Although, to say that everything is finally calm and nice would be an exaggeration. Even among the syndicalists there¼s no absolute peace and understanding. the growth in the number of syndicalist groups is achieved mainly through splits - currently we have several „national¾ and „regional¾ networks that struggle to become representatives of „genuine¾ anarcho-syndicalism. While the oldest of these organizations, the Confederation of Anarcho-Syndicalists (KAS), is not formerly disbanded, its local groups tend to mingle with other anarchists or create regional syndicalist organizations. Thus in Siberia KAS activists established the Siberian Confederation of Labor which is looking forward to working as a syndicalist union rather than just a propaganda group.
In Ukraine, after long discussions, some groups that were previously in various anarchist networks adopted the principles of the International Workers Association (AIT/ IWA) and established the Revolutionary Confederation of Anarcho-Syndicalists (RKAS). Maybe their main difference with the other pro-IWA organization -Confederation of Revolutionary Anarcho-Syndicalists (KRAS) (formerly part of IREAN/ FRAN also known as „Friends of the IWA¾) (* since publication of article, KRAS was accepted as an IWA section, with some scandal) - is that the latter stands for immediate affiliation with the IWA, while the former wants to establish a strong anarcho-syndicalist organization first. While the Ukrainians tend to be rather serious about who joins their organization, KRAS is welcoming everybody even if this or that group was not calling itself anarcho-syndicalist before.
To sum up the situation, I would say that unfortunately the question that for several years was effectively avoided by anarcho-syndicalists in this country (and for good reason, I think) was finally introduced into the anarcho-syndicalist movement here and had pretty disastrous effects. That is the question about whether or not to take sides in the split between the IWA and the rest of the syndicalist movement. I think I made my and my comrades¼ point quite clear in the letter that was printed in LLR and other papers a couple of years ago; it was once again stated by the Siberian activists - we are not opposed to cooperation with different revolutionary syndicalist organizations, but think that taking sides in this conflict would only harm our movement. Unfortunately, it seems that comrades from KRAS keep on trying to concentrate the debates on this entirely organizational questions, leaving no time and energy to discuss more vital and basic problems. One can only hope that these debates won¼t lead to interpersonal fights that in the former USSR usually take the place of discussions.
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