ordinary that the working class forces have a A revolutionary goal of the struggle
provocation. common element in all the phases of
independence. management, in which the principle Socialist Viewpoint No. 10 February 1985 p26
embryo of the future revolution, inasmuch as it contributes to the self-organisation of the workers. This is why the demands put forward by the workers movement in its programmatic documents must always take into acount three 1. They have to correspond to the needs of the working class. 2. They have to be in tune with the level of consciousness of the workers at the time. 3. They have to make possible, in the struggle itself and on the basis of its success, to raise the level of self-organisation of the working class and of the other social groups 6. The independence of the workers movement Today, the existence of an independent workers movement is the main form of self-organisation and the main precondition for the struggle of the working class. The fight against the bureaucracy entered a qualitatively new phase in 1980, when the strikes opened up the way for the formation of Solidarnosc, the first national independent structure representing the workers that we have seen in the history of the bureaucratic system in
Today, building and strengthening workers organisations in the plants independent from any organisation or institution outside the working class remains the 7. Pluralism within the workers Pluralism is necessary within the workers movement in order for it to be able to develop politically. The right of the workers to organise freely in clubs, groups, currents, and political organisations has to be
Open politicisation of the workers movement, based on clear principles, can only strengthen it. Attempts to smother this process, under the pretext that it "weakens the union" is "factional" activity, or "provocation" on the other hand, can only undermine the movement, or in fact divide it, and they involve all the characteristics of 8. Self-determination Understanding the class character of social relations in Poland involves rejecting the nationalist imagery that reduces our fight to a struggle against the Soviet Union for
The basic dividing line in our nation is not a schematic opposition between patriots and traitors but one of opposing interests among different social groups. This is why national independence, as an effect
of the struggle of the working class for social liberation represents from the standpoint of the working class, the full achievement of the indispensable right to self-determination. 9. International workers solidarity The Polish working class is not isolated in the struggle, It has friends and allies abroad. They are the workers of the entire world.
The Polish workers movement can and must draw on the strength of international workers solidarity. The differences between East and West cannot hide the fact that the workers of both camps are linked by common interests, by a common struggle for a common end - the transformation of the working class from object into subject - against common enemies.
The question of international solidarity is one of close cooperation of the various national contingents of the revolutionary workers movement; it is one of interaction between the development of the class struggle, for example, in Poland, the Soviet Union, and Great Britain. 10. Socialisation The indispensible precondition for the liberation of the working class is for it to lay the economic foundations of its liberty, that is, the socialisation, outside of the state and in the framework of a system of workers' self-management, of the means of production that are today statized.
It is in this way that the working class will obtain the material guarantee of realizing its interests, as well a the legitimate interests of the other groups in society. The aim of the revolutionary workers movement, flowing from the essence of the social relations against which it rebels, is not the reprivatisation of state property or giving it autonomy but to genuinely socialise it.
We regard the taking of political power as a means for the working class to assume economic power. Workers' Opposition Joint work by radical worker activists with a view toward forming a workers opposition to the bureaucracy is essential to draw up a programme for the Polish workers movement and to gain support for the revolutionary struggle aimed at establishing a system of self-management, a self-managed republic in the full sense of the term.
By establishing co-ordination among the organisations, or in the future by building revolutionary parties, we are not opposing ourselves to the workers movement in the broad sense. To the contrary,
we want the revolutionary current, which is a component of this its own structures so that it can better contribute to building an independent mass workers movement.
From that flows the basic significance of this platform. That is, the victory of the Polish workers depends in the first instance on struggle against the bureaucracy. self-management has to be based ona revolutionary political identification by the workers. It involves the workers becoming conscious of their social and economic interests, as well as the independence of the politicalorganisational institutions of the working class. of those who share the ideas ..... Appeal IN view of the deterioration in living and working conditions and the need for effective defensive actions and for unifying them, it is urgent to create, around a political platform. an alliance of various workers groups determined to fight for the interests of the working class. for workers self-management, and the liberation of labour. and activists ready to take part in drawing up the platform of the Workers Opposition, which is what we call our common bloc. The name points up our political choices and the class character of our struggle.
Unlike the "national independence opposition" and the "democratic opposition", we put the fight for working class causes first. This does not in any way mean that we underestimate the importance of democracy or national independence. To the contrary, we think that the liberation of labour is only possible in a politically sovereign country, and not one subjected to economic exploitation. We think that democracy can only be oppressed and exploited classes. Neither "actually existing socialism", or "verbal socialism". nor any version of capitalists -American, Swedish or perhaps Polish - represents such a face of the clear facts that this Socialist Viewpoint No. 10 February 1985 p27
movement, to be consolidated within adopting a strategy for revolutionary
In practice, the advance to social
Soviet leader pea/sm nationalism.
This is why it is the responsibility
We will open up the columns of our publications to workers groups achieved fully in a system without
We refuse to keep silent in the
1985.
Gorbachev: platform apto Soviet workers, not Polish expressed in this platform to unite their forces in the struggle for our common cause. Wolny Robotnik, no. 30, June 1985
.. country - which claims that it is "socialist" or that it is "building socialism" - is becoming more and more dependent politically and economically on the West. that is, on monopoly capitalism: and on the Kremlin, that is. the Soviet bureaucracy.
We say no to a Poland reduced to the role of a colony, a source of raw materials and cheap labour, to a Poland where the only liberty vould be to enrich oneself at the expense of the workers.
We think that the workers today have to take up a flag under which they can march united in the fight to defend workers' rights. without divisions because of ideological differences. Neither the PZPR nor the opposition, in its present political configuration, in our opinion can play such a role. Because of their attachment to conceptions of a unit of the entire society against the regime. the central structures of Soldiarnose are not playing it either.
In a situation in which the wrong policy of its leadership has led Solidarnose into passivity and in which the preponderance of procapitalist currents in the opposition outside Soldiarnose is becoming more and more clear. when the exploitation of the workers is increasing. we decided to take up the struggle, in the conviction that victory is ours sooner or later, and that it will be won by a workers movement that rejects both bureaucratic and capitalist exploitation. Executive Committee of the Workers Opposition Press Alliance, Wolney Robotnik, No. 30, June
The