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The Communist University meets this evening at 17h00 in the Women’s Jail, 1 Kotze Street, Constitution Hill, to discuss Chapter 4 part C of “What is to be Done” by V I Lenin. This work makes very clear the difference between a trade union and a political party, and hence the general difference between the mass, the party, and the class. It should also begin to make clear the unique nature, as a class, of the proletarian workers. This class sells its labour power, produces surplus value (thereby maintaining capital) and is organised in turn by capital, as well as exploited by it. The linked short piece on trade unions by Dominic Tweedie from the forthcoming Umsebenzi (by permission) on trade unions may assist in understanding this general relationship, or at least part of it. In the next session (June 30th, same time and place), we will look at Capital Volume 1, Chapter 1 (see link below) by Karl Marx, and after that proceed to Marx’s “Value Price and Profit”, so as to understand the question of surplus value more precisely. Having understood the unique position of the modern working-class proletariat, we should be in a better position to differentiate between it and its allies (which are not identical with itself). The communist parties have always advocated alliances. That is the reason why the SACP’s symbol, like many other communist parties, is the hammer and the sickle. The hammer represents the proletarian working class. The sickle represents the petty-bourgeois peasantry, and by extension, the urban petty-bourgeois poor. This alliance is not optional. It is essential if the workers are to achieve their aims. The Communist University is still crippled. Telkom keeps promising, but has done nothing to repair the connection we rely on. Anyone who wishes to help could call (free) 0800 375 375, and press 3 (“to check progress of a fault”). Then give the reference 23ARK180606 and ask them when it is going to be fixed. Click on this link: Trade Unions, Dominic Tweedie, Umsebenzi June 2006 (388 words) Capital, Volume1, 01, Commodities and Money, parts 1, 2 and 4, Marx, 1867 (9044 words)