PARTISAN!

Riley M contrasts the tactics of mass mobilisation with those of insurrectionary-anarchism, with specific reference to the campaign against weapons manufacturers Electromold.

This writing is intended to be a reflection on the tactics of mass mobilisation in opposition to insurrectionary-anarchism rather than be targeted solely towards Electromold. This piece is also not meant to be an attack on the Electromold campaign or any groups or individuals that have been involved in the campaign; rather, it is my view of the best way forward for the group to continue to do great things. Since writing this, the anti-weapons campaign against Electromold has shifted towards a more productive direction, opposing insurrectionist ideas and building towards mass mobilisation. 

Since October 7th, the Australian left has engaged in many different campaigns against weapons manufacturing companies that support and profit off of the genocide in Palestine. Recently, this has included a campaign directed at the manufacturing company, Electromold. This has mainly been made up of pickets intended to block workers from entering the company, delaying the shifts in order to delay the manufacturing of weapons, with the end goal of putting enough financial pressure on Electromold to cut its weapons manufacturing contracts. These pickets have seen a variety of tactics, including first an entirely secretive picket, two public pickets, a hybrid picket in which a picket line was established by a secret group before the start of a public picket, and then another fully secret picket. Within this campaign, two strategies have pushed the direction of the pickets in somewhat opposing directions; this is between the idea of insurrectionism and that of a mass movement building. 

The first secret picket was considered a success, although a minor one, as it delayed shifts for a few hours until police arrived, at which point protesters left. However, in my opinion, this “success” was largely due to it being the first picket, with police and Electromold not knowing how to respond. Moreover, this cannot be considered a meaningful win against Electromold, as 4 hours of delays will ultimately have no impact. This tactic of secret pickets is also unsustainable and unable to aim any further than this picket achieved, as their lack of accessibility by those not already in the movement (relying on vouched members) prevents mobilisation, cutting off growth and the potential for new participants. Due to this, the campaign suffered from a lack of members. 

The public pickets (which looked more like rallies) were intended to address this by bringing new members into the movement through a publicly announced “picket” in order to give themselves a better chance against police, allowing them to delay for longer and more often. However, due to these pickets being announced publicly, the police would, at both pickets, establish a police line at the gate to Electromold, making them ineffective at stopping work in any meaningful way. As a result, these fully public pickets also fail to mobilise new people and bring them into the group, as they had arrived at a rally rather than a picket, which they did not intend on. This alienates attendants from the campaign due to a divide between the attendants of the secret pickets and the publicly attended pickets/rallies.  

To combat this, the campaign moved towards a hybrid picket in which around 30 vouched members would establish the picket before the publicly announced time. This proved an effective strategy as the campaign was able to establish the picket before the official start time, which was backed up by more people at the start time. However, due to lower numbers than expected (as SAlt pulled out), it was not long after PORT police arrived that they assaulted protesters with pepper spray and mounted police, breaking up the picket within around 15 minutes. While this picket was no more effective than any other picket in delaying work, it showed an effective method of growth for the movement as community members who heard of the picket through community engagement attended. This is the right direction for the campaign, as numbers are the key arena for delaying work. It will only be once a mass mobilisation against these arms manufacturers occurs, which has not been seen yet, that these contracts can be shut down. 

However, the campaign generally viewed this picket as a failure, due to the lack of work delays on that day as well as picketers being assaulted by police officers. As a result, the campaign has scrapped the hybrid picket method, believing that to avoid the police oppression they witnessed, they must rely on entirely secret pickets. This is a mistake, as while avoiding police assault is worthwhile, the police assault at the hybrid picket was due to it being the first attempt (as it was the first picket capable) of forming a picket against PORT police. It is a mistake to view the police repression as a failure of the hybrid method, as that was caused by the stance it took against police, which if desired to avoid police could have been avoided entirely. The hybrid picket method also relies on continued public actions and community outreach to mobilise more people and grow the campaign. 

As a result of the conclusion made by the campaign, the next and most recent picket was again fully secret and encouraged property damage, which was largely enacted by autonomous groups as the main invitees to the picket. This included taking pallets from the next-door factory and lighting two tires on fire on the road (and notably no damage to Electromold, only to our relations with the neighbouring workers). These insurrectionist actions are the direct cause of the secret picket tactic. Relying on secret pickets, they are not able to mobilise the numbers to have sufficient and regular delays, making property damage the only apparent way to apply effective economic pressure. However this approach of property damage without a mass mobilisation is one that will not effectively put pressure on Electromold as it is highly unsustainable. These are unsustainable as they increase the risk of the picketers to police arrests or assault while damaging our relations with local workers and community members who are affected by it. As a result, members will dwindle with this method, being burned out, arrested, or assaulted, and we will lose the public support of workers and community members, preventing any growth until the group collapses. 

If the group wishes to put an end to the weapons manufacturing contracts at Electromold, it must aim its disruptions more ambitiously, which can only be done through mass mobilisation. To do this, the campaign must:

• Put an end to the secret pickets, which cause more harm than good by isolating vouched members, which alienates the public and potential members. At the same time they damage relations with local workers as they rely on a focus of insurrectionist property damage.
• Put an end to publicly announced ‘pickets’ in which no attempt to form a picket is made.
• Replace the above-mentioned pickets with hybrid pickets or other picket tactics that are able to form a genuine picket, along with publicly announced rallies. 
• Work to mobilise workers and community members between each action through publicly facing engagement initiatives. This is now being taken up by the campaign through plans for community forums, moving the group in a really positive direction.