T.O. 131 –Two Parties Serving Ruling Class / Seven National Unions Call for Stopping U.S. Aid to Israel!
The ORGANIZER – Special Supplement
July 24, 2024 – Issue No. 132
Please Distribute Widely!
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IN THIS ISSUE:
• United States: Two Parties Serving the Same Ruling Class — by the Editors
• Seven National Unions Call on Biden to Stop Arming Israel as a Means Toward an Immediate Ceasefire Now!: A Big Step Forward for the Labor and Antiwar Movements — by the Editors
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United States: Two Parties Serving the Same Ruling Class
Behind Joe Biden’s withdrawal from the race for the White House, there are class issues at stake. From the moment the incumbent president’s slips of the tongue and lapses of memory put him at risk of failing to win his re-election, his “generous donors” threatened to stop funding his campaign.
We’re talking about tens of millions of dollars! Biden wanted to stay, but he was forced to withdraw.
It’s a fact that at this stage, the majority of finance capital in the United States wants neither Donald J. Trump, nor a Trump majority in Congress. But Trump 2 has a serious chance of being elected.
Trump: A Policy Closer to Fascism
If Trump were elected, he has promised to pursue a policy that is far closer to fascism than what he was able to accomplish during Trump 1. His recent campaign speeches openly display his willingness to take repressive actions swiftly in all arenas, with no regard for national or international institutions, or democratic rights and freedoms. No matter his rhetoric, the sole condition is that it promotes the interests of Wall Street and U.S. Big Business – especially the fossil-fuel industry and the military-industrial complex. This is the meaning of “America First.”
After the attempt on his life, Trump summed up his economic policy:
“With me we’re going to drill, drill, drill.” In other words, environmental constraints will be brushed aside; we’re going to get all the oil and gas we can out of the ground, whatever the consequences.
Justice? He has already demonstrated his readiness to trample on basic rights.
Immigration: He will block immigrants from entering the U.S. with a wall that’s even higher, and he will step up the mass incarcerations and deportations.
Ukraine? Let the Europeans sort it out amongst themselves, it’s none of our concern. But what does concern Trump is the immense Chinese market, and Trump claims that only he can bring Beijing’s leaders to heel, with war if necessary.
Abortion rights? There’s no doubt that a Trump 2 administration would seek a national abortion ban and then go after all reproductive rights.
As for unions, the fewer the better if any at all. What matters are profits, the sword [armed might], and the word of God.
Both Major Parties Are War Parties
Biden’s policies are fundamentally as reactionary and anti-worker as Trump’s. This was evident in his support of Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, his growing involvement in the war in Ukraine, and his preparations for war against China. Then, there is “the war at home” with the focus primarily on what benefits corporate expansion rather than providing childcare, education, healthcare, clean water, and housing.
But Biden carries out these policies in the “classic” Democratic Party way, making sure to incorporate the trade unions in its plans against the workers and his financing of the war. This is “classic” co-optation.
By failing to meet real human needs, Biden and the Democratic Party have pushed whole sectors of the disillusioned and impoverished white working class, still reeling from the Democratic Party imposing NAFTA in 1994, towards Trump’s racist, demagogic, and populist responses. Despite the open racism expressed by Trump and his followers, Trump has even gained some support from workers of color tired of their votes being taken for granted by Democrats who fail to deliver on their promises.
Union officials and those on the “socialist left” of the Democratic Party bear a heavy responsibility here. By giving their unwavering support to the Democratic Party, they are fueling the myth that Biden is a “friend of the labor movement.”
No sooner had Biden withdrawn his candidacy for president, than leaders of the AFL-CIO hailed him as “the greatest defender of U.S. workers the White House has ever known.”
The AFL-CIO and most union leaders rushed to announce their support for Kamala Harris and more will soon fall in place now that she has a lock on the Democratic Party’s nomination.
But Kamala Harris has no other policy to offer than placing the consequences of the crisis of the capitalist system onto the shoulders of workers and young people.
The real problem isn’t the president’s mental and physical decline, it’s the deepening crisis of a capitalist system, which, with each passing day, is dragging humanity into the abyss. Despite the protestations of economists such as Paul Krugman and Robert Reich, there is no way to ”save capitalism” and no way to meet the needs of workers and the oppressed under capitalism. In 1848, Marx and Engels spelled it out simply in “The Communist Manifesto” and later amplified on the reasons why. Lenin and Trotsky expanded upon the analysis in the 20th century to address the era of imperialism.
A capitalist society depends upon the exploitation of the proletariat, the working class. What we are witnessing now — and no one reading these words will disagree — is the deepening exploitation of the working class and oppressed peoples in the U.S. and worldwide, accompanied by the ravenous attack on whatever social gains the working class has been able to extract through struggle.
Just as in 1848 and since, the working class needs to develop its political power independent of the ruling class, such that it can seize power to serve its needs.
The workers’ alternative here in the United States requires first and foremost that the organized labor movement break with the Democratic Party, which is just as capitalist a party as the Republican Party.
