Ep 7: Trade unions against fascism

With far-right and fascist movements growing across Europe and North America, how can trade unions resist?

We look back through history at some examples of how organised labour has confronted fascism, exploring specifically trade-union movement organisation rather than wider community-led anti-fascism, and focusing on perhaps less well-known examples rather more famous episodes such as the Battle of Cable Street.

We examine transport workers’ resistance to fascism in the 1920s and 30s, and the Minneapolis Teamsters’ “Union Defence Guard” from the late 1930s, as well as postal workers disrupting BNP election efforts in 2009.

Research that informed this episode includes:

¡No Pasarsan! The ITF and the fight against fascism - https://spanje3639.files.wordpress.com/2016/12/no_pasaran_en.pdf

Teamster Politics by Farrell Dobbs (1975)

“It can’t happen here”, by Joe Allen, International Socialist Review #85 (September 2012) - https://isreview.org/issue/85/it-cant-happen-here

“Teamsters against the Silver Shirts”, by Charlie Salmon, Solidarity 140 (16 October 2008) - http://www.workersliberty.org/story/2008/10/16/teamsters-against-silver-shirts

We also give brief mention to the Communication Workers’ Union’s recent excellent campaign to win their strike ballot in Royal Mail. Check out this analysis by Gregor Gall: https://www.bradford.ac.uk/news/expert-opinion/2017/conversation-gall-royalmail.php

Check previous episode descriptions for copyright info. We don’t own the music featured in this episode, which is the intellectual property of its respective owners.