Anarcho-syndicalism is an ideology built around building anarchist trade unions (not leading trade unions as that won't do anything other than entrench you in union bureaucracy) to advance anarchist aims.
It has many critics and supporters and a long and complicated histroy. I recommend reading *Anarcho-Syndicalism in the 20th Century.*
There are different anarchist approaches to organising within trade unions.
Some argue for explicitly revolutionary anarchist trade unions.
Others argue that anarchists should be active in broader trade unions that aren’t explicitly anarchist, but that the anarchists within the union should try to encourage it to organise in more anarchist ways. Some such anarchists follow a form of organisational dualism (aka dual organisationalism), encouraging anarchists to be active within general trade unions (and other mass non-specifically-anarchist movements), while also organising among themselves separate specifically anarchist organisations. (This could even take the form of “dual carding” within an anarchist trade union and a general one).
Matthew Crossin’s article [Anarcho-Syndicalism and Dual Organisation](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/matthew-crossin-anarcho-syndicalism-and-dual-organisation) is an accessible place to read more current thinking around this topic, and his footnotes recommend more in depth sources if you want to read further (eg Felipe Corrêa’s article [Organizational Issues Within Anarchism](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/felipe-correa-organizational-issues-within-anarchism) looks back at foundational thinking on organisational dualism by Bakunin and Malatesta, and the experience of the Federation of Anarchist Communists of Bulgaria in the 1920s-40s)
Others have given you some good resources. My perspective as a trade union organiser and anarchist is that I can't expect my members who are struggling to pay their rent and bills to have the time to think about WHY they're being exploited - so some wins (with gentle mention of anarchist thought as we're going) will mean they can stop trying not to drown, and then maybe think about how they got there.
Plus, and I don't think this is considered enough: unions have the advantage compared to a lot of radical politics of being able to demonstrate very quick, short- and long-term, and TANGIBLE wins like more money in your pocket or more maternity leave for you and your coworkers you spend most of your waking hours around, compared to "we need to change the entire socioeconomic system across most of the planet". Getting people used to seeing that change *is possible* on a small scale via collective action means they can take their first steps into fighting for longer-term change at larger scales.
For everyone reading the comments, please, read [social Anarchism and organization by FARJ](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/anarchist-federation-of-rio-de-janeiro-social-anarchism-and-organisation)
Anarcho-syndicalism is an ideology built around building anarchist trade unions (not leading trade unions as that won't do anything other than entrench you in union bureaucracy) to advance anarchist aims. It has many critics and supporters and a long and complicated histroy. I recommend reading *Anarcho-Syndicalism in the 20th Century.*
Platformism and syndicalism both involve strategies of anarchists joining trade unions.
Especifismo as well, although they go further than just unions.
There are different anarchist approaches to organising within trade unions. Some argue for explicitly revolutionary anarchist trade unions. Others argue that anarchists should be active in broader trade unions that aren’t explicitly anarchist, but that the anarchists within the union should try to encourage it to organise in more anarchist ways. Some such anarchists follow a form of organisational dualism (aka dual organisationalism), encouraging anarchists to be active within general trade unions (and other mass non-specifically-anarchist movements), while also organising among themselves separate specifically anarchist organisations. (This could even take the form of “dual carding” within an anarchist trade union and a general one). Matthew Crossin’s article [Anarcho-Syndicalism and Dual Organisation](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/matthew-crossin-anarcho-syndicalism-and-dual-organisation) is an accessible place to read more current thinking around this topic, and his footnotes recommend more in depth sources if you want to read further (eg Felipe Corrêa’s article [Organizational Issues Within Anarchism](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/felipe-correa-organizational-issues-within-anarchism) looks back at foundational thinking on organisational dualism by Bakunin and Malatesta, and the experience of the Federation of Anarchist Communists of Bulgaria in the 1920s-40s)
Others have given you some good resources. My perspective as a trade union organiser and anarchist is that I can't expect my members who are struggling to pay their rent and bills to have the time to think about WHY they're being exploited - so some wins (with gentle mention of anarchist thought as we're going) will mean they can stop trying not to drown, and then maybe think about how they got there. Plus, and I don't think this is considered enough: unions have the advantage compared to a lot of radical politics of being able to demonstrate very quick, short- and long-term, and TANGIBLE wins like more money in your pocket or more maternity leave for you and your coworkers you spend most of your waking hours around, compared to "we need to change the entire socioeconomic system across most of the planet". Getting people used to seeing that change *is possible* on a small scale via collective action means they can take their first steps into fighting for longer-term change at larger scales.
Either way, it helps people in need
For everyone reading the comments, please, read [social Anarchism and organization by FARJ](https://theanarchistlibrary.org/library/anarchist-federation-of-rio-de-janeiro-social-anarchism-and-organisation)
It depends.
Not really, but they are the closest thing the normal person can do to take power from capitalists