Socialists are in the forefront of labor struggles because we see the importance of the working class in achieving fundamental change, and the history role of labor in achieving domestic reform. Socialists have definite ideas about what will make an effective labor movement. But there can be no doubt that working conditions of working people both organized and unorganized have been much improved due to labor unions. The following are some fundaments of a Socialist approach to labor:

1.   Defense of bona fide labor unions. Socialists oppose union-busting. We oppose concessions. We see one of the major problems of U.S. labor as its failure to organize the unorganized – less than one fifth of the workforce in the U.S. is under union contract.

2.   Union democracy. Much of labor’s difficulties are due to internal problems. The labor movement cannot be a force for democratic change until it is democratic itself. The SP approaches change until it is democratic itself. The SP approach to labor supports rank and file insurgent movements built from the bottom up. Some labor leaders are progressive, but they can be really effective in promoting widespread change only if they are there as democratic representatives of a militant and progressive rank and file.

3.   Solidarity. We see the solidarity of all workers as the key to building an effective labor movement. The old IWW slogan “An injury to one is an injury to all.” Springing from this idea of solidarity is the idea of industrial unionism, as opposed to craft unionism: that all workers of a particular industry be organized together regardless of specific occupation. Eugene Debs, one of the founders of the Socialist Party of the United States of America, recognized from his experience as a railway workers union leader that craft unionism provides an opportunity for employers to play one craft against another. Some socialists would carry this to the conclusion that all workers be organized into “one big union,” such as the Industrial Workers of the World.