Labor Must Break with the Democratic Party!
This is no time to mince words or put it off for another day: The labor movement needs to assert its independent political power to combat the assault on working people that is coming down the pike no matter who — Trump or Harris is elected in November. When you spend $61 billion for the war in Ukraine, that’s $61 billion less for our hospitals and schools, to give but one example.
The working class and all oppressed peoples must work together to forge a political organization of our own, independent of the ruling class. This is an essential first step.
A resolution adopted by the October 2017 national convention of the AFL-CIO affirmed that, “whether the candidates are elected from the Republican or Democratic Party, the interests of Wall Street have been protected and advanced, while the interests of labor and working people have generally been set back.” A second convention resolution concluded that, “the time has passed when we can passively settle for the lesser of two evils politics.”
Here we are in July 2024, almost seven years later. To our union sisters, brothers, and siblings we say: It is long overdue for labor to walk the walk and break with the Democratic Party.
To those in the house of labor who have realized that the Democratic Party is a straitjacket and have left the Democratic Party (or are thinking about leaving), we ask you to engage with us in Socialist Organizer and participate in Labor and Community for an Independent Party (LCIP).
Just as we build effective unions to combat the bosses, so must the working class along with other oppressed communities build our own instruments of political power. [See accompanying editorial on big step taken by seven national unions, who have issued Open Letter to President Biden to stop arming Israel.]
The labor movement, in particular, must stop acting like a loyal dog at the heels of the bosses and assert its class independence with a political instrument of its own.
Do you agree with this statement? If so, don’t stand on the sidelines. Contact us at theorganizer@earthlink.net
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Seven National Unions Call on Biden to Stop Arming Israel as a Means Toward an Immediate Ceasefire Now!
A Big Step Forward for the Labor and Antiwar Movements
On July 21, seven national unions with a combined membership of six million workers took a big step forward for the labor movement. They issued an Open Letter to President Biden, reported in the New York Times, among other mainstream media, calling for an embargo on the delivery of all U.S. military aid to Israel because of its repeated attacks on civilians. This includes civilians who moved to ‘safe zones’ designated by Israel and who sheltered in UN schools, hospitals and other facilities.
The letter was co-signed by the American Postal Workers Union (APWU), Association of Flight Attendants (AFA), International Union of Painters (IUPAT), National Education Association (NEA), Service Employees International Union (SEIU), United Auto Workers (UAW) and United Electrical Workers (UE).
Mark Dimondstein, president of the APWU, was one of the endorsers of this Open Letter. He is quoted in the New York Times about the significance of this statement: “Our unions are hearing the cries of humanity as this vicious war continues. Working people and our unions are horrified that our tax dollars are financing this ongoing tragedy. We need a ceasefire now, and the best way to secure that is to shut off U.S. military aid to Israel.”
Speaking on behalf of his union, Dimondstein addressed a rally of thousands of activists in Washington, D.C. on July 24 who gathered to protest Netanyahu’s address to Congress. A call for unionists to join the protest was posted widely to demand that Biden “Immediately Halt All Military Aid to Israel” and “Arrest Netanyahu!” Dimondstein also denounced the bipartisan nature of the genocide committed in Gaza by the Israeli government with full U.S. support.
The Open Letter reads, in part:
| “President Biden: “We write to publicly call upon your Administration to immediately halt all military aid to Israel as part of the work to secure an immediate and permanent ceasefire in the war in Gaza. … “We believe that immediately cutting U.S. military aid to the Israeli government is necessary to bring about a peaceful resolution to this conflict. “Recent reports only underscore the urgency of our demands. Large numbers of Palestinian civilians, many of them children, continue to be killed, reportedly often with US-manufactured bombs. “Rising tensions in the region threaten to ensnare even more innocent civilians in a wider war. And the humanitarian crisis deepens by the day, with famine, mass displacement, and the destruction of basic infrastructure, including schools and hospitals. “We have spoken directly to leaders of Palestinian trade unions who told us heart-wrenching stories of the conditions faced by working people in Gaza. “Furthermore, Israel’s refusal to minimize civilian harm and its demonstrated restriction of U.S. humanitarian aid call for a halt to U.S. military aid under the Foreign Assistance Act and the Arms Control Export Act. “Mr. President, the time to act decisively to end this war is now. Stopping US military aid to Israel is the quickest and most sure way to do so.” Next Steps This step forward for the labor and antiwar movements can be combined with two others. The seven national unions are perfectly positioned to organize Stop Arms to Israel committees while campaigning for the AFL-CIO to become a signatory to the Open Letter. The committees could be mandated to organize mass labor contingents in the demonstrations that have been held and will continue to be held until the Stop Arms to Israel committees’ demands are met. At the same time, the Stop the Arms to Israel committees could join forces with labor and community activists to harness the collective effort that was devoted to the Stop Aid to Israel campaign to take the next step to build labor party caucuses in our unions along with labor-community coalitions which can be building blocks for political power that serves our interests. |
Socialist Organizer 