January, 1999
Labor Party Press
Chapters
Convene
PITTSBURGH
 |
|
Mark Dimondstein (standing) was
elected to represent the southern chapters to the Interim National Council. Photo
©Michael Kaufman, Impact Visuals |
|
Labor Party chapter delegates from Maine to Arizona crowded into a hotel
meeting room here on November 12, the day before the full Labor Party convention opened.
They were here for the Labor Party Chapter Convention and to elect five new chapter
representatives to the party’s leadership body, the Interim National Council.
But in the course of the afternoon, they also reported on their efforts to
organize the Labor Party in their communities. While some chapters told of encouraging
membership gains, others said they had lost ground. Almost everyone had stories to tell
about taking the 28th Amendment Campaign for the right to a job door-to-door in their
communities.
Bill Shortell of the Connecticut chapter opened the meeting, and was
quickly elected chair of the convention. After taking attendance of the chapter delegates,
Shortell introduced LP National Organizer Tony Mazzocchi.
"In the past two years, we’ve learned a lot about how to
organize, and who’s organizable," said Mazzocchi. "And there are some great
examples of organizing among the chapters — including some in rural areas. We know it
can be done."
One delegate asked about whether chapter membership had grown since the
founding convention. Mazzocchi replied, "Some chapters have grown significantly, but
some have disappeared. Others have frozen at 20 members." When one delegate suggested
that the Labor Party should address the "tension between chapters and unions,"
Mazzocchi replied, "I think our tensions have been relatively minimal. We have five
chapter representatives on the INC, and they have done a good job of addressing the
problems that do exist." What’s needed most, he said, is more staff to help
build the party.
"I think we need to congratulate ourselves for hanging in there for
two-and-a-half years in what’s been a difficult process," Sean Sweeney of the
Labor Party’s New York Metro Chapter told the chapter delegates later. "But what
are we when we can’t overcome obstacles?" Sweeney said that the chapter
representatives on the INC had "fought and struggled, and been listened to." And
the chapters, he added,"have been involved in every convention committee." As a
member of the convention’s Resolutions Committee, Sweeney noted that 90 percent of
the resolutions had come from the chapters. "We are the political driving force of
the Labor Party, trying to move ideas and campaigns forward." However, he added,
"If a chapter sends ten or fifteen resolutions, then we also have an obligation to
recruit members."
Field Reports
 |
|
Photo ©Michael Kaufman, Impact Visuals |
|
Much of the meeting was devoted to brief reports from each of the chapters
represented. Some chapters reported significant activity and growth. The Lehigh Valley,
PA, chapter, for instance, has 150 members, who have been a visible force in local
picketlines, testifying on issues, and giving presentations to interested groups.
"But most of our recruitment is one-on-one," the delegates reported. Lisa Frank
of the Pittsburgh chapter, which has doubled in size since May, echoed the thought:
"If we learned anything about recruitment, it was that there’s no substitute for
face-to-face organizing."
Other chapters reported stagnation or decline. Many chapters said they had
experienced a surge of activity and membership before and just after the founding
convention, but then lost steam and members after the Labor Party required an affirmative
statement for chapter membership.
Most of the chapters in attendance had given the 28th Amendment Campaign a
try, and almost all of them said they had gotten a high percentage of people to sign the
petition. However, getting people to join the Labor Party through the campaign wasn’t
so easy. Partly as a result, many chapters said it got harder and harder to get members to
go out door-to-door.
However, the Connecticut chapter reported that they had succeeded in
getting 10 percent of the people in their targeted district to sign the petition, had held
a press conference, and hoped to introduce a 28th Amendment bill into the state
legislature. The Capitol District chapter in Albany, NY, also reported achieving their 10
percent.
Many of the chapter representatives said they were looking forward to
building the Just Healthcare campaign, and hoped that work would spur growth.
Electing the Reps
Delegates then turned to the main item of official business —
electing the five chapter representatives to the Interim National Council. They voted to
keep the same five regions as before. All the delegates present voted for one
representative from each of the regions.
The new INC reps are:
Northeast Region
Sean Sweeney, NY Metro Chapter
Mid-Atlantic Region
Lisa Frank, Pittsburgh Chapter
Plains Region
Dan McCarthy, Detroit Chapter
Western Region
Gary Holloway, Los Angeles Chapter
Southern Region
Mark Dimondstein, Piedmont (NC) Chapter
Finally, delegates debated and unanimously adopted a resolution, intended
as a "sense of the body" to be communicated to the full convention and to the
Labor Party leadership. It calls on the Labor Party to try to organize all members into
local LP bodies — chapters, organizing committees, or union-based chapters and clubs.
The resolution states that to help do this, Labor Party bodies should be provided with a
listing of all members within their jurisdictions. Also, each issue of the Labor Party
Press should include a listing of the chapters. Delegates agreed that INC chapter
reps should decide jurisdictional disputes among chapters in their regions, and that the
chapters should compile themselves an accurate listing of active chapters for publication
in the Press. |
