The Campaign for a Mass Party of Labor

06/14/2016

A golden opportunity in 2016 to connect the labor movement with a radicalized, youthful mass movement for basic social change has been missed by the leadership of the American labor unions. Popular disgust with the establishment and its parties could have been channeled into founding a new political party, based on the power of the unions, and armed with a program for rebuilding society on a socialist basis.

Instead, the organized support of labor will be bestowed once again upon the favored candidate of Wall Street, the Koch brothers, WalMart, and the rest of the 1%. This time, however, the endorsement is not likely to be met with much enthusiasm among the union ranks. Conditions for US workers have only gotten worse during the "recovery" from the 2008 Great Recession, and another downturn is surely on the way. The next administration will be a regime of crisis, and those who support it are tying their futures to a sinking ship.

The nation’s largest federation of labor unions is preparing to endorse Hillary Clinton for president next week, giving her campaign a boost from one of the Democratic Party’s key constituencies and turning away from Bernie Sanders.

12/04/2015

Thursday, Dec 3, 2015, 5:01 pm The Entire Labor Movement Should Be Paying Attention to Wisconsin’s Kohler Strike BY Joe Burns Share TweetReddit0 StumbleUpon0EmailPrint Email this article to a friend your email your name recipient(s) email (comma separated) message captcha If unions are going to surv…

11/28/2015

With the left turn in the British Labour Party announced by the stunning victory of Jeremy Corbyn in the recent leadership election, and the flood of new and returning members into the party, inspired by the prospect for real change, the Fire Brigades Union is looking to reaffiliate.

Here is the lesson for US labor leaders: the fight for an authentic, independent party of labor, based on the strength of the unions, and armed with a socialist program, has the potential to invigorate and mobilize millions to transform politics permanently.

End all support for the candidates of the rich! End the cruel political monopoly of the two-party system! For a mass party of labor in the US!

The trade union that represents firefighters should re-affiliate with the Labour party now that it is led by Jeremy Corbyn, its general secretary has said. The Fire Brigades Union (FBU) has been independent from the Labour party after it disaffiliated during a pay dispute with the Government in 2004…

11/05/2015

A party running on a program for universal healthcare, abolition of student debt, 30 hour work week for 40 hours pay, a $25 minimum wage, and the nationalization of the major industries under workers' democratic control would probably generate some enthusiasm if the necessary union resources were put behind it.

Apathy, anger and frustration at the negative tone of the campaigns resulted in the lowest percentage of voter participation since 1942.

07/18/2015

There has been a backlash within the American Federation of Teachers Union over the move by President Randi Weingarten and the union Executive Board to endorse the Democratic Party candidacy of Hillary Clinton. Teachers have taken brutal blows to their wages and working conditions under Democratic administrations for years now, and in several cities have been fighting against school privatization schemes led by the Democrats. Now there is rumbling within the ranks to gain some control over the union's political direction.

WASHINGTON — Furious American Federation of Teachers members are demanding the union withdraw its endorsement of Hillary Rodham Clinton, calling it premature and undemocratic. “There was no interna...

07/11/2015

The Appalachian Left has endorsed the CMPL!

The Appalachian Left supports the Campaign for a Mass Party of Labor The vast majority of people living in the U.S. are part of the working class: we depend on wages and benefits linked to our jobs...

06/13/2015

This is a very important development and a great victory for organized labor and the working class in the US and around the world. There are several key lessons to be learned here:

- The labor movement showed solidarity across all of its sectors, which was the precondition for it's success here: in the past during the fight against trade deals, labor was atomized with only those unions with the most to lose (mainly, those in manufacturing) shouldering the responsibility of fighting to stop such legislation. NAFTA is the clearest example of this problem, which ended up contributing massively to American deindustrialization and a subsequent collapse in private-sector union membership. This time, all of the unions stuck together, including those in manufacturing, the public sector, the service sector, and so on. This is an important and very positive development.

- Labor flexed it's muscles, showing what it is able to accomplish if it applies itself. According to the article: "Since March, according to the A.F.L.-C.I.O., union members have held 650 events opposing the legislation. They have made about 160,000 phone calls to members of Congress and written more than 20,000 letters. The federation also produced digital ads, which have received more than 30 million views, aimed at several dozen members of Congress." While this isn't exactly the clearest expression of organized labor's power (which, in the last analysis, rests in its ability to shut down the economy at the point of production), it does show what can be accomplished if labor mobilizes even a fraction of its combined resources in a concerted and concentrated manner, coordinated by (in this case, relatively) decisive leadership.

- Finally, we need to remember that organized labor spent millions upon millions of dollars getting Barrack Obama - the main proponent of this bill which would have cost American workers and the labor movement so dearly had he succeeded in passing it - elected. Think about that. This is an absurd situation - the labor movement spending huge resources, both in terms of money and organizing capacity, getting a politician elected who they ultimately ended up having to fight tooth and nail on an issue which could have meant life or death for the American labor movement. If all of those resources had been mobilized, instead, to run candidates and build a party that genuinely represented the American working class and organized labor, we would be looking at a very different political climate in this country. With new left-wing workers' parties emerging to challenge the dominance of the capitalists' parties around the world, the American working class could finally get in on the game and build their own political expression in a decisive country for the global class struggle.

The labor movement’s unusual cohesion across various sectors of the economy helped derail the trade deal in Congress.

06/11/2015

Thousands of Chicago public school teachers and their backers marched down LaSalle Street early Tuesday evening, chanting "Fair contract now" after hearing speeches from union leaders.

06/10/2015

The SEIU is building the kind of worker power that it thinks will force fast food chains to the bargaining table of their own accord.

05/17/2015

No question about it: young adults, the segment of the population whose ideas will soon predominate in the work force, is decisively alienated from both ruling parties. Expansion of union organizing in the next period is inconceivable without a parallel shift towards real independent working class political action by union leaders.

"According to a Harvard University Institute of Politics poll of of Americans ages 18 to 29, 56 percent of the so-called millennials say President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats and Republicans are all responsible for the dysfunction in Washington. And 53 percent of millennials say they would recall and replace all 535 members of Congress today.

"Millennials disapprove of both parties in Congress by at least 60 percent. Thirty-five percent of respondents approve of congressional Democrats, compared with 60 percent who disapprove; 23 percent approve of congressional Republicans, with 72 percent disapproving."

Millennials are fed up with both parties in Washington, a new poll says.According to a Harvard University Institute of Politics poll of of Americans ages 18 to 29, 56 percent of the so-called millennials say President Barack Obama and congressional Democrats and Republicans are all responsible for t…

05/09/2015

New research shows that more young people view unions favorably, including even millennials who are conservative on political issues. It’s a promising trend that bodes well for the future if young people look to improve their conditions by organizing.