Magazine

Archive of ideas & action Articles

ideas & action was created in July, 1981 as an independent anarcho-syndicalist magazine. After Workers Solidarity Alliance was founded in November, 1984, ideas & action became the magazine of WSA (with issue #5), and continuing through the publication of issue #17 in 1997. The magazine is currently suspended.


#1 — Winter, 1982

  • Trotskyism and the Myth of a “Workers’ State” by Bruce Allen [scan; reformatted]
  • Poland [scan; reformatted]
  • Debate: No Need for a “Workers’ Party” [scan; reformatted]
  • Discussion: The ACF Experience: [scan; reformatted]
    • Hey, General Custer, why were we there? by Ed Clark
    • The Decline and Fall of the ACF by Steve Rabinowitz
  • A few more theses on Marxism by Steve Rabinowitz [scan; reformatted]
  • Co-ops or workers’ revolution? [scan; reformatted]
#2 — Summer, 1982

  • Preoccupying Concessions (and Shutdowns) by Dennis Hayes
  • Reaganism isn’t the problem – Capitalism is!
  • Poland:
    • Revolution Self-limited by Bruce Allen
    • No business as usual
    • Review: Man of Iron
    • Polish Women and the Polish Revolution
  • Revolution for Freedom in El Salvador?
  • Quien Salvara El Salvador?
  • Coordinadora Libertaria Latino-Americana: Perspective and Goals
  • Anarchist Shop Experiences
#3 — Spring 1983

  • Correspondence
  • Exchange on Nicaragua
  • Debate: Democratic Socialists of America & Libertarian Socialism [scan; text]
    • Intro: Bureaucratic Utopianism? by Tom Wetzel
    • DSA & Libertarian Socialism by Chris N.
    • Altered States by R. Dennis Hayes
    • To the Ballot Box! [temporarily of course] by Manuel S.
  • Depression in the ‘80: What’s the Cause? by Tom Wetzel
  • Solidarnosc on the eve of martial law
  • Polish Anarchism Today
  • Solidarnosc Makes Waves in China
#4 — Spring 1984

  • WAR: Why there are wars and what we can do to stop them by Libertarian Workers Group [scan]
  • Leave the Slave-Driving to Us: A Look at the Greyhound Strike by Chris Fillmer [scan]
  • We want freedom for all: A Jewish Anarchist statement by the Jewish Anarchist Committee [scan]
  • Economic Realities in the ’80s: Part II by Tom Wetzel
  • On the Crisis by the International Workers Association (Northern Europe)
  • Debate:
    • DSA: Giving up on real change by Kent Worcester
    • Who to work with? by Jon Bekken
  • Self-management:
    • Yugoslavia: Model of Workers’ Self-management? by Elias Wolf [scan; reformatted]
  • No borders!:
    • Solidarnosc and Revolutionary Unionism by Adam Borsuk
    • What about nationalism and religion? by Chris Ecks
    • Spanish Libertarian Unionism Today by Tom Wetzel [scan]
#5 — Winter 1985

  • Silicon Valley Daze
  • Poison!
  • Phelps-Dodge is all of us
  • Debate:
    • Anarchism & Marxism: A Dialogue [scan; text]
      • Revolutionary Socialist League remarks
      • Libertarian Workers Group response
  • Workers Solidarity Alliance Founding Conference
  • WSA Statement: Where We Stand
  • From the audience:
    • ‘The Good Fight’: The Bad Film
  • No borders!:
    • What is the International Workers Association?
    • The Principles of Revolutionary Unionism
    • The Big Portugese Rip-Off
    • For an Anti-Capitalist Alternative
    • German anarcho-syndicalists look at 35-hour strike
  • In a nutshell
#6 — Fall, 1985

