IWW DELEGATE ATTENDS EUROPEAN SYNDICALIST CONFERENCE
Article (slightly edited) from Nov.-Dec.1994 _Industrial Worker_

European syndicalists were to carry out a series of actions Nov.4
to protest attacks on the working class throughout Europe.  A
joint leaflet and poster on the theme *Solidarity Against Social
Exclusion* were distributed across Europe, with space for local
organizations to add local info.

The Nov.4 action was decided at a European syndicalist conference
at Osstersund hosted by SAC (Swedish Workers
Central-organization).  Conferees agreed that our movement must
define what we want and don't want, and represent our visions as
an alternative to the compromises of the gutless mainstream
unions.

The conference was held along with SAC's 25TH Congress.
Independent unions participating were Russia's KAS
(Anarcho-Syndicalist Fed.);  Regional Trade Union Assoc.  of
Lithuania;  Spain's CGT (Gen. Confed. of Workers);  LAB-Basque;
France's CGT-Corr; Portugal's A Bathalia; Norway's Lonnsslaven;
Italy's UNI-COBAS;  and SAT (esperantistas).

I was able to travel to Sweden to attend Anarkistisk Massa and the
SAC Congress.  The 3- day Anarchist Fair outside Gothenburg was a
marvel of organization.  A soccer field was turned into a small
village through volunteer labor.  A huge circus tent provided
space for tables, including a bar and music stage.  Smaller tents
housed debates, speeches, eating and meetings.

Numerous reports covered the broad range of political and cultural
concerns.  Discussions on workplace organizing, developing
alternative economy and culture, anti-nuke work, feminism,
anti-fascist organizing, along with lots of music were going on
from 10 a.m. to midnight.  My talk on the IWW drew about 60
people.

Participants addressed questions:  how do we deal with the crisis
presented by capitalists; how do we reach a range of people; what
does outrage, vision and culture have to do with media.  One
participant, a leftist journalist, burned his leftist bridges by
publishing an attack on anarchists in the national daily he works
for.  Taking note of the  controversies around feminism and
separate space for women, this journalist sought to portray the
diverse group of Swedish anarchists as anti-free thinking,
anti-free speech and dogmatic.

Evert Ljusberg, an anarchist singer and story teller who is
popular in Sweden, performed on the last day. Evert is Sweden's
Utah Phillips, and the crowd loved him.  Saturday night about
1 a.m., Stockholm's Mollys took the stage and cranked everyone up
with their unique Icelandic-Irish-Swedish-Ska rock.  This band
named for the Molly Macquires is irresistably danceable.

An anarchist from Texas joined me for the pilgimage to the boyhood
home of Joel Haaglund, better known as Joe Hill.  The building is
now maintained by SAC as a museum with Hill memorabilia.  Most of
the space is used as SAC offices while a garden provides open air
meeting space.

The talk on the condition of unions in America was attended by
students and workers.  I demonstrated the foolish American
rightwing metaphor, that individuals should "pull themselves up by
their bootstraps."  Doing that meant I had to fall on my ass,
folks laughed and a reporter with camera requested an instant
replay.

The SAC Congress was held in Osstersund, a town in the center of
the country with 3 military bases, a university and a large lake
with a legendary Loch Ness type monster.  On Saturday we marched
to the town square; black and red flags and boisterous singing
syndicalists took over the sunny summer streets.

I was honored to be the international guest invited by SAC to
address the public meeting, which opened and closed with music by
Billy Shamrock.  Mattias Gardell of the SAC International Dept.
spoke on the historic important role of international solidarity
from IWW and other unions in launching the Swedish syndicalist
union.

Many delegates from several countries praised the _Industrial
Worker_ newspaper, saying they reprint articles from it.  The
_Wage Slave World News_ didn't always make sense to Swedes and
Russians, but they praised the IWW for using humor.

We have sisters and brothers who appreciate the IWW, in Sweden and
elsewhere.  Folks who want to build a libertarian socialist world
where working folks, not capitalists, are in charge.  Small steps
of informal solidarity help along the road to revolution in our
life times.

---Jeff Ditz
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