Dennis Robert Redmond wrote:
> On Thu, 5 Apr 2001, James Heartfield wrote:
>
> > by CIA and AFL tutelage post-war. The Cold War anti-Communist laws
> > ensured that they were deeply conservative organisations.
>
> *Bzzzt.* Now my troll alarm is ringing big-time. IG Metall is strong,
> class-conscious,
On a very basic level this is true: by definition a union is an association of wage-dependents. So even a simple 'Bread-and-Butter'-policy lets them clash with capitalists from time to time, but the IG Metall is certainly not class-concious in the sense of beeing a revolutionary force overthrowing capitalism.
> and has fought effectively for a range of workplace
> rights which makes the US look like the decaying, pathetic semi-periphery
> we indeed are. Central Europe's welfare state, though under attack,
> remains hugely popular, mobilizes vast amounts of capital, and effectively
> keeps the Eurobourgies under control.
>
It works the other way around as well: keeping the working class under control. Especially in Germany anti-communism and the existence of a (nominally) socialist second German state forced some concession from the capitalist side.
Johannes