WSM Constitution

Wednesday May 17, 2006 14:47

by WSM National Conference - Workers Solidarity Movement

The document that gives the basic definition of the Workers Solidarity Movement and which lays down how we make decisions and how we operate. Last updated at Spring 2009 National Conference.

Workers Solidarity Movement

Constitution

PREAMBLE

The world's wealth is produced by us, the working class. We ought to enjoy the benefits.

We want to abolish the system of capitalism which places wealth and power in the hands of a few, and replace it with workers control and socialism. We do not mean the farce called 'socialism' practiced in Russia, China, and other police states - the system in those countries is no more than another form of capitalism.

We stand for a new society where there will be no bosses or bureaucrats. A society which will be run in a really democratic way by working people, through councils in the workplaces and community. We want to abolish authoritarian relationships and replace them with control from the bottom up - not the top down.

All the industries, all the means of production and distribution will be commonly owned, and placed under the management of those working in them. Production will be organised and planned by the federation of workers councils, not for profit but to meet peoples' needs. The guiding principle will be "from each according to ability, to each according to need".

We are opposed to all coercive authority, we believe that the only permissible limit on the freedom of the individual is that they do not encroach on the freedom of others.

We do not ask to be made rulers nor do we intend to seize power "on behalf of the working class". Instead we hold that socialism can only be created by the mass of ordinary people. Anything less is bound to lead to no more than replacing one set of bosses with another.

We are opposed to the state because it is not neutral, it can not be made to serve the interests of workers. The structures of the state are only necessary when a minority seeks to rule over the majority. We can create our own structures, which will be open and democratic, to ensure the efficient running of everyday life.

We are proud to be part of the tradition of libertarian socialism, of anarchism. The anarchist movement has taken root in the working class of many counties because it serves their interests - not the interests of the power seekers and professional politicians.

In short we fight for the immediate needs and interests of the working class under the existing set up, while seeking to encourage the necessary political understanding and activity to overthrow capitalism and its state, and lead to the birth of an anarchist society.

We have detailed position papers on all the areas where we are active. These form the collectively agreed policy of the WSM. Disagreement and debate around these papers is continuous, these collective position are constantly being modified so obviously we do not expect members to agree with every detail. All members are however expected to broadly agree with points 1 to 8 below which outline the core of our anarchism.

Anarchism will be created by the class struggle between the vast majority of society (the working class) and the tiny minority that currently rule. A successful revolution will require that anarchist ideas become the leading ideas within the working class. This will not happen spontaneously. Our role is to make anarchist ideas the leading ideas or, as it is sometimes expressed, to become a "leadership of ideas".
We reject the idea that society can be changed through 'good people' gaining control of the power structures. This means we reject both the electoral strategy of the social democratic and green parties and the 'revolutionary' strategy of the various left groups.
We identify ourselves as anarchists and with the "platformist", anarchist-communist or especifista tradition of anarchism. We broadly identify with the theoretical base of this tradition and the organisational practice it argues for, but not necessarily everything else it has done or said, so it is a starting point for our politics and not an end point.
The core ideas of this tradition that we identify with are the need for anarchist political organisations that seek to develop:
Theoretical Unity
Tactical Unity
Collective Action and Discipline
Federalism
A major focus of our activity is our work within the economic organizations of the working class (labour organizations, trade unions, syndicates) where this is a possibility. We therefore reject views that dismiss activity in the unions because as members of the working class it is only natural that we should also be members of these mass organizations. Within them we fight for the democratic structures typical of anarcho-syndicalist unions like the 1930's CNT. However, the unions no matter how revolutionary cannot replace the need for anarchist political organisation(s).
We also see it as vital to work in struggles that happen outside the unions and the workplace. These include struggles against particular oppressions, imperialism and indeed the struggles of the working class for a decent place and environment in which to live. Our general approach to these, like our approach to the unions, is to involve ourselves with mass movements and within these movements, in order to promote anarchist methods of organisation involving direct democracy and direct action.
We actively oppose all manifestations of prejudice within the workers' movement and society in general and we work alongside those struggling against racism, sexism, [religious] sectarianism and homophobia as a priority. We see the success of a revolution and the successful elimination of these oppressions after the revolution being determined by the building of such struggles in the pre-revolutionary period. The methods of struggle that we promote are a preparation for the running of society along anarchist and communist lines after the revolution.
We oppose imperialism but put forward anarchism as an alternative goal to nationalism. We defend grassroots anti-imperialist movements while arguing for an anarchist rather than nationalist strategy.

