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Building
Our Party |
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Don't
Wait ... Organize
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BUILDING
OUR
PARTY
A Column
by Tony Mazzocchi,
LP National Organizer
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Whenever you start to think that change is not
happening, or will not happen in your lifetime, something
comes along to make you think again.
In March, I was invited to address the South
Carolina Federation of Labor’s legislative conference in
Columbia, S.C. (This was my second trip to South Carolina in
the last six months; I addressed the full state fed convention
last September.)
When I looked out at the delegates, I noticed
that about half were people of color and half women. In fact,
the President and Secretary Treasurer, the state fed’s top
two officials, are women. I was cheered by how much the labor
movement and labor leadership has broadened in the space of a
decade or two.
The delegates’ number one issue was whether
the confederate flag should continue to fly over the State
Capitol. A committee convened to study the question, reported
their findings, and recommended that the state fed go on
record calling for removal of the flag from the capitol. After
an animated discussion, the legislative conference approved
the motion unanimously.
HEARTENED
I found the discussion and the vote
heartening, not only for South Carolina, but for the Labor
Party. If unionized people in a state where only 5 percent of
the workforce is organized can adopt the right position,
ignoring those who cautioned they should be
"practical" and dodge the issue, then it’s
entirely logical that the Labor Party can grow despite those
who advise us to be "practical" and continue to
support politicians who consistently betray us.
Last month, I represented the Labor Party at
the legislative conference of the American Federation of
Government Employees. The biggest issue among these 700
delegates was the privatization of their jobs, a drive that
has been supported by both the Democratic and Republican
parties — not surprising, since both parties are funded by
corporations that want a piece of the privatization action.
The delegates deeply appreciated the Labor Party’s staunch
opposition to privatization.
LP RESONATES NOW
And just a few weeks ago, I attended the
United Mine Workers convention. Here, health care was at the
top of the agenda. As we report in this issue (see: When
They Retire, Will They Have Health Care?) the
Mine Workers’ unique health benefit fund for retirees is
under attack. On the convention floor, I saw many of the 1,000
delegates reading the Labor Party literature they’d received
in their packets. The delegates I spoke to embraced the Labor
Party’s call for Just Health Care and had a gut level
understanding of why working people need a political party of
their own.
I mention these meetings not only to convey
the continuing interest of trade unionists in the Labor Party,
but to reinforce the notion that we do not have to wait for
some magical moment in the future to organize union support
for the Labor Party. Among trade unionists, the Labor Party
resonates now. |
