Workers' Control and Revolutionary Theory

Abstract

The organizational existence of the Institute for Workers' Control (IWC) dates from the eventful spring of 1968, but a decade has passed since the first of the series of workers' control conferences out of which the IWC was formed. The eighty participants at the inaugural conference, convened in April 1964 by the Voice of the Unions newspaper, were mainly socialist journalists and academics, and the discussion concentrated largely on general issues. The two conferences held in 1965 attracted a larger attendance, with significant numbers of rank-and file trade unionists; seminars were held on specific topics; and the work of local study groups in Sheffield and Hull led to the formulation of concrete plans for workers' control in steel and the docks. The 1966 conference was co-sponsored by The Week and the Centre for Socialist Education, and drew 200 participants; the following year numbers rose to 300, about a third of these trade unionists. The sixth conference in March 1968, which established the IWC, had 500 delegates and for the first time a majority of trade unionists. In 1969 and 1970-in many respects a high point of IWC activities-over a thousand attended. The next national conference was not held until March 1973, when there were some 500 participants.