A view from Britain on LP Convention

[Adam Rose <adam@xxxxxxxx>]

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>From notes@xxxxxxx Sat Jun 29 09:08:22 1996
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Date: 28 Jun 1996 06:05:44
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Subject: A view from Britain on LP Convention
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From: Alastair Wilson <100723.2363@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: A view from Britain on LP Convention

This article is published in the July edition of Socialist Appeal, a journal
published by trade unionists and members of the Labour Party in Britain. The
article is written by Rob Sewell member of the British LAbour Party and
fraternal delegate to the LP Founding Convention.
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"I declare the American Labor Party founded"

"This is war. We have dug in our heels and we will not surrender." With these
words of defiance, Margaret Trimmer-Hartley speaking on behalf of the 2,000
striking newspaper workers in Detroit, brought the founding Labor Party
Convention in Cleveland to its feet.

An older trade unionist from Chicago approached the microphone and began playing
on his harmonica the old union anthem, "Solidarity Forever". The whole
Convention spontaneously erupted to the sound. Every delegate linked arms in a
show of strength and unity. It served to sum up the whole mood of jubilation and
determination that everyone present was carving out a new heroic chapter in the
history of the American working class.

The packed hall of over 1,400 delegates from 44 American states was surrounded
by huge portraits of past class struggles from the Knights of Labour to the
recent battles of the mineworkers. The response to the call to build an American
Labor Party was overwhelming and the organisers were forced to shift the venue
at short notice to a much bigger place. "It was a lot bigger than I expected",
said Jerry Tucker who leads the broad left New Directions Movement in the United
Auto Workers. Tony Mazzocchi, a leader of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers
and key figure in the campaign to form a Labor Party, said: "Ninety percent or
more of the people here are trade unionists elected by their unions as
delegates. You look at any alternative convention in the post war period and
they're mostly self-selected."

The union delegates at the Convention represented a combined membership of
nearly two million workers nationwide. The mood of anticipation at the founding
Convention burst into a standing ovation as Robert Clark, General
Secretary-Treasurer of the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of
America announced the official opening of the Convention. The feeling was
electric. "Sister got to go down, Brother got to go down, Got to build this
Labor Party right now" was the general refrain. It represented the fresh radical
new beginnings of America's political working class movement and was a great
harbinger for its future development.

"The time has come to say clearly and simply... we work for a living, we get
dirty... but we know what's happening to us as people and the people we
represent. Enough is enough... We're going to organise a political party that
represents the working class in this country... We are going to organise to take
our country back." With these words Robert E. Wages, President of the Oil,
Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union opened his keynote speech to the
assembled delegates. "There are more of us than there are of them... if we
organise ourselves we can reclaim the political power that has been stolen from
us.... For 100 years, organised labor was the only force against organised
bosses, of organised Capital... If we believe we are powerless, we will be
powerless. But we need to give voice to those who want a voice. We will give
voice and power to the working people of this country who need it and desire
it." He stated he was against those union leaders who wanted to be "joined to
the hip of the Democratic Party. We need to take our message to the rank and
file of the unions of this country." He went on to pose a choice: either we have
"a society run by the money- class or those who make it run everyday. We are not
going to sell out to the bosses." Brother Wages talked of the need to organise a
million workers into the Labor Party: "It's going to be a long road. But if not
now, when? If not here, where? If not us, who?"

It was a clarion call to all American workers. And was followed by Jim Hightower
former Texas Commissioner of Agriculture: "Who fights for the interests of the
working class? Not the Republicans or Democrats. They're sleeping with Wall
Street, but you and me are getting screwed. It is the working class who speaks
for the working class. It is time we stood up and fought. Six out of ten did not
vote in 1994. We have to start new politics in this country." He went on to
shout out "Organise! Organise! Organise!" and "Agitate! Agitate! Agitate!" which
soon brought the loudest cheers from the Convention floor. "They say we're a
bunch of labor agitators" he went on "Damn right we are! Just remember, the
agitator is the centre of the washing machine that gets the dirt out. And not a
moment too soon. They got the fat cats, but we've got the ally cats. And there
are more ally cats...." He ended by quoting the veteran labor activist and
Socialist Mother Jones who fought with the mineworkers: My advice to you is: "We
need to raise less corn and more hell!"

