Bar Populaire 6584 St-Laurent

A few years ago a network of socialists and anarchists, under the impulse of the local NEFAC group, made an attempt to radicalize the labour movement. We founded the Workers Solidarity Network, a “fighting union” where the organized and the unorganized could come together to explore new tactics and find ways to win different demands.

We raced through different projects; from trying to form a network of radical workers who were already part of unions, reclaiming unpaid hours through direct action and finally attempting to set up our own geographical union in downtown Montreal. We (mostly) failed at anything we did and ended up folding the group only a few years after we had helped create it. Yet, it was one of the more interesting initiatives that came out of the radical left in recent years and we remain convinced the idea was right and that our failures can be explained by tangible factors.

Maybe it was the wrong time; we were all quite young and lacked experience. Maybe it was the wrong mix of people, the core of the group being based on friendships and narrow political alliances rather than on class lines. Maybe we tried to do too much too fast and got burnt out and discouraged.

We* would like to revisit the experience of the Workers Solidarity Network with you; whether you were part of the group, on the sidelines or have recently become sympathetic to similar projects. Join us on January 20th at Bar Populaire for a public debate.

LONG LIVE THE FIGHTING UNION!
…but we probably should figure out why it’s always is on the verge of dying…

*The organizers of this event are former members of the WSN currently regrouping under the banner of SOLIDARITY. An article written in 2006 on the experience can be found online here : http://nefac.net/files/Ruptures6.pdf