Building a Strong Labor Movement
The Editors of The Class Struggle Chronicle
9/1/2024
What makes a strong labor movement?
The answer is multifaceted.
To start, a strong labor movement is built upon a solid foundation of working class solidarity. This type of solidarity must reach across all social divides that have eroded unity among working people, including gender, sexuality, ethnicity and race, immigration status, and religion. Bridges must be built among members within the same union, between different departments, shifts, and workplaces; they must be built between members of different unions; they must be built between the organized and the unorganized. Working class solidarity must embrace the unemployed, the incarcerated, and the student. It must embrace the so called “skilled” and “unskilled” workers. It must embrace a social unionism that fights for the liberation of oppressed communities, both here and internationally. It must seek the organization of every segment of our class.
A strong labor movement must also serve as a vehicle for the education of the working masses. Organized labor must teach the history of working people that our current education system does not. Workers must understand the components of what constitutes society—encompassing the political, economic, social, and cultural aspects—to understand how our present ordering operates against the interests of working people. Then, understanding how our current system serves the interests of our oppressors and exploiters, working people must become further class conscious and politically advanced to begin organizing for a new ordering which will serve the interests of our class.
A strong labor movement must be thoroughly democratic, embracing the contributions, perspectives, and experiences of the rank-and-file. No longer can the conservative, complacent old guard collect heavy salaries while the everyday working person has no say in the affairs of their union and labor federation. Union leaders must put the needs of their members first, inviting active internal discussion and debate. Local unions, labor councils, and other working class bodies must pursue a trajectory of ever greater rank-and-file participation, viewing each worker as an organizer and empowering them to fight for their demands.
A strong labor movement must be strategic in utilizing every available means of struggle. This does not mean that workers should go on wildcat strikes at the drop of a hat, but it does mean that direct action and work stoppages should no longer be relegated to a minority of unions, industries, and workplaces. As opposed to the conservative, unimaginative thinking that characterizes many modern labor bodies, a strong labor movement must analyze each situation, each development, and must creatively work out strategies to combat the perpetual attacks launched by the owning class.
A strong labor movement must break ties with owning class-controlled political parties. In pursuit of a world where working people hold power, organized labor must seek the construction of a working class party that serves our class interests. Working people themselves must constitute every level of such a political party and the leadership of such a party must represent the most politically advanced, class conscious workers within our society. Once established, this working class party must avoid all collaboration with the owning class and must collectively present a platform directly aiming for the liberation of all working and oppressed people.
The Louisville Workers Brigade firmly believes that the historical development of humankind demonstrates that the transition to a new phase of human societal evolution, free of exploitation and oppression, must be led by working people in the struggle against the owning class. This movement, as we’ve stated, must incorporate the demands of all oppressed communities and liberation struggles. By centering the fight against the tyranny of the owning class in the workplaces, we are able to tie these seemingly disparate struggles together into a coherent and complete analysis. Though the working class is diverse in all sorts of ways, the unifying force that binds us together as a class is the exploitation we all experience as our labor is transformed into the obscene wealth of our exploiters.
We believe the of building a strong labor movement is of urgent importance. The march of climate change, the devastation of imperialist wars, the increasing repression of marginalized communities, and the growing social calamities and ills that plague our society dictate our timetable. People are suffering and dying. The struggles of more and more working and oppressed people illustrate that our human race can no longer entertain complacency, delays, and lethargy. The cries of the overworked, exhausted, downtrodden, forgotten, and anguished masses must stir our class into resolute, determined, and militant action. Anyone with eyes to see and ears to hear can attest to ruin our class endures each and every day.
We are under no illusions that the work before us will be simple and easy. We recognize that, in our present society, the chips are stacked against us. Nevertheless, we believe that through the collective and united action of working and oppressed people, a new world can be realized. By building a strong labor movement—steeped in class struggle, social, and solidarity unionism—working people can secure economic, political, social, and cultural power for our class. Then we can finally leave the era of human beings exploiting other human beings for profit in the dustbin of history where it belongs.