  • Workers power & the Spanish revolution
  • Watsonville Cannery Strike by Tom Wetzel
  • Feminists debate pornography and censorship
  • Pink collar workers
  • Women & the Trade Unions
  • Mujeres Libres:
    • Organizing women in the Spanish revolution
    • Prostitution & the Revolution
  • Mujeres Libres Statement
  • More concessions or time for a fightback?
    • Direct Action: Longshore workers show how
  • Life in the Porn Biz
  • Not Free and Equal: A Review of Women and Revolution by Tom Wetzel
  • Massey coal strike continues
  • TWO PAMPHLETS:
    • Bhopal & Workers Rights
    • Free Time: The Case for a Shorter Workweek by Tom Wetzel
      • We want jobs…but not at any price
  • No borders!:
    • Nicaragua: Between State Power and Liberty
    • International worker links
    • Ford workers conference
    • IBM Resistors
    • Conclusions of the First IBM Workers Conference
    • Spain’s Port Workers Practice Direct Democracy by Tom Wetzel
    • Polish Prisoner Appeal
    • Japan: Death Sentence Protested
#7 — Fall 1986

  • Sex & Censorship
  • IWW sez
  • Shaky
  • Emma
  • Spain again
  • Slaughterhouse Fight:
    • A Look at the Hormel Strike by Steve Boyce, Jake Edwards and Tom Wetzel
    • UFCW: Strategy of Appeasement by Tom Wetzel and Jake Edward [text]
  • The Origin of May Day
  • Why?
  • Where We Stand
  • Self Management:
    • What Will the Working Class Do without Bosses? by Don Fitz [text]
  • Dialogue:
    • Workers Power & the Spanish Revolution by Tom Wetzel
  • No Borders!:
    • France: It is the era of flexibility
    • Mass Strikes in South Africa: On the brink of revolution?
    • Spain: Dock worker struggle continues
#8 –Spring 1987

  • Labor Pains
  • Kaiser: Two-tier imposed after 7-week strike
  • Hormel update by Mike Harris and Lars Svensdottir [text]
  • What NAMPU says about the UFCW [text]
  • Small Is Not Beautiful: Life at the Bay Guardian by Tom Wetzel
  • After Chernobyl
    • Comments
  • Watsonville Strike One Year On by Mike Harris [text]
  • Abolish the INS! by Chaz Bufe [text]
  • Self Management:
    • Libertarian socialism & direct democracy by  Brad Bohland [text]
    • Reply by Tom Wetzel [text]
  • No Borders!:
    • KMU: A Look at Philippine Unionism by Kim Scipes
    • What is the International Workers Association? Part 2
      • Principles of Revolutionary Unionism
      • IWA Directory
    • Women in the Soviet Union
    • Farm worker unionism in Andalucia by Al Chatfield [text]
    • What is ‘libertarian unionism’? [text]
#9 –Spring 1988

  • Labor Pains
  • The Meaning of Labor
  • On Organization by Tom Wetzel
  • Music Workers Union: Action & Defiance
  • The Strange History of the Revolutionary Communist Party
  • Where We Stand: W.S.A. Statement of Principles
  • Why Does the Union Bureaucracy Exist? Part 1 by Tom Wetzel [text]
  • Self Management:
    • The Limits of the Cooperative Movement
    • Origins of the Spanish Collectives
  • No Borders!:
    • “Gorbachev? Little Hope, No Trust!”
    • Stalin’s Ghost Haunts Albania
    • Free Moses Mayekiso!
#10 — Fall 1988

  • The Minimum Wage & the “Labor Aristocracy”
  • Another Orwellian Plebiscite?
  • Repetitive Strain Injury: What It Is, Why It Happens by Tom Wetzel
  • Labor Pains by Mike Harris
  • 1988 Anarchist Gathering: Talk, Networks and Fun by Jack Straw
  • From Stalin to Solidarity: Three Novels of “Socialist” Poland by Martin Comack
  • Why does the Union Bureaucracy exist? Part II: The Rise of the CIO by Tom Wetzel
    • A Few Conclusions
  • Primitive Thought by Chaz Bufe
  • Rebel Legacies:
    • The Mexican Revolution in Baja California by Jack Straw
  • No Borders!:
    • Britain:
      • The Right to a General Strike from Black Flag
      • “Fight the bigots! Fight the clause!” from Direct Action
    • Italy: Time of the Rank-and-File Committees by Massimo Varengo
    • Manifesto by Soviet workers
    • Hungary: “Dump the official unions!”
    • Revolutionary Workers’ International Grows
      • Greetings from Poland
      • Brazil: New Organizational Faces Repressive Climate
    • South Africa: The Workers’ Charter
    • Australian Bicentennial: The Original Inhabitants Have Little to Celebrate
#11 — Summer 1989

