Once again we are astounded by the dishonesty of the Spanish section of the International Confederation of Labor (ICL or CIT in Spanish). The organization has published a very misleading article on its website: https://www.cnt.es/noticias/el-sindicalismo-revolucionario-en-accion-la-.... As members of the International Workers' Association (IWA-AIT), we strongly object to the constant lies and revisionist history spread by this organization. In this latest article, the Spanish organization claims: „ La CIT nace de una refundación de la histórica Asociación Internacional de los Trabajadores (AIT), tras la expulsión de varios de sus sindicatos miembros en 2016. “ Translation:The CIT has born through a refoundation of the historic International Workers' Association, (IWA), through the expulsion of some of its member unions in 2016.”

The IWA has responded to these types of claims many times in the past but we will repeat what is obvious: the IWA was never „refounded” because it exists as a functioning International organization that is expanding with new Sections, Friends and Initiatives.

A small group of vanguards from Spain floated the idea of „refounding” the IWA more than a decade ago and, although it received some traction internally, the organization itself did not approve the founding of a new, separate international, which is what the CIT became.(*The approval was given only after they did it.) It is that type of decision making from executive committees which caused so much internal division inside the organization that a large part of the long-time anarcho-syndicalists decided to actually refound the CNT-AIT, adherent to the principles of the International Workers' Association.

The „expulsion” of member unions from the IWA in 2016 was the choice of those unions themselves to try to organize another international and ignore the international agreements and obligations of the IWA. The Congress concluded that those organizations in fact withdrew and confirmed their non-adherence.

A very curious tactic which we often see this Spanish organization use is to mislead its own readers and membership as to what is happening. Note the map included in this article. Among the countries noted in red, some are not in fact members of ICL/CIT and others are somehow included in the IWW UK/Ireland (for example, the basically non-functioning Australian IWW or the so-called organizing committees, that are basically initiatives and usually not functioning organizations). Yet the explanation on the map clearly states „Secciones de la CIT” (Sections of ICL). In our experience, this type of misinformation is very typical of this Spanish organization, as well as at least the Polish organization of ICL. We are opposed to using such manipulative tactics to mislead the working class.

The CIT cannot be associated with the legacy of the International Workers' Association for several reasons.

1. The International Workers' Association has clearly disassociated itself from this international organization through its International Congress, noting that it is born of a departure from the principles of the IWA. These include the ideas that decisions are made in common at International Congresses by all of the member organizations, not by a few people behind closed doors.

2. The IWA was founded in 1922 as the culmination of decades of plans to form an anarcho-syndicalist international. It's final impetus was the rejection of membership in the Comintern and one of the primary points of its statutes was the rejection of the state and the role of political parties in the revolutionary movement of workers from below.

All of the IWA Sections have autonomy to decide how to react to or interact with people such as socialists or Marxist Leninists, but it is clear that if there are organizations actually led by Marxist Leninists, as have been several contacts of ICL – this is not in line with the IWA's purpose. Nor is it in line with the purpose of the IWA to be formal proponents of the Federal Democracy Charter (Myanmar), the goal of which is to implement representative bourgeois democracy instead of the revolutionary finalities of anarcho-syndicalism.

The goal of the IWA is a revolutionary, free society – not the rule of parties, NGOs or progressive democrats.

Furthermore, if members of ICL organizations advocate AGAINST anarcho-syndicalism in our region, which happens in the public meetings of its Polish affiliate, obviously this is working against the established aims of the IWA.

3. The IWA is clearly an organization which not only is opposed to fascism, but has a long history of fighting against this phenomenom.

As an organization which is opposed to fascism, ZSP also opposes any cross-front strategies. Although we understand that conservative people are also part of the working class and have interests in workers' struggles, and although we see it as a goal to work towards moving these people away from fascism and towards the internationalist class struggle, we do not agree with the idea of promoting right wing organizations or individuals within our union. This is a strategy which was however accepted by the ICL founding organizations.

Although we can appreciate the class struggle of workers who are not in line ideologically with us, we understand that certain organizations such as the Workers' Initiative find it normal that their union in Jeremias can call people to participate in November 11 parade together with the far right – an event which any serious anti-fascist marches against. We consider that the Spanish organization of CIT (ICL) and its other affiliates need to hide the truth from their own members, which is a disservice to the goals of revolutionary syndicalism and anarcho-syndicalism, which needs to be a force against nationalism, bigotry and fascism.

The Basic Ideas of Revolutionary Syndicalism, Anarcho-syndicalism and the IWA

As we can see, the practices of the Spanish organization of ICL (CIT) clearly violate the ideas upon which the IWA operates. IWA was founded as a vehicle for the working class to operate outside the influence of political parties, to overcome Capitalism and the State. Our statutes read:

„A movement for emancipation ... cannot accept the line of action urged by those currents of the workers’ movement that aspire to a harmony between capital and labour, desiring an international peace with Capitalism and incorporation into the State. Neither can it accept those currents that propagate the existence of the state or the dictatorship of the proletariat, which is contrary to our goal of a society based upon the greatest possible liberty and well-being for all.”

These are the founding principles of the IWA and it will not be „refounded” by any self-appointed ideologues who wish to practice vertical unionism, who wish to incorporate those who take part in bodies designed to establish bourgeois democracy or those which propagate the existence of vanguard cadres to lead the working class.