In the afternoon is was unanimously decided to suspend the Convention business
and  show our solidarity with local authority workers whose job contracts had
been attacked by the Mayor of Cleveland, Michael Wright. Thousands of us joined
an AFL/CIO rally outside City Hall spilling out across the road and blocking all
rush-hour traffic. Workers  chanted slogans demanding the Mayor come down.
"Bring him down!", "Union!" and "No peace, no justice!" shook the whole area.
Then union leaders gave militant speeches attacking the Mayor who had been
elected on the votes of working people, and in the words of Bro. Wages "he
kicked them in the teeth... that shows you why we need a Labor Party in this
country."

It was soon discovered that this rat of a Mayor had scuttled away to his nearby
hotel for safety. The rally soon turned into a march on the hotel. Shouting
slogans and singing union songs this body of trade unions broke through the
doors of the hotel and hundreds occupied the down stairs lobby - to the horror
of the impotent management! The noise of the chanting was deafening. The police
were no where to be seen. In fact, along with his threatened colleagues in the
fire department, Bob Beck, president of the Cleveland Police Patrolmen's
Association, participated in the protest action! When it was clear the Mayor had
escaped by the back door, the protesters  left to talk to the press and media -
which gave the demonstration full coverage.

This gives you a clear indication of the militant fresh mood that dominated the
proceedings of the Convention. In the heated debates over constitution and
programme the most controversial items centred around the issue of clearly
breaking with the Democratic Party, standing Labor candidates and the wording
over abortion. The key slogan of Labor Party Advocates was: "The bosses have two
parties, we need one of our own." The vast majority of members are wedded to
this idea. Nevertheless, differences arose over approach and tactics.

There were the more radical delegates from the chapters (branches) of the LPA
who argued passionately that the Party must completely break from the idea of
being a pressure group on the Democrats as some leaders had suggested. "The
Republicans and Democrats are the party of Fords, General Motors, DuPonts -
that's what they represent", stated Eric Lerner from New Jersey in a forceful
contribution. "Are we going to merely be a pressure group?" he continued.
"Saying we are the Labor Party is not enough. We must be one. We must break
definitively with the Republicans and Democrats." This was linked to the need
for the party to stand candidates and engage in electoral activity to build its
organisation and carve out its political independence. While it was not yet
ready to fight a national election or presidential campaign, the party should
engage where they were strong enough in city, county or state elections.

The leadership were opposed to this line as unwise and unfeasible at this time.
They argued that the  AFL/CIO nationally supported the Democratic Party, and
until we build up then they will continue to do so. The newly elected national
AFL/CIO president John Sweeney, although he was in Cleveland, refused to attend
the Convention, arguing that "We should save the creation of a labor party to a
non-presidential (election) year." Bro. Mazzocchi told the Convention, "We are
arguing about how best to fight. What made this Convention possible was finance
>from the unions; our officials have been paid for by the unions. We have to 
>walk
before we can run... Two years or less is a whisper of time to create a fighting
force." Union funds which have so far bankrolled the Labor Party Advocates,
cannot be used for partisan political campaigns. It was not feasible he said to
stand because the new party had yet to organise a mass following and a grass
roots organisation.

Many of the trade union delegates, although sympathetic to standing electorally,
supported this position. "Running candidates immediately is pissing in the
wind", said one. "We are a fledgling organisation. We need to win not just
run... there are many other actions we can take to promote our cause, for
instance, participating in strikes, demonstrations, etc. Remember last year the
people in France shut down a whole country." Another delegate, referring to the
demonstration in Cleveland and the year long newspaper strike in Detroit,
argued: "We want more action. More City Halls, more Detroits..." He argued at
this time to build the Labor Party "on the streets and picket-lines" not through
elections.

In the end after a heated debate the leadership's position was passed, although
a sizable minority of the Convention favoured a measured electoral strategy. The
agreed motion, which was amended, was not to endorse or run candidates for two
years until an electoral commission would report to the next Convention and the
issue rediscussed in the light of  "recruiting and organising sufficient numbers
of workers with sufficient collective resources to take on an electoral system
dominated by corporations and the wealthy."  As one postal worker union delegate
>from Detroit who supported standing candidates told me: "Two years. Well I can
live with that." And that seemed to be the general mood. It is clearly an issue
that will not go away and will have to be faced up to sooner rather than later.

