Online text here.

Marx and the Trade Unions by A. Lozovsky. International Publishers, New York. 1935.

Contents: Preface, Introduction, Role of Trade Unions in the General Class Struggle of the Proletariat, Marx Against Proudhonism and Bakuninism, The Struggle against Lasalleanism and all other forms of German Opportunism, Marx and the Trade Union Movement in England, Marx and the Labour Movement in France, Marx and the United States, Marx and the Struggle for the Partial Demands of the Working Class, Marx and the Strike Movement, Pseudo-Marxists and the Trade Union Critics of Marx, Marx the Organiser of the Working Class, For Marxism-Leninism in the Trade Union Movement. 186 pages.

Solomon (Alexander) Lozovsky (1878-1952) was born Samuil Abramovich Dridzo in Ukraine and first joined the Russian Social Democratic and Labor Party in 1901 and became a rail workers organizer. Arrested, imprisoned and then exiled to Kazakhstan, he joined the newly formed Bolshevik wing in 1904. Arrested again in 1905 for a raid on a police station, Lozovsky was imprisoned between 1906 and 1908 and sentenced to exile in Irkutsk, but escaped on the way and made it to Paris, where he lived until 1917. While there, he stood outside of the disputes in within the Russian exiles and was expelled from the Bolsheviks in 1914 for supporting co conciliation with the Mensheviks and others. He rejoined the Bolsheviks after returning to Russia in 1917, but again found himself in violation of discipline and was again expelled in January, 1918 for supporting a ‘unity’ government with the Mensheviks. Reinstated in 1919, he remained loyal for the rest of his life, playing important roles in the Party and International. Most importantly, he was General Secretary of the Red International of Labor Unions (Profintern) from 1921-1937, Soviet deputy minister of foreign affairs from 1939-1943, and a member of ECCI Presidium from 1926-1935. On January 26, 1949 Lozovsky was arrested for ‘Bourgeois Nationalism” stemming from his organizing of Jewish anti-fascist partisans during World War Two. Tried, Lozovsky refused to plead guilty, maintained his innocence, and strenuously defended his actions. Found guilty, Alexander Lozovsky was shot on August 12, 1952 at the age of 74. He was ‘rehabilitated” in 1956.

International Publishers was formed in 1923 for the purpose of translating and disseminating international Marxist texts and headed by Alexander Trachtenberg. It quickly outgrew that mission to be the main book publisher, while Workers Library continued to be the pamphlet publisher of the Communist Party.

PDF of original book: https://www.marxists.org/archive/lozovsky/1935/marx-trade-unions.pdf