  • Labor Pains by Mike Harris
  • Housing, Homelessness & Working People by WSA New York Group
  • If you eat meat, boycott Perdue’s chicken! by Schuyler Vermont
  • Legal Winnings by Bill Meyers
  • Why Does the Union Bureaucracy Exist?: Part 3: The Origins of the Union Shop by Tom Wetzel [text]
  • Rik Winslow: An Appreciation by Tom Wetzel
  • Ozone Layer Threatened: Action Needed by Al Chatfield
  • Reviews:
    • Do-it-yourself printing by Chaz Bufe
    • Canada: Assault on Union Freedom by Bruce Allen
    • Movements from Below in Eastern Europe by Bruce Allen
  • Rebel Legacies:
    • Italy 1920: When 600,000 workers occupied the factories by Tom Wetzel
      • Mussolini & Syndicalism [scan]
      • Gramsci & Syndicalism
  • No Borders!:
    • Poland:
      • Opposition in the Army from Ukranian Peace News
      • Leaflet issued during Thatcher’s visit
    • Hungarian anarchist group formed
    • Transit Strike Halts Arkhangelsk from Ukrainian Peace News
    • Anarchosyndicalists meet in USSR
    • Spanish Dock Workers Build Union Without Bureaucrats by Don Fitz [text]
    • Comments by Tom Wetzel
    • Brazil: The COB in context from Direct Action
#12 — Fall, 1989

  • Appeal to North American Dock Workers
  • Technology, the Environment & Workers’ Control by Tom Wetzel
  • WSA Holds 6th Convention
  • Open Letter to the “Without Borders” Anarchist Conference
  • Labor Pains by Mike Harris
  • The Battle for the Coal Fields by Mike Kolhoff
  • Where We Stand: WSA Statement of Principles
  • Organization in an Independent Union: The Lansing Community College Workers Association by Mike Kolhoff
  • What is the Workers Solidarity Alliance?
  • Speaking of Action (WSA activities)
  • Reviews:
    • It Can Happen Here by Sharon
  • Rebel Legacies:
    • El Pueblo Unido: Popular Power in Revolutionary Chile, 1970-73 by Martin Comack [text]
  • No Borders!:
    • Workers Accelerate Withering Away of Chinese State by Ed Elhauge
    • The Beijing Autonomous Workers Federation by Trini Leung
    • Provisional Principles of Beijing Workers Federation
#13 — Spring 1990

  • Los Angeles Derailed: Why the System Degrades Public Transit by Tom Wetzel
  • Crisis in the “Communist Bloc”
  • Defending Abortion Rights
  • White Workers & Racism by Neil Farber [text]
#14 — Fall 1990

  • “White Skin Privilege”? by Wesley Harris
  • Response by Tom Wetzel
  • Labor Pains by Mike Harris
  • Poultry Processing: A Lesson in Labor Exploitation by Gizmo Stress
  • Hoosier Hysteria by Nick Keirn
  • Just say “No” to Mideast Intervention by Tom Wetzel
  • Environmentalists & Workers Unite by Mike Kolhoff
  • WSA Holds 7th National Convention by Mike Harris & Mike Kolhoff
  • Women in Workers Solidarity Alliance by Ginger Hutton
  • Redwood Summer: An Issues Primer by Bill Meyers
  • IWW/Earth First! Organizers Bombed by Bill Meyers
  • The Case Against the Auto by Tom Wetzel [text]
  • Self Management:
    • Worker Control in Melbourne by Mike Kolhoff
  • No Borders!:
    • International Labor News by Mike Harris
    • European Greens: The New Social Democracy by Philippe Pelletier
    • Anarchosyndicalism in Poland and Russia by Mike Harris
    • Russian anarchosyndicalist murdered from Black Flag
    • Declaration by Polish Anarchists
    • Bulgarian Anarchist Statement
#15 — Spring 1991

