Beware of Anti-Union “World Socialist Web Site”

A dubious outfit misnamed the World Socialist Web Site (WSWS) has been trolling the picket lines of the striking United Auto Workers (UAW). These are fake socialists who have long been virulently hostile to unions. Amping up its rancor against the UAW during this vital class battle, the WSWS claims that “the UAW is a criminal gang, bought and paid for by management” (“The GM Strike Is in Danger,” wsws.org, 23 September)—a statement that would be applauded by the likes of the National Right to Work foundation. UAW members, who are up against the profit-hungry GM auto giant and government forces waging an all-out war against their union, are rightfully angry at the presence of these scoundrels on the picket lines. WSWS’s anti-union vitriol can only serve to aid the bosses’ drive to smash the strike.

The Spartacist League supports the unions as the basic defense organizations of the working class against the capitalist exploiters. At the same time, we oppose the political program of the pro-capitalist union leadership, whose class collaborationism ties the workers to the class enemy, particularly through allegiance to the capitalist Democratic Party, and thereby weakens labor’s power. Our purpose is to strengthen the fighting capacity and collective strength of the unions. The purpose of WSWS is to wreck the unions.