - 10:32

Solidarity spoke to Chris Leary, a former youth activist in Workers Power who left the group in January 2006.

ON a certain level, the way the split has happened is puzzling. When I left Workers Power, the fight between the majority and the minority had been going on for more than a year, but it was still reasonably democratic and comradely. There was disagreement on a series of issues, but the arguments were political. There has obviously been a major degeneration since then.

Part of the reason is the way the group’s understanding of ‘democratic centralism’ - free debate, but unity in action - has developed. The League for a Fifth International constitution used to include the right to be open about your disagreements outside the organisation; this was changed a couple of years ago. Hence the secrecy of the debate in Workers Power until the split.

There is disagreement on a whole series of political issues connected to the labour movement, including the Labour Party, the Campaign for a New Workers’ Party and the unions. Underlying this is a differing assessment of where the working class is at in Britain and internationally today. The majority sees the working class has having recovered substantially from the defeats of the ’80s and ’90s; the minority is a lot more cautious.

There are also some issues that, unfortunately, haven’t been reassessed by either side. Last year, for instance, I wrote about the need to develop a class perspective - rather than an abstractly ‘anti-imperialist’ one - on Iraq.

It’s difficult to see much future for Workers Power or Permanent Revolution. The former has lost pretty much its entire operation in the labour movement: you can now count its active trade unionists on one hand. The latter have almost no possibility of doing youth work - the one area in which the group grew substantially before the split.

It will be interesting to see how Revolution develops now that is moving towards a ‘democratic centralist’ structure, ie closely linked to Workers Power rather than a loose coalition with different tendencies. This has led to problems and splits in Revo groups in Europe; in any case, it will make it more difficult for Workers Power to grow further.

This website uses cookies, you can find out more and set your preferences here.
By continuing to use this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms & Conditions.