the German syndicalists and representatives of the German Labor Unions declared that the present day "free" unions of Germany were hopeless, that it was necessary to destroy them and only by destroying them it will be possible to conquer the bourgeoisie. The representatives of the I. W. W. held the same viewpoint. In their opinion the American Federation of Labor is an invincible fortress. The only thing to do was to abandon it and set up a separate organization outside of it. They further asserted that the reactionary character of the American Federation of Labor is bound up with its very construction and to think of fighting the treacherous policy of Gompers inside the unions was an Utopia. … Both the German and the American comrades were clearly illogical, for it is ridiculous to think that it is possible to bring about a social revolution in Western Europe without or in spite of the trade unions. To leave the unions and to set up small independent unions is an evidence of weakness.
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It is obvious that a conference of representatives of trade unions of various countries could not adopt a point of despair, and it was resolved to "condemn the tactics of advanced revolutionary elements leaving the existing unions. On the contrary, these, must take all measures to drive the opportunists out of the unions, carry on a methodical propaganda for Communism within the unions, and form Communist and revolutionary groups in all the organizations for conducting propaganda in favor of our programme."
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That the conference took up the correct point of view is proved by the Second Congress of the Third International which sharply opposed the tactics of leaving the unions. The motto put forward by the Communist International, and which is our motto also, is: "Not the destruction, but the conquest of the trade unions."
