What does the AWL do?The Alliance for Workers' Liberty believe that the only force in society capable of overthrowing capitalism and beginning the work of constructing a socialist society is the working class. For that reason we devote most of our energy towards trying to re-awaken the self-confidence and determination of our class to act collectively in its own interests. That means we work in the trade unions, from being reps and stewards in our workplaces to contesting elections for positions of local, regional and national leadership. Everywhere and at every level of the unions we advocate rank-and-file control over our leaders, and we encourage all workers to participate actively in their union. But we do not limit ourselves to those groups of workers who are already in unions. Often it is the unorganised, the youth or the isolated workers who are the most angry, and the most open to our ideas. So we try to make the labour movement turn out to such people, and we try to unite the struggles of all workers together into the struggle for socialism. In addition, there are certain groups of workers who are particularly oppressed by capitalism - women, for example, black workers, or lesbian and gay men. We therefore make special effort to make our activity relevant to them, and to campaign against their oppression. How does the AWL organise?In addition to geographic branches wherever a group of AWL activists live, we expect all comrades to participate in fractions: groups of members who share common activity. There is a student fraction to organise our work in the student movement, a fraction for each major union in which we have members, a fraction to co-ordinate our intervention into the Labour Party, and so on. We also involve ourselves in united campaigns on certain issues. Where we can we seek to arrange joint activity with other left groups, with individuals and with the organisations of the working class. Sometimes this means joining existing campaigns, sometimes it means creating new campaigns on crucial issues. Again, wherever we do this, we argue for the maximum democracy within the campaign, rank-and-file control over the leadership, and so on. Alongside all of this regular activity in the working class, we try to educate ourselves, and develop our theory as well as our practice. We hold meetings in each branch, frequent educational discussions and dayschools, and national events including a two-day summer school each June, a national conference each year, and other one-off events from time to time. All these events will be advertised here. How can I get involved?Each of the links on this page will take you to pages about that particular area of work, explaining what we do, and how we organise the activity. On that page there may be specific contact details for the fraction or branch. Get in touch, and we'll find ways to work with you! If there's no contact information for the activity you are interested in, then e-mail our national office and ask. Please note: This area of the website is yet to be fully developed. Check back again soon. |
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