Bolsheviks, Socialists, Communists all carried the same shibboleth, “WORKERS UNITE.” Unions worldwide began to form, critical mass was the objective, the more the more powerful. For they could elect socialists who proffered their agenda. Leaders emerged, Trotsky, Lenin, Stalin, Castro, Guevara. Soon, the revolutionary zeal reached our shores. Roosevelt ran with the socialist agenda, instituting many of the socialist programs we have today.
In the 21st century, the most prominent unions are among (click)public sector employees such as city employees, government workers, teachers and police. Union workers average 10-30% higher pay than non-union in the United States after controlling for individual, job, and labor market characteristics.
American labor unions benefited greatly from the New Deal policies of Franklin Delano Roosevelt in the 1930s. The Wagner Act, in particular, legally protected the right of unions to organize. Unions from this point developed increasingly closer ties to the Democratic Party, and are considered a backbone element of the New Deal Coalition.
Political cartoon showing organized labor marching towards progress, while a shortsighted employer tries to stop labor (1913)
The Communist Party USA, officially the Communist Party of the United States of America (CPUSA), is a far-left communist party in the United States established in 1919 after a split in the Socialist Party of America following the Russian Revolution.
Connecticut Communist Party and state representatives present union leaders with awards
The Connecticut Communist Party held its annual People’s World Amistad Awards on Saturday, December 12, the anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party USA.
The awards were presented to SEIU 1199 NE President Rob Baril, President of the Connecticut chapter of the American Federation of Teachers Jan Hochadel, Hartford City Councilwoman Wildaliz Bermudez and Barbara Vereen, staff director of Unite Here Local 34, the union representing clerical and technical workers at Yale University.
The Connecticut AFT represents 15,000 state and municipal employees throughout Connecticut.
Rep. Edwin Vargas, D-Hartford, also presented an award to Hartford City Councilwoman Wildaliz Bermudez of the Working Families Party.
The Connecticut Communist Party is based in New Haven and run by Joelle Fishman.
“We invite you to join the Communist Party in this epic time as we organize, organize, organize to uproot systemic racism, retool the war economy, tax the rich, address climate change, secure voting rights and create a new socialist system that always puts people and planet before profits,” said Lisa Bergman, co-host of the awards ceremony.