Collected Works of V. I. Lenin - Vol. 13 - From Marx to Mao

460TRADE-UNION NEUTRALITY 161In the previous issue of Proletary we published the resolutionof our Party Central Committee on trade unions. 162In reporting the resolution, Nash Vek 163 added that it hadbeen adopted unanimously in the C.C., as the Mensheviksvoted for it in view of the concessions it contains comparedwith the original Bolshevik draft. If this report is true (thedefunct Nash Vek was in general exceptionally well informedabout everything relating to Menshevism), it only remainsfor us to heartily welcome the big step towards united Social-Democraticactivity in such an important field as thetrade unions. The concessions referred to by Nash Vek arequite insignificant, and do not in the least affect the basicprinciples of the Bolshevik draft (which, incidentally, waspublished in Proletary, No. 17, October 20, 1907, alongwith a lengthy article in support of it, entitled “The TradeUnions and the Social-Democratic Party”).Our whole Party, consequently, has now recognised thatwork in the trade unions must be conducted not in the spiritof trade-union neutrality but in the spirit of the closestpossible relations between them and the Social-DemocraticParty. It is also recognised that the partisanship of the tradeunions must be achieved exclusively by S.D. work withinthe unions, that the S.D.’s must form solid Party units inthe unions, and that illegal unions should be formed sincelegal ones are impossible.There can be no doubt that Stuttgart has been stronglyinstrumental in bringing the two factions of our Partycloser together on the question of the nature of our workin the trade unions. The Stuttgart Congress resolution, asKautsky pointed out in his report to the Leipzig workers,