The Convention adopted a constitution and programme far more radical than the
British Labour Party. The preamble to the adopted constitution reads: "We are
the working people of the United States. We are the employed and the unemployed,
the native-born and the immigrant. We are the keepers of the American Dream of
equality, opportunity, and fairness. We do the work of building and sustaining
the nation, but we have little say in running the country." And ends with the
words "We believe in a country that honours and respects the rights of workers
in all other lands as well as our own." The Convention adopted a programme
entitled "A Call for Economic Justice" which states "We come together to create
this Labor Party to defend our interests and aspirations from the greed of
multinational corporate interests.... This is the struggle of our generation.
The future of our children and their children hangs in the balance. It is a
struggle we cannot afford to lose." Its first article recognises that "Corporate
America is systematically destroying millions of decent paying jobs for working
people. At the same time, the rich and powerful are leading an assault on the
public sector and demanding cutbacks in government jobs that provide services
for us all. As a result, there are not enough good jobs to go around. Our public
services are crumbling. Nearly one in four workers are either unemployed,
involuntary working part-time, or are working full-time at poverty -level
wages." As a consequence it proposes an amendment to the American constitution
guaranteeing every American worker "a job at a living wage - one that pays above
poverty-level wages and is indexed to inflation. And in today's world that comes
to about $10 an hour."

In relation to workers' rights, they demand "repeal of the anti-worker
Taft-Hartley Amendments" and "all scabbing must be banned." The party favours
full rights for all, and "will tolerate no discrimination or other form of
injustice based on race, gender, ethnicity, disability, national origin, age,
creed, sexual orientation, or native tongue." It stands for a universal
single-payer health  programme, a 32-hour, 4-day week "without loss of pay or
benefits", no compulsory overtime, overtime at double pay, one years paid leave
for every seven years of work, mandatory minimum pensions for all workers,
subsidised high quality child care and elder care for all who need it, all
public education, against privatisation and contracting out of public services,
and "worker inspectors" to check and enforce health and safety standards.
"We oppose NAFTA and GATT in their current forms. We also reject narrowly
nationalistic solutions to trade imbalances that scapegoat our fellow workers in
other countries... Our Labor Party will actively promote a strategy of
international solidarity and cooperation with labor movements and labor parties
in other nations to confront the global attack on our environment and living
conditions. We oppose all policies instituted by corporate-dominated lending
institutions like the World Bank that force developing nations to lower the
wages of their workers."

On the basis of such a programme which addresses the needs and aspirations of
American workers, the American Labor Party can galvanise the support  of
millions that face brutal attacks by the corporations and those who are
struggling daily to make ends meet. American society is one of the most
polarised in the Western world. The contrasts between rich and poor are very
stark. In Britain the top 1% of the population owns 18% of the personal wealth;
in the USA the top 1% owns around 40% of the wealth. This means, given the
growing bankruptcy of the two major parties of big business, the Republicans and
Democrats, the potential for the Labor Party is enormous. If it takes its
message in a bold fashion to the working class of America, it will not take 100
years to establish a mass labour party as in Britain and on the European
continent. Every rapidly the American working class can catch up in mighty
leaps, and on a very radical programme, outstrip its European brothers and
sisters. Such a development would mean an historic break-through. It would shake
the foundations of Corporate America and create shock waves throughout the
entire world. The potentially mighty American Labor Movement once it takes this
step of rising to its feet will be a world shattering event. It can move very
rapidly into the vanguard of the struggle for a new society in America and
internationally. All the indications point to this founding Convention of the
American Labor Party as the beginning of organised labour's giant step.

Baldemar Velazquez, representing the Farm Labor Organising Committee (FLOC),
which campaigns to organise workers on farms producing for the giant monopolies
Cambell's and Vlasic's, summed up the Convention with the words: "Brothers and
sisters, you have no idea what an historic occasion this is, such hope and such
expectation.... We are witnessing a reordering of the forces that will shake
this world, based on the people who roll up their sleeves and go to work every
day." Many of the delegates who attended this founding of the American Labor
Party believe this to be true.

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Socialist Appeal
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phone: +44 171 251 10 94
fax: +44 171 251 10 95
email: 100723.2362@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
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