Does the Working Class Need A Party of Its Own?
The Billionaires and Their Minions Have Two Parties.
Prospects for a Labor Party
In June 1996, I was one of 1,500 delegates from 80 unions representing half a million workers at the Founding Convention of the Labor Party in Cleveland, Ohio. At the time I was a member of the National Writers Union (NWU, Local 1981, affiliated with the United Auto Workers) and a political science professor at Moravian College in Bethlehem, PA. The primary organizers came out of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International (OCAW) United Mineworkers, United Electrical, Machinists, California Nurses and the Longshoremen. Tony Mazzocchi (1926–2002) from OCAW was the visionary leader who developed the idea of the Labor Party and set it in motion with the slogan “The Bosses Have Two Parties. We Need One of Our Own.”
A Labor Party had been my dream for over three decades and when the motion to create it was passed unanimously it was one of the emotional high points of my life. I suspect that I was not the only person on the convention floor with tears in my eyes as we sang “Solidarity Forever”.
Neoliberalism, a new generation of union activists and a totally unresponsive Democratic Party (dominated by corporate interests) seemed an opportune moment to create a working class party. I saw the LP as a major vehicle for furthering class consciousness and realizing socialism in the United States.
After the convention, I returned to Bethlehem and together with several other local activists formed the John Brennan Chapter of the Labor Party, named to honor a deceased union official who’d also been a registered socialist. We met monthly and over time managed to sign up some 150 members from across the Lehigh Valley, one of the largest chapters in the country. However, after two more national conventions the LP began to atrophy and ceased to exist in 2006.
Not everyone will agree but for many of us the reason was the failure of national union leaders to provide the financial and organizing resources. Why? Because, when push came to shove, they refused to break with the Democratic Party. Others would suggest that another important piece was that even talk of running candidates was premature. What about today? In a recent piece, Les Leopold asserted “The billionaires have two parties, we need one of our own.” Leopold cited a YouGuv survey of 3,000 voters in the Rust Belt states of Wisconsin, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Michigan where 57% of respondents “support a new political formation outside the two major parties.” Only 19% opposed it. We know the Democratic brand is toxic and relying on this member of the oligarchical establishment is a fool’s errand.
Is investigative historian Eric Zuess on to something when he argues that public sentiment for a new third party is at an all-time high and the public’s trust in American institutions and, especially the government is at an all-time low? In his recent stunning victory in the Democratic primary for NYC’s mayor—and a likely win in the November 4th general election—Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani ran as fierce opponent of Israel’s genocide in Gaza and his campaign stressed “kitchen table” issues, making the city affordable for all its citizens. For example, he promises free childcare, a system to be funded by raising taxes on corporations and the city’s richest residents.
In Washington state, Seattle Socialist Kshama Sawant is running against longtime incumbent Democratic Rep. David Smith in the 9th Congressional District. Sawant was on the Seattle City council from 2014 to 2024. Smith is not only a vocal supporter for Israel’s genocidal policy but voted for the Iraq war. Sawant is running as