Interesting analysis I think you need to develop the issue of democratic workers control a bit more in nationalised industries. My dad worked on the track at Longbridge for basically all his life when the Austin was nationalised he used to say they didn’t change his gaffer or the speed of the track. This doesn’t mean that changing the ownership isn’t correct but that in its own it’s not sufficient. The late 60s International Group did some really good work on Revolutionary Self Management which might be a good reference point.
That's a great point Carl. One of the key points that Alan Thornett made, even in his first document in the WRP in 1974, was that workers' control is something we can assert now, in the workplace. At Cowley, they were able to assert a lot of control. That was down to union power, not nationalisation. At the buses in Manchester show, nationalisation is quite easily the same as state capitalism. I explore this a little at https://redmole.org/p/whose-state-whose-gain-venezuela
Interesting analysis I think you need to develop the issue of democratic workers control a bit more in nationalised industries. My dad worked on the track at Longbridge for basically all his life when the Austin was nationalised he used to say they didn’t change his gaffer or the speed of the track. This doesn’t mean that changing the ownership isn’t correct but that in its own it’s not sufficient. The late 60s International Group did some really good work on Revolutionary Self Management which might be a good reference point.
That's a great point Carl. One of the key points that Alan Thornett made, even in his first document in the WRP in 1974, was that workers' control is something we can assert now, in the workplace. At Cowley, they were able to assert a lot of control. That was down to union power, not nationalisation. At the buses in Manchester show, nationalisation is quite easily the same as state capitalism. I explore this a little at https://redmole.org/p/whose-state-whose-gain-venezuela