Part 3

The factory committees were, consequently, children of the revolution^ sprung from the needs of the workers to create organs of managing the factories. But the workers could not help but soon perceiving that this alone was not sufficient. If they did not want to remain in the capitalist economic system they were compelled to place consumption also upon an organized] fellowship basis. But for all these tasks they had never prepared themselves. All this was so new to them that they, to begin with, had to go through many experiments, many mistakes. Instinctive^ ly, or from very obvious reasons they turned to their unions. In these they now had to look for their natural agents and representatives. They were further strengthened in their confidence in the unions through the circumstance that the new ruling party, or, to speak more plainly, the state, also turned to the unions with the same errands and wanted to use the unions for the same purpose. As the unions still were of too new a structure and were confronted with functions to which they were unaccustomed, it is easy to understand that they leaned for support more or less on the state and recognized as leader the party which sat at the rudder, especially as it was a proletarian party with many members in their own ranks. But the party, with all the power of the state at its disposition, began an intensive propaganda in the ranks of the unions, in order to get greater influence. And in this it succeeded, but the greater the influence of the party became, the more the unions lost in independence, the more they came under the party whip. To the extent that this development progressed, the rights of the factory councils or committees were circumscribed.