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Resolution Adopted by
The Labor Party's
First Constitutional Convention

More Labor
Party Campaigns

WHEREAS, we reconfirm our Founding Convention’s notion that this Party exists to build a powerful movement around a new agenda for working people, employed and unemployed, and that this requires us to engage hundreds of thousands of people in common political activities, electoral and non-electoral, year in-year out; and

WHEREAS, it is our Party’s intention to develop effective non-candidate/non-electoral political actions that will build this Party and turn our program into reality. To succeed, we must be clear-headed in our choice of issues upon which to base our campaigns, the tactics we develop to push forward each campaign, and the best uses of our limited resources; and

WHEREAS, Our Party exists to put forward and mobilize support for alternatives to the present corporate-dominated system; and

WHEREAS, this Party was established to build a movement that forces elected officeholders to address our issues as we define them; and

WHEREAS, this Party intends to contest for and eventually win and exercise government power, we can only do so by building a membership base which is large and well-organized enough to take on the vast power and wealth of the corporations; and

WHEREAS, the Party’s campaigns must advance these goals and engage the expertise, resources and talents of its members and affiliates and must meet strict and difficult criteria if we mean to accomplish what we have set out to do;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED:

1. That the Labor Party adopt the following criteria for selection of national campaigns: Campaigns should be

1. on issues which most clearly expose the differences between what working people — employed and unemployed — need and want compared to what the corporations need and want;

2. on issues which help us stimulate political involvement, recruit new members and build party organizations among all sectors of the population;

3. on issues which allow the Party to gather up and concentrate resources in a campaign which has clearly defined short and intermediate, as well as long-term goals.

4. on issues which allow the Party to make creative use of affiliates’ expertise and organizational capacities and the resources and talents available inside the Party.

2. That the Labor Party formulate and carry out four (4) campaigns: for Just Health Care, for Stronger, Fully Public Social Security, for a Workplace Bill of Rights including the right to organize and for a Working Class International Trade Policy.

3. That the Labor Party continue and refine the Campaign for the 28th Amendment as the signature campaign of this Party and one which accompanies all of our other non-electoral and electoral campaigns;

4. That the Labor Party implement this resolution by convening during the first 4 months of 1999 a series of regional campaign sessions which will:

1. Be sponsored and carefully planned by the National Office, with the assistance of those national union affiliates that wish to be involved;

2. Address implementation of the campaigns called for by this resolution; and

3. Set regional goals on recruiting and incorporate local resources, goals and timetables into these national campaigns.

5. Further implements this resolution by calling upon affiliated local unions, state parties, chapters, organizing committees to research and prepare suggestions for bringing these campaigns to their locales, and to send delegates to the campaign sessions scheduled for their region of the country.