Suchergebnisse

SINCE 1918 THE LABOR PARTY HAS VIRTUALLY MONOPOLIZED THE REPRESENTATION OF A LEFT-WORKING CLASS CONSTITUENCY IN BRITAIN. FOR THE COMMUNIST PARTY THE INDUSTRIAL STRUGGLE AND PARTICIPATION IN TRADE UNIONS BECAME CENTRAL. AFTER AN UPLIFT IN FORTUNES, THE COLD WAR BROUGHT POLARIZATION AND A POWERFUL ANTI-COMMUNIST CAMPAIGN IN THE TRADE UNIONS. SINCE THE EARLY 1960S, THE PARTY HAS FOLLOWED "BROAD LEFT" STRATEGIES, BUT BY THE 1980S TENSIONS BETWEEN THOSE FAVORING THIS STRATEGY AND PROPONENTS OF THE TRADITIONAL CLASS WAR STANCE HAD COMBINED WITH OTHER FACTORS TO RENDER THE PARTY EFFECTIVELY A SPENT FORCE IN NATIONAL TRADE UNION POLITICS. YET EXPERIENCE IN BRITAIN, AS ELSEWHERE, HAS SHOWN THAT A CADRE OF ACTIVISTS OR RANK-AND-FILE LEADERS CAN BE OF KEY IMPORTANCE IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TRADE UNION ORGANIZATION, ESPECIALLY IN CIRCUMSTANCES OF STABLE INSTITIONALIZED TRADE UNIONISM.