  • Letter from Brazil by Carlos Baqueiro
  • From Behind the Walls by Joseph Francis Salerno
  • On The Gulf War:
    • The dogs of ware are loose and hungry by Ivan Kalita
    • Opposition to the War in the Bay Area by Bill Meyers & Mike Kolhoff
    • Noam Chomsky on the War interview by Nick Keirn
    • Resistance in the Military by Mike Kolhoff
    • This Is Too High a Price to Pay for Oil! by International Workers Association
  • Labor Pains by Mike Harris
    • Creating Unity From Below
  • The Health Care Nightmare by Mike Kolhoff
    • Pioneer Health Centre
    • Free Clinics
  • Child Care: Interview with Anna Marie Stenberg by Bill Meyers
  • Farewell, Comrade! by Mike Kolhoff
  • Blues at the News: (Craft) Unionism at the Crossroads by Neal Farber
  • Reviews:
    • This’ll Kill Ya by J.G. Eccarius
    • In Search of the Warrior Spirit by J.G. Eccarius
    • Wonderful Life by J.G. Eccarius
  • No Borders!:
    • Free Women Network by Ashleigh
    • International Labor News by Mike Harris
  • The Reorganization of Work by Mike Kolhoff
#16 — Fall 1991

  • On Imperialist Barbarism & the Need for World Democracy by Tom Wetzel
    • 1 — The Destruction of Iraq: Why?
    • 2 — The Rise and Decline of the American Empire
    • 3 — Every Nation-State Is Imperialist By Nature
    • 4 — For National Autonomy within a World-wide Democracy
  • Labor Pains by Mike Harris
  • The Rail Strike that Wasn’t by Mike Harris
  • WSA Activist Jailed for Opposing the Oil War
  • The Bay Area Direct Action Network by Mike Kolhoff [scan]
  • San Francisco’s Queer Street Patrol by Ed Elhauge [scan]
  • WSA Convention Report by Ginger Hutton [scan]
  • Around WSA [scan]
  • Hoosier Hysteria Update by Nick Keirn [scan]
  • Requiem for Nick Keirn [scan]
  • Talking About WSA: An Interview with Ginger Hutton by Clare Cunningham & Trevor Blake
  • Where We Stand by WSA
  • Reviews:
    • Sexual Anarchy by Mike Kolhoff
    • Media Monopoly by J.G. Eccarius
    • Life on Earth by J.G. Eccarius
    • Peasant Revolt by J.G. Eccarius
    • Brave New World Order by Mike Kolhoff
    • Take My Rights, Please by Mike Kolhoff
  • No Borders!:
    • General Strike Rocks Tahiti by Bill Meyers
    • 70th Anniversary of Kronstadt Rebellion by Mike Harris [scan]
    • Caste and Class Struggle in Guatemala by Martin Comack
#17 — Winter 1997

  • Prison Labor in the USA
  • New Leaders for AFL-CIO
  • Scapegoating Immigrants
  • IWA News
  • Organizing Updates
  • Putting the Reins on Technology
  • Union Democracy
  • A Practical Approach to Fighting Racism
  • UC Clerical Workers Launch Independent Union
  • French Lesson
  • Pacifica Radio Tries to Bust Union
  • Schools For Profit Get an “F” for Failure
  • International News
  • International Campaign to And Awareness League
  • Cuban Anarchism
  • Living in the USA — Some Thoughts by Mike Harris
  • WSA information