CONSTITUTION

1. Name:

(a) The name of the organisation is the Workers Solidarity Movement.

2. Membership:

(a) Membership of the organisation is open to all who agree to work and argue for its policies in their public political activity, abide by its constitution and code of conduct and pay dues

(b) Members are responsible to their branch and to the National Conference for their political activities. Every member must be a member of a branch.

3. Branches:

(a) The basic unit of the organisation is the branch, which consists of at least three persons in a given area or workplace.

(b) Where no branch exists in an area, members will be attached to the nearest branch and considered full members of it.

4. National Conference:

(a)Members meet in National Conference at least twice a year to review their activities, decide policy, elect the National Officers and delegate other responsibilities. Conference be held in Spring and Autumn of each year. The Spring conference to deal primarily with matters of policy and development of 'position papers' & 'policy statements'; the Autumn conference to deal primarily with election of national officers, perspectives and activity plans for the coming year. Both conferences shall open with a discussion of perspectives and will take reports from national officers and committees. Matters inappropriate (e.g. proposed new 'position papers' at an Autumn conference) will not be dealt with until the agenda of appropriate items has been finished. Conference may, by majority vote, modify or suspend the agenda.

(b) All members are entitled to attend and vote at National Conferences.

(d) Prior to National Conference all members will receive an agenda.

(e) Where members are unable to attend, they may have a proxy vote cast on any specific issue they wish.

(f) Proxy votes may only be cast when they clearly correspond to a specific item on the agenda.

(g) Any branch may call an extraordinary National Conference if at least four weeks notice is given in the Internal Bulletin.

5. The Delegate Council

5.1 The Delegate Council is responsible for the day-to-day co-ordination of the organisation's work between conferences.

5.2 The Delegate Council is made up of the internal secretary (as chair), the national secretary (as minute taker), one 6-month branch delegate and one rotating branch delegate for branches with more than 10 members."

5.3 Delegate Council meetings

5.3.1 The Delegate Council meets at least once a month or more often if necessary. All members are entitled to attend and speak at the Delegate Council meetings, but only branch delegates have voting rights.

5.3.2 An agenda will always be circulated at least 10 days prior to meetings. Branches should arrange to meet and mandate their delegate in the week before the Delegate Council meeting. Items can be placed on the agenda by any
a) WSM branch,
b) an individual submitting it in writing to the Internal Secretary up to 11 days before the meeting.
(c) An agenda template of Branch Reports, Working Group Reports, Motions, Discussion Items and AOB will be used. Working Groups need only give reports to every second Delegate Council. Reports can be submitted in advance to the internal website.

5.3.3 Normally at least ten days notice of Delegate Council meetings should be given. However, if an urgent issue arises, which requires an emergency meeting, this requirement can be waived. Special meetings may be called
i) through a motion passed by a branch.
ii) through petition by one third of the membership,
iii) at the request of one third of the delegate council delegates,
iv) at the request of any two national officers.

5.3.4 The delegates have the right to accept proposed amendments.

5.4 Holding the Delegate Council meeting

5.4.1 The Internal Secretary will attend all Delegate Council meetings. The National Treasurer and International Secretary need not do so unless
i) they have not provided a detailed, written report in the three weeks before the Delegate Council meets,
ii) a branch has requested they attend the meeting.
None of the National officers has a vote at the Delegate Council meeting.

5.4.2 For a meeting of the Delegate Council to be quorate, at least 50% of delegates must be present (attendance at such meetings can be via telephone conferencing where necessary). No quorum of votes is required. Branches are expected to have voted on all motions submitted on time to Delegate Council.

5.4.3 Each branch of the organisation able to provide the needed infrastructure will host the Delegate Council in rotation. The host branch will provide the minute taker for the meeting in addition to their delegate.

5.5 Delegate Council decision making

5.5.1 Decisions made by the Delegate Council must reflect policy as decided by the National Conference. All branches are required to implement decisions made at a Delegate Council meeting.

5.5.2 The Delegate Council may initiate discussion with a view to encourage discussion of particular issues in branches or with a view to changing policy at the National Conference. Individuals can propose motions that all branches discuss some item in the same way that other motions are made. If passed, it is the responsibility of each branch secretary to see that this issue is discussed in their branch before the next Delegate Council.

5.5.3 The Delegate Council can set interim policies. These interim policies must be compatible with the general section of existing position papers. A vote of 2/3 of a Delegate Council meeting is needed to delete the short-term perspectives section of a position paper. A simple majority is sufficient to add section to the short tem perspectives section of a position paper. Delegate Council cannot amend the long-term perspectives section of position papers. The Internal Secretary is responsible for co-ordinating and tallying this vote with the assistance of Branch Secretaries.

Delegate Council Decision Making
(i) Branches issues high-level goals to delegates.
(ii) Branch includes suggested methods of implementing the high-level goals.
(iii) Delegate Council discusses the high-level goals and if there is general agreement then it moves on to negotiate on the implementation methods coming from each of the branches.
(iv) Delegate Council can vote on policy, with delegates voting according to their best judgement as to what the opinion of the branch would be on the end proposal under discussion. Delegates carry the number of votes of people who were at the last branch meeting prior to DC where motions were discussed.
(v) Delegate Council can discuss and decide items that are not on the agenda. Delegates must report to their branches the reason why Delegate Council took such action.

5.5.5 The National Conference may overturn any decision of the Delegate Council.

5.6 Minutes of all Delegate Council meetings will be circulated to the WSM web site

5.7 Interim Decisions Committee

The Interim Decisions Committee's role is to make decisions on an an emergency basis, that is, in situations where it is not possible to convene an emergency delegate council.

There are three situations in which a decision can be made by the Interim Decisions Committee

a) New circumstances have arisen which call for a new decision to be made or an old decision to be altered.
b) New information has come to light which call for a new decision to be made or an old decision to be altered.
c) The security of the organisation is under threat.

Interim Decisions Committee is co-ordinated by the Internal Secretary in a non-voting role and is made up of each branch's national delegate.

The IDC may be activated by
1.Any five members submitting a motion in writing to the internal web site and notifying the internal sec by phone to begin the process. This requirement be waived if emergency nature of the circumstances make it impossible.
2. The motion may not contradict existing WSM policy or our constitution.
3. The motion must indicate the reason a motion has been sent to the IDC, by indicating which of the four situations in which the IDC are allowed to take a decision apply (these are outlined above).
4. The motion may not overturn decisions of either Conference or of Delegate Council but may make interim policy and administrative decisions.
5. The decision must be of a significance that it cannot be made by a national officer within their existing mandate.

Delegates are required to vote on IDC decisions in line with what they think would be the feeling in their branch on the topic. Where possible they should consult with as many members of the branch as possible although for very urgent decisions this may not be possible.

Before making a decision on a motion, the IDC must first agree that proposers are justified in asking the IDC to make a decision, that is, the IDC must agree that it is necessary for the IDC to intervene, as one of the following three instances exist;

a) New circumstances have arisen which call for a new decision to be made or an old decision to be altered.
b) New information has come to light which call for a new decision to be made or an old decision to be altered.
c) The security of the organisation is under threat.

All IDC decisions will be immediately posted on our web-page, made a sticky until the next Delegate Council and brought to Conference or Delegate Council for ratification or rejection. A thread on our web-page, in the left hand box, will record all the decisions of the Interim Decisions Committee. and a report on these decisions will be brought to each conference.

6. Working Groups

Working groups are of three forms
i) Standing groups tasked with a particular ongoing job, ie the production of Workers Solidarity. These groups will be elected by conferences or composed of one delegate from each branch of the organisation.
ii) A group created to fill a particular once off task on a national or regional level. These groups may be formed by Conference or Delegate Council or Regional bodies.
iii) A group formed out of a branch to fill a particular once off task for that branch.

Working groups should be created through a written motion that specifies what the mandate of the group is, what period is should complete its work by and what, if any, financial resources are being allocated to it.

All members of a working group must be able to fully commit to the work of that group for the expected period of its activity. Members who cannot do this may be asked by the group to contribute in some other way. We expect groups to be small in number so that members will be able to dedicate themselves to one or no more than two such groups rather than trying to spread their activity over several.

At the point of creation one member of the group should take on responsibility for being the co-ordinator. This means they are responsible for calling meetings, keeping work moving along, making sure there is a report to DC and for being the contact person for the rest of the organisation to ask questions of the group. The co-ordinator can be changed at any meeting of the group.

Any member who goes on leave will be considered to have resigned from any working groups they are on and should be replaced at the next meeting of DC or whatever body created that group.

Any group that fails to submit a written report to Delegate Council when required by the time of the motion deadline will be considered to have dissolved and an item will be added to that DC agenda by the Internal Secretary to confirm that the groups work is either finished, no longer relevant or to co-opt a new group from interested members. Delegates should seek nominations for replacements on the group at the branch meeting before DC.

Each working group will have a thread on the internal forum where it will post updates on activity and where other members of WSM can ask questions etc. It will be the responsibility of the co-ordinator to maintain this thread.

7. Organisational principles:

(a) All decisions are taken by majority vote.

(b) No position within the organisation, either at local or national level, may be held by the same member for more than three years in succession.

(d) No member may hold more that two positions, either local or national within the organisation. When nominations are being sought for positions those already holding a local or national position should be accepted only if no one who does not hold a position comes forward.

8. Minority rights:

(a) Official policy is that agreed at National Conferences.

(b) Minorities who disagree with any policy or members who wish to act on an issue for which no policy exists, have the right to act as they see fit as long as they make it clear that their position does not reflect that of the organisation, and as long as such a position does not take them outside the constitution of the WSM.

9. Internal Bulletin:

(a) The IB will be produced at least once every quarter by the Internal Secretary.

(b) It is sent to all members, and at the discretion of conference to sympathisers.

(c) The IB contains reports from Branches, Commissions, National Officers, etc. as well as proposals and discussion articles submitted by members.

(d) Members with an email address will be added to the WSM internal email list and can post to this list within whatever volume restrictions are agreed by the list. No message can be forwarded off this list without the permission of the sender - any member who forwards without permission will be removed from the list by the list maintainer.

10. National officers:

(a) Conference elects a National Secretary, an Internal Secretary, National Treasurer, one or more International Secretaries. It may create and fill other national positions as it sees fit.

(b) All national officers are subject to recall by the Delegate Council.

National Secretary

(i) To be the first spokesperson for the organisation.

(ii) To keep a record of all national correspondence.

(iii) To write a report on National Conference for indymedia, anarkismo, etc.

(iv) To foster contacts that live outside existing areas of activity as outlined in the Recruitment policy paper.

Internal Secretary

(i) To coordinate Delegate Council and to ensure that mandates are recorded and carried out.

(ii) To coordinate National Conference and to ensure that mandates are recorded and carried out.

(iii) To produce the pre-National Conference Internal Bulletin

(iv) To be a member of the Interim Decisions Committee

National Treasurer

(i) To keep a record of all funds and financial transactions at national level.

(ii) To place in each IB a financial statement.

International Secretary

(i) To send similar organisations abroad our publications and to correspond with individuals and organisations who are not signed up to the Anarkismo statement.

(ii) To organise the translation of articles from foreign papers, and to be responsible for the writing of articles when requested by contacts abroad.

(iii) To place a report in each IB.

Anarkismo secretary

i) have a high level of internet access and regular online availability
ii) take part in discussion, debate and voting on the Anarkismo editorial forum
iii) will republish all public WSM material on Anarkismo.net
iv) will be responsible for all communication with organisations and individuals who are signed up to the Anarkismo.net statement
v) is mandated to generate and sign collective Anarkismo.net statements that are compatible with WSM policy
vi) will provide a written report each month to delegate council outlining activity in the previous month.

Internet Secretary

(i) to be responsible for maintaining the WSM mailing lists and web pages.

(ii) To place a report in each IB

11. Publications:

(a) Conference elects the editorial groups for all the WSM publications and can mandate these groups as it sees fit.

(b) Where an article submitted for publication is rejected the author may request an explanation to be given in the IB.

12. Finance:

a) Membership dues are from 1% to 5% of income according to the number of people financially dependent on the member concerned. An actual figure will be worked out in consultation with the branch treasurer.

(b) Any member more than three months behind in their dues is deemed to have resigned.

(c) Half of this money is retained by the branch, and half is sent to the National Treasurer for the use of the organisation at a national level.

(d) National Conference, or in its place the Delegate Council, may place a special levy on members to finance specific projects.

13. Organisation policy

13.1 The policy of the WSM is first and foremost the position papers as drawn up and amended by national conference. All other policy decisions must be compatible with these position papers and are changed or reversed by any subsequent motions passed by national conference. Position papers lapse after three years unless they are ratified by national conference. The Internal Secretary is responsible for ensuring that Position Papers due ratification are included in the agenda of national conference

13.2 The strategic outlook of the WSM will come from its Sectoral Analysis & Orientation papers. These aim to link our political analysis with the future direction of our energy and resources. These papers are in the process of construction and will appear publically as they are ratified by National Conference.

13.3 Position papers are divided into a general section and a short term perspectives section. The general section contains the theoretical position of the organisation on the question and should be framed in a way that will not allow it to become quickly dated. The short term perspectives section outlines the organisations policy on immediate questions and the tactics we intend to implement. This section lapses after two years unless it is ratified by National Conference or Delegate Committee

13.4 Between national conferences Delegate Council can set interim policies. These interim policies must be compatible with the general section of existing position papers. A vote of 2/3 of a Delegate Council meeting is needed to delete the short term perspectives section of a position paper. A simple majority is sufficient to add sections to the short term perspectives section of a position paper. It is the responsibility of each individual branch to mandate their delegate in advance of NC meetings and to ensure they reports back afterwards and have complied with that mandate. After Delegate Council meetings minutes will be circulated to members within seven days.

13.5 Individual branches can define their own policy on particular areas providing it is compatible with the Position Papers and decisions of Delegate Council. It is expected that this will be used to customise general tactics for local use and to generate policy tailored to specific local issues.

13.6 Individual members are free to engage in any political activity which does not contradict existing policy. In general they are expected to argue for and implement organisational policy in their public political work. Where they disagree with existing policy they are free to argue within the organisation for a new policy.

13.7 If they are speaking as a WSM member at any event they are expected not to contradict existing policies. This does not apply of they are speaking as a mandated delegate of a union or campaigning group. It also does not apply if they are speaking in an individual capacity at a debate or public meeting but in this case they should indicate that they are disagreeing with the policy of the WSM.

13.8 In Trade Unions and campaign groups members are expected not to argue against whatever tactics the WSM has agreed as a strategy for that issue. Again this does not apply where they carry a mandate from a section of that group or union.

If delegates are unmandated they are free to vote as they please provided their vote does not go against long term WSM policy.

13.9 Election to WSM national officer positions, and to the Interim Decisions Committee, shall be by secret ballot. Where a position is uncontested the ratification ballot shall also be by secret ballot.

As Amended Autumn 2009

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