Here’s why I joined PLP

I work with a fellow teacher who has told me about this organization and the work they do. The teacher was very passionate about the organization. They discussed that people should get respect for the work that they put in. After talking to the educator more about how they planned to get the workers to unite and grow, I became intrigued and asked if I could join any events the organization planned out.

I wanted to join the Progressive Labor Party (PLP) when I first went to one of its events. It was at a pre-May Day event where they discussed plans of action and the organization has been fascinating to see in action. There are people that care about workers’ rights and make sure everyone gets treated in a respectful manner. The Party has been active in going to protests and making sure people are owed justice. This aligns with my interest, as I do want people to be owed justice and respect that is long past overdue.

I want to join an organization that helps others and this party has been putting out events that showcase support for the people. This organization does not belittle one another for the type of work that they do. They do want to see everyone grow and benefit from the action they do. I see the effort that this organization puts out and I am awe-inspired by the amount of people the PLP has that want to see the workers be seen as people. We are living in a time where the political climate has been very aggressive towards many people just for existing. The Party makes sure that does not happen, and calls out against the injustices. Your status as a human being should always remain protected and validated; this Party wants to make sure this continues to happen.

I will work for this organization as long as this premise holds true. I want to stand up and fight against the oppression that has been holding down so many other individuals. I want the people to be able to be themselves without worry or prejudice. I want people to be able to come over to this country and make a living without bigotry saying otherwise. I want people to be able to live comfortably and not worry about homelessness and starvation. I want success for the people that are working two or more jobs to just barely scrape by. We need to work together for this possibility to be a reality. We need to work together if we want those changes to happen. People need to rise up and unite against these oppressive powers. The Progressive Labor Party can do that, we just need to make sure that we will continue to work hard and stick together. Together, change will happen.
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Never retired from mass fightback

Long-term outlook. Patience and persistence.

These are words I heard, and that I repeated to others during the decades I immersed myself in trying to be a communist Progressive Labor Party organizer in my union. These words were true then and are true now! My working life ended abruptly years ago thanks to a health crisis. Yet I’ve tried to stay involved with my union’s retiree group. 

This is a group of folks from jobs all over the city. Most of the folks here don’t know me and don’t know I’m a communist – unlike the last decades when I was working.  But some of these retired folks participated years ago in the early militant fights to bring in the union. Several proudly report of being arrested in those fights.

And times have changed! Used to be that my bringing up fascism in union meetings small and large was met with silence. Not now! At today’s retiree meeting we had a very lively discussion that largely accepted fascism as the current U.S. political stage. 

Sure, there was a wide spectrum of opinions of what fascism is and how to fight it. “It’s the Republicans!” “We gotta pray!” “We gotta vote for the Democrats!” “We gotta go back to the streets!”

But all this is to be expected. It also allowed me to introduce the need to defend immigrants and fight deportations into our discussions about fighting fascism and rebuilding our union.  My comments were warmly received. I don’t know where this will lead, but as the retiree group proceeds with our plans to rebuild the union, and we continue to confront and discuss deepening U.S. fascism, I plan to vigilantly look for ways to connect these things to the need for communist revolution. I guess this stuff really is long-term and there ain’t no retiring from the fight to overthrow capitalism.
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