By Jacques Hanon
“From the outset, Cardijn placed the ‘worker issue’ in its international context. Only a powerful global movement would bring about the collective liberation of the working class.”
It is a fact that the international dimension of the YCW project has been present right from the start.
Cardijn, as a priest in the parish of Notre-Dame de Laeken, created the 1st group of young women workers in 1912. But it should be noted that, immediately after his ordination in 1906, he began studying, not Religious Sciences or Theology, but Political and Social Sciences at the Catholic University of Leuven. He was fascinated by the concrete study of reality through investigative work, and made study trips, notably to Great Britain, the 1st industrial power of the time, to study the living and working conditions of workers and how they organized themselves.
Immediately after the First World War, in 1919, he founded the “Jeunesse syndicaliste” (Young Trade Unionist), which focused on training young people. In 1925, the “YCW-Young Christian Workers” was officially recognized.
Cardijn's mission for the movement was the emancipation of every “Young Worker” through the revolutionary “See-Judge-Act” method, which starts from the reality to change it, and from the “Among them, by them, for them” which places the Young Worker as the central actor in his or her personal and collective emancipation.
The key point was to demand absolute respect for the dignity of young people: “Every young worker is worth more than all the gold in the world”, and to contribute to the collective liberation of the working class!
From the outset, Cardijn placed the “worker issue” in its international context. Only a powerful global movement would bring about the collective liberation of the working class.
Headquartered in the so-called “Centrale Jociste” (YCW Center) near Brussels South Station, with a giant statue of the “Young Worker” on the roof greeting people from all over the world, the movement included not only Belgian YCW offices but also an “International Service”.
The YCW soon spread to France, other European countries and the so-called “overseas” countries. Its expansion was mainly driven by missionaries and young “extension workers.”
In 1935, the YCW celebrated its 10th anniversary and organized a gathering boldly entitled the “World Congress of the Young Christian Workers”, which took place in Brussels and whose poster showed the globe with Brussels at its center!
The International YCW, representing the Young Christian Workers throughout the world, was set up in 1945.
And as early as 1946, the International YCW obtained consultative status with various international institutions such as UNESCO! Recognition by the Holy See came only after some hesitation, in 1957.
The YCW expanded to every continent: the world meeting in Rome in 1957 brought together YCW members from 91 countries!
The Belgian and European movements were “protagonists”, leading players.
Gradually, however, a new equilibrium began to emerge: in the different continents, the movement lived in social, political and economic contexts marked in different ways by the development of the capitalist system.
In the 1960s (Bangkok International Council in 1965, International Seminar and Training Course in Chile in 1968, Beirut International Council in 1969... and Cardijn's death in 1967), the movements in the Americas and Asia, strongly marked by the harsh context of class struggles, oriented the movement towards a more radical social struggle.
Cardijn was an enthusiastic visionary, and his vision transcended all boundaries of geography, race, culture, religion and gender.... What mattered to him fundamentally was the “Young Worker”, whoever he or she might be, and training him or her to become a central player in the collective liberation of the working class.
The internationality of the YCW has been present since its origins. Today, it is embodied by the International YCW. It is a fundamental dimension of militant training and an enormous opportunity to broaden horizons, analysis and action, and to contribute to the struggle of the workers' movement worldwide.
Photo : Colloquy 2016 - The internationality of the movement: representatives of many generations of YCW activists! From the beginning to the present day, working together for the future of young workers!
