Which Way to Workers Unity?

While imperialism has succeeded by dividing Ireland’s workers socialism can only succeed by uniting them. So how dowe do this? Two false roads must be rejected from the start. The first is the ever so trendy call for equality of the two traditions - that is loyalism and nationalism: We say no. There is no equals sign between a British nationalism which has oppressed a subject people and survives only on the basis of discrimination and bigotry arid the nationalism of an oppressed people which has fought against all these things. In point of fact both can’t be equal in anyone’s book because they assert totally different things.

This does not mean that we can all become Irish nationalists because all varieties of Irish nationalism have totally failed to unite Ireland’s workers. Not only do they fail to unite Catholic and Protestant, but they are unable even to unite nationalist workers in the North with those in the South. Like every nationalism the Irish variety cannot represent all the people because the interests of Irish people are not all the same. Irish capitalists and their system have ensured the poverty of one third of the 26 county population, massive emigration and unemployment and created a reactionary conservative State that has a truly rotten history of oppression of women, youth, travellers, gay people and other oppressed groups.

Militant Irish nationalists like republicans say they want a new Ireland with none of these things, but have just united with parties like Fianna Fail and Fine Gael who created the old one. Of course they say that Irish freedom comes first and then workers freedom, but we have heard and seen this before and Irish workers will not be conned again. The fight against capitalist oppression will not be given up just because republicans have set their sights on a seat at the negotiating table with imperialism and are seeking the support of enemies of the working class like Bruton and Reynolds.

They only political programme that can unite Ireland’s workers is socialism. If that were all there was to it the situation wouldn’t be too bad - after all, there are many people in Ireland who declare a sympathy with socialism. But most of these people don’t have a clue what real worker’s unity means.

These socialists accept partition because they don’t want to come into conflict with the majority of Protestant workers who support it. At best they ignore the issue and say that the border, “flags” and history are not important. “You can’t eat a flag” is a favourite saying.

But what if the flag means you can’t get a job, promotion, equal treatment or might even be killed because of your religion? Then these “socialists” are denying reality. They talk about workers unity the most but refuse to recognise that partition is the fundamental cause of division between Norther and Southern workers and also the mechanism for ensuring the sectarian division of Protestant and Catholic workers in the North.

In fact they are afraid to confront partition because they are afraid to confront the loyalist sectarianism of many Protestant workers. Many claim that it doesn’t exist - so of course there is no need to fight it. They then go on to say that it is sectarian even to suggest that this sectarianismexists! They quietly ignore the sorry sectarian history of the Northem state and Protestant workers support for it and the vicious bigoted unionist politicians who ran it. In practice this means sacrificing catholic workers by minimising their specific oppression - claiming falsely that all workers suffer the same oppression [like black and white workers?]. What nonsense! If there was no real basis to divisions among workers they would have been overcome long ago and we would be living in a socialist society.

Even many of those socialists who do sincerely oppose partition think that the road to workers unity lies in emphasising “bread and butter” issues. They are usually to be found shouting “Tories Out!” They believe [sometimes unconsciously] that economic issues are more immediate and that once unity is achieved on these then a united working class can move forward to the more difficult constitutional issues. But as we have said already, issues of discrimination, civil rights, repression and all the political questions are no less immediate than questions of wages and working conditions. To seek unity around the latter as a prelude to hoped - for unity around the former is an illusion.

Once you take this position you begin to build a “workers unity” which has to exclude political issues and the politically conscious working class militants who organise toresist. As well as this you exclude the most powerful component of the socialist programme - the understanding that all aspects of exploitation, oppression and repression are linked together by a decayed capitalist system

which has to be overthrown and replaced by socialism. Finally you are unable to prevent workers from organising and struggling around political questions - you have simply excluded socialism and socialists from the leadership of that struggle.

There is no short - cut or alternative. In order to unite workers North and South in any longterm and realistic way you have to be in the forefront of the fight against partition.

People want to avoid this conclusion because its so difficult. Sectarianism won’t be defeated by ideas, debates or propaganda alone, although they are important in setting the agenda.

Neither will itbe defeated by appeals for solidarity or even episodic examples of Catholic and Protestant workers in the North uniting around specific issues. These things have happened in the past, sometimes with very powerful effect, they will happen again but will not by themselves inflict lasting wounds on the sectarian system.

The truth is there is no squaring the circle within the artificial area of the six-county statelet. We need to build an immense force on an all-Ireland basis - a working class movement strong enough not only to oppose partition but also to demonstrate in action that there is a real alternative both to the sectarian state in the North and to the gombeen politicians in the South like Bruton and Ahern.

Instead of “cross-border bodies with executive powers” we need fighting organisations with workers powers that take on the institutions and inequality in both rotten states. Instead of a smug Ireland mouthing “equality of the two traditions” and meaning the victory of partition we need a Republic were the workers will be equal and the bosses will be gone.

As James Connolly once said we don’t want much - we only want the Earth! But at least knowing what you want stops you from wasting your energy marching down the wrong road. The task would be a lot easier if we could clear a lot of fuzzy and incorrect ideas about “workers unity’ out of the socialist movement - and thatitself would be a lot easier with more working class militants joining our ranks and taking a decisive stand against the fake “frameworks” for preserving capitalism and in favour of a real and uncompromising working - class alternative.

oin the ICMP!

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