Seattle Activists Kick Off Labor Party Effort

by Mike Blain

The Free Press

Illustration by Jenny Schmid

Arguing that both Democrats and the Republicans have abandoned working people and now cater almost exclusively to corporate America, activists within Labor Party Advocates say they are confident there is broad support for a new political party anchored firmly in the U.S. labor movement. They say they call themselves "advocates" because at this point they are doing just that: Trying to convince people of the need for a working-class political party.

LPA does not endorse candidates, and does not have a specific platform, but it does have plenty of critiques of the current state of U.S. politics. With a rallying cry of "The bosses have two parties, we need one of our own," LPA literature rails against federal cuts in Medicare, housing, education, and other social services, as well as the failure to raise the minimum wage or protect workers' right to strike.

Although they plan to use organized labor as a launching pad for a party they hope can capture disaffected working-class voters, LPA organizers say they are reaching out to all workers, unionized or not.

"We are going through organized labor because that's where we have access," says E.G. Kroener, who is retired from the International Union of Operating Engineers, Local 286. "We are going to broaden out into the community and get more support."

Kroener says that declining wages and anti-labor legislation affect all workers, whether they are organized or not, and a political party that infuses a truly working-class voice into national politics will help everyone.

A resolution by LPA for the 1995 Washington State Labor Council Convention calls on the council to recognize the need for a labor party and advises its affiliates to publicize the need for such a movement. Nothing that real wages have declined 19 percent in the U.S. from 1973 to 1992, while economic productivity rose 25 percent, the resolution calls on the council to support independent labor candidates who run for statewide offices.

Most LPA activists see Ross Perot's strong showing in the 1992 presidential elections as a protest vote from people fed up with both the Democrats and the Republicans, rather than a vote for the ideas or persona of Ross Perot.

In response to criticisms that a labor party would split the progressive vote between the new party and the Democrats, LPA members say the progressive vote is already deeply divided. "We need LPA to unite the progressive vote," says Fred Hyde of the Washington Federation of State Employees, Local 304. "It's already deeply split."

Some in LPA argue that the working-class vote has broken into those who vote for progressive Democrats, those who don't vote at all, and those who would vote progressive, but cast their lot with Republicans or people like Ross Perot who talk populist politics, but walk with corporate America. Hyde believes many of the "protest votes" would go to a working-class party, if such a thing really existed in the U.S. "(The protest vote) is not progressive because there are no other options."

Around Seattle, LPA organizers plan to follow their kick-off rally with tabling at events, as well as forums on issues like Medicare, labor legislation and unemployment. "It will be a chance for working people to get together and discuss issues from their point of view," says Tony Wilsden of the Seattle LPA chapter. Wilsden believes the labor movement has to get back to its roots, and LPA offers an opportunity for more outreach and organizing.

"I think LPA has got a chance," adds Kroener. "The general population is favoring a third party more and more."

For more information on the Seattle chapter of Labor Party Advocates, call (206) 382-5712.

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Contents on this page were published in the October/November, 1995 edition of the Washington Free Press.
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