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How did anarcho-syndicalism connect trade unions with anarchist goals?

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Red anarchy symbol, a capital letter A inside a circle, painted with rough brush strokes on a white background. — anarchism The “circle-A,” a common anarchist symbol.

Anarcho-syndicalism connected trade unions with anarchist goals by transforming them from organizations focused solely on wages and working conditions into militant vehicles for social revolution.1

Anarchists infiltrated trade unions, particularly local labor exchanges known as bourses du travail, to gain a mass following and promote their ideology. They argued that unions should serve a dual function:1
* As an organ of struggle: Acting as a militant force within the existing political system to challenge capitalism and the state through incessant conflict and the general strike.1
* As an organ of administration: Serving as the structure through which workers would manage factories and utilities following the revolution.1

By advocating for workers' control of industry, anarcho-syndicalists sought to replace state and capitalist authority with a system managed directly by the workers themselves. This strategy allowed anarchism to expand from a small minority movement into one with significant influence among the working class in countries like France, Spain, and Italy.12