The Tasks of the Working Class in 2025
The Louisville Workers Brigade
12/1/2024
The political landscape in this country is dire. This is not a new situation spurred by Trump’s election, but his victory certainly makes the path forward more difficult. Many folks, especially those in marginalized communities, are scared, disillusioned, and disheartened. These feelings are valid and based in the material conditions working and oppressed people find ourselves in. Now, however, is not the time to despair; instead, now is the time to organize.
Before we outline the most pressing tasks facing the working class, particularly the working class of the United States, we want to outline what is at stake. We want to impress upon our readers the crucial necessity of getting organized and active by briefly summarizing the consequences facing humanity if working and oppressed people do not band together in solidarity to force change. No longer can we cling to the unspoken slogan of “Let the future generations deal with the problems facing our world.” The working and oppressed peoples of the world stand at a crossroads, and we must decide how we are to proceed.
Right now, as you read this, a human being is rotting away in a decrepit prison cell, daily exposed to untold horrors including physical, emotional, and sexual abuse, isolation, and a bleak lack of access to basic human necessities like proper healthcare. As you read this, a mother who works three jobs is preparing a meal for her children, only to find out there’s not enough for her. As you read this, a child is watching their family get evicted because their father lost his job a few months back.
Tonight, a young person who was preyed upon by Big Pharma will die of an accidental opioid overdose, having struggled with substance use since they were first introduced to opioids as a high schooler years ago. Tonight, a family in Gaza will take shelter under their shared bed as the destruction of fire and fury reign down upon them, compliments of the United States of America. Tonight, a transwoman, just walking home from her job, will be taunted, beaten, and possibly murdered.
Somewhere, right now, in the “land of the free,” a Black man is getting stopped by police, his car surrounded, the cops ordering him out of the vehicle at the barrel of a gun, all just because he had a taillight out. Somewhere, right now, in the “home of the brave,” a worker courageous enough to begin organizing their workplace is being called into a captive audience meeting with their boss. Somewhere, right now, in the “land of liberty,” a woman is contemplating suicide because she was raped, impregnated, and has no ability or resources to procure an abortion.
In a single day, in a single hour, how many working and oppressed people are suffering, dying? How many people will lose their youthful vibrancy, their optimism, their goodhearted nature, finally succumbing to the never-ending assault of exploitation and oppression? How many of you, our readers, are in these predicaments, or ones similar, overwhelmed with depression, anxiety, despair, loneliness, and loss, thinking, sometimes, that the barrel of a gun or a bottle of pain pills might be a better route than continuing to trudge along this pathway of increasing degradation that our society so disgustingly calls “the American Dream”?
The organizers of the Louisville Workers Brigade keep all of these things in our hearts and minds in everything we do. We know the suffering of the working and oppressed masses because we experience these things ourselves, to greater or lesser degrees. The threats of climate change and imperialist wars can certainly mean the wholesale devastation of humanity—and we must tirelessly organize around these crucial issues—but we must also not lose sight of the day-to-day, intimate struggles of the people around us in our community. There is so much that working and oppressed people have in common with one another. Right now, under our present economic ordering, suffering under exploitation and oppression is the most obvious and overriding common denominator.
But it doesn’t need to be this way. A new world is possible. This new world is not guaranteed, however. It requires struggle.
So, what are the tasks facing the working class in 2025? This will be the topic of discussion for the Brigade and our publication, The Class Struggle Chronicle, during the entire month of December. In short, the old motto of Educate, Agitate, and Organize pretty much sums it up.
To begin, working and oppressed people must educate themselves. If it weren’t already abundantly clear, working class history and ideology are not taught under our present economic ordering. This is not a slam against educators, of course; teachers are some of the most exploited workers in U.S. society. Instead, this is a condemnation of our system and the owning class bureaucracy that enforces the hegemony of our exploiters and oppressors. To counter this systemic injustice, workers must study! This means that workers must study labor history, the struggles of various liberation movements, economic and political theory. This is not limited to studying books and other forms of literature, though those formats are the most accessible and diverse. Working and oppressed people should also seek out films, documentaries, YouTube channels, audiobooks, and even music that tells our class’s history and struggles.
Working and oppressed people must also seek to disrupt the status quo through meaningful resistance measures. Organize a union at your workplace or join a tenants’ union. Start or join a mutual aid group. Link up with a working class organization. If you’re already a union member, get involved in your local and area labor council. Seek out groups who are actively fighting for Black, Queer, women’s, and indigenous liberation. Attend your local labor solidarity actions, antifascist rallies, and educational events. Get involved… however you can!
Lastly, begin building working class power. This entails the establishment of a working class party that serves our class interests. This entails the destruction of the divisions which separate working and oppressed people from one another. Seek out left-progressive groups and forces near you and begin to build coalitions for liberation.
As we said, we’ve dedicated the entire month of December to presenting some ideas, some “New Year’s Resolutions,” if you will, for working and oppressed people leading into the new year. We’ve dive into some of the ideas presented in this article, offering resources and pointers that we hope you’ll make use of. This will be accomplished here in The Class Struggle Chronicle, but also on our social media pages and in our Educational Presentation for the month. Please subscribe to our publication on our website, give us a follow on Facebook and Instagram, and subscribe to our YouTube channel and click the bell for notifications… most importantly, educate, agitate, and organize! Get involved and let’s begin tackling the tasks facing working and oppressed people in 2025!
Solidarity Forever, Fellow Workers!