Left in the Limelight: Moves for a Labor Party

Other supporters of the amendment from the Labor Party Organising Committee and the Socialist League spoke for the amendment and defended it as an absolutely critical policy against the mass unemploy- ment that millions of workers face not only in San Francisco but nationally. Although the amendment lost in a 57 to 144 vote a large number of trade unionists saw the importance of the labor movement taking up this policy. The most important amendment to pass at the conference called for "a commitment to the labor program passed at this conference by all candidates endorsed by this meeting" and "There should be a labor slate developed city wide independent of the Democratic and Republican parties." Joe Culinary man of rally an) party d amendm Belardi, Workers the meet / support uring the ent. President of the Union and chair- ag was unable to o the Democratic debate on this Moves for a Labo "In the case of a trade union where the question comes up, I will get up and say that the need for a labor party is absolutely proved by all the events. It is proved that economic action is not enough. We need political action. In a union I will say what counts is the content of the labor party, that is why I reserve something to say about the programme, but I will vote for it". Trotsky spoke these words in 1938- but still today the American working class has failed spontaneously to make the political development posed by the call for a Labor Party. The problem remains to be solved. The Socialist League (DC) in the USA has been carrying out a campaign in the San Francisco area for such a development in conflict with many other left wing' tendencies. The October issue of their Labor News outlined the current st that fight, under the headline Francisco Labor Conference Platform: First Step Towards Party': paper, age of "San Passes Labor 'In the first united labor confer- ence of its kind, the San Francisco trade union movement passed a plat- form calling for a labor slate indep- endent of the Democrats and Repub- licans and endorsed a slate of candi- dates. The attended t first discu ments to conference y over 500 ssed and c a labor pla which was trade unionists ffered amend- tform. One of Party the nost important amendments called for "a reduction of hours of work with no reduction of pay until every worker is able to obtain a job at union wages." This amendment was proposed in answer to the unemployment. It was immediately opposed by CP supporter Jack Weintraub of the Teamsters union who called it "politically dangerous." Supporters of the Communist Party had intro- duced their own amendment calling for a 30 hour work week. Other trade union officials from the construction trades rose to oppose the amendment on the basis that it would interfere with their contract since the amendment if implemented would change the hours of work. This argument was answered by Denise De Ann who is a member of the Executive Board of Local 400 of the city workers.

Page Not one trade openly in favour of party or labor's co on it. Instead work called for the politic of the unions from and Republicans. The only opposition to the amendment again came from a supporter of the Communist Party who warned the conference that his union would not go along with the policy and that the policy would cut off the trade unions from "progressive elements". The contin- ued support by the CP for Democrats Ron Dellums, Sheriff Richard Hongisto and others would certainly be embarrassing to the Communist Party. *The amendment however passed at the conference after voice votes and became part of platform. The second part of the confer- ence endorsed candidates in most of the eleven districts after questioning by trade unionists in each of the district meetings. Two of the candi- dates endorsed are Bob Barnes, President of Machinists Local 68 in and Ed Dunn former district unionist spoke the Democratic stinued reliance er after worker al independence the Democrats was two the

President in district Although most of candidates are runnin dents some are openly the Democratic party. Gordon Lau who was the Democratic Mayor President of the Firefighters Union of 11 the endorsed 3 as indepen- supporters of These include appointed by Moscone to a vacant supervisors Hallinan. The trade union movement must demand that these candidates break from the Democratic party. The unions must have an absolute commitment to the labor platform by the candidates before political support by the labor movement is provided. Immediately following the con- ference the Operations Committee (officials of AFL-CIO, Teamsters and ILWU) sought to bury the platform passed by the labor conference. The committee under the direction of Pat Jackson refused to distribute copies of the platform and the amendments that the candidates must be committed to. Instead the Operations Committee's sole purpose became the support of the candidates and collaboration with the Democratic Party in San Francisco.

This collaboration with the Democrats already violates the platform passed at the conference and in fact is part of the reason that the trade union bureaucracy refuses to print copies of the platform.

Trade unionists must demand that their union local print the platform and that there is a discus- sion in the labor movement on a political program for labor and the formation of a permanent political committee of all the unions that is independent of the Democrats and Republicans. Additionally the trade union district committees which have been set up in each district must continue to meet and function as labor party district committees. This can be the first step in the construction of a labor party in San Francisco and lead the way nationally for the entire trade union movement. The open hostility by large numbers of city workers to the Democrats was expressed many times at the conference. Mini bus drivers, city hospital workers and social service workers castigated the Demo- cratic politicians who led the cam- paign to break the past city workers' strike. supporter of the Labor Party Organ- izing Committee that called for "Full support for the right to strike of all public and private workers without government, legislative or court injunctions", • was seconded and passed at the conference."

"The many political tendencies that call themselves communist were nowhere to be found at this first labor platform conference of the trade union movement in San Francisco. The various Maoist tendencies of whom there are many had no repres- entatives at the conference. They were joined by the Spartacists and Workers League in the boycott with not one of their trade union supporters. Workers Socialist candidates attended but the Party atten- dance was only for an endorsement in the districts that they were running candidates. The handful of union delegates from the SWP kept their mouths sealed throughout the morning conference discussion on platform amendments and some trade union members of the SWP in San Francisco were unaware that there even was a labor conference taking place at all. To top it off the Militant which is the newspaper of the Socialist Workers Party did not even see fit to give one column inch to this trade union meeting. So much for their recent turn to the trade unions and their call for a labor party. It is no accident therefore that their candidates for supervisors have received not one trade union endorsement from any of the 200