Page:Trade Unions in Soviet Russia - I.L.P. (1920).djvu/81

 In spite of the great obstacles separating us at the present moment from other countries and the struggle of our foreign comrades, we are pleased above all with the fact that they too are raising the same questions of production that we raised previous to the October revolution. The greatest desire of our union is to share our experiences with our comrades and to relate to them the story of our struggle.

The Central Committee of the union in January of this year sent out an invitation by radio to all the metal workers' unions in other countries to our third congress. We received a number of replies and greetings from metal workers' unions of Switzerland, Germany, Holland, Denmark, Sweden, Norway, and Finland, from whom we learned of the forthcoming international congress of Metal Workers. Our union pictures an international federation of metal unions based only on a revolutionary struggle for the demands of the Third International. The opportunist international bureau of metal workers' unions, headed by Alexander Schlick, sufficiently exposed during the war the vapid schemes of the old trade unionists, who were unable to throw off their craft ideas and raise themselves to the level of the great class problem of the revolutionary international.

The revolutionary struggle is unfolding in all countries, and the metal workers as the section of the proletariat with the greatest class training is everywhere at the head of the revolutionary struggle. Our union is therefore confident of the early possibility of the revolutionary international organisation of metal workers. The third conference of the union instructed the Central Committee to take steps towards the establishment of such a union.

The Russian Metal Workers' Union is awaiting with eager attention the news of the onward march of their foreign comrades. On the basis of its historical experience it is convinced that the only path to the revival of humanity is the dictatorship of the proletariat. The Russian Metal Workers' Union says to its foreign comrades—"see, we experienced the rule of the bourgeoisie, the rule of a coalition, we thought to improve our position by fighting for higher wages, but our experiences compelled us to take the path of socialist revolution. The first years were indescribably difficult, but we are winning and will conquer and with our own hands will establish the reign of labour, and we look forward with full confidence to the victory of the workers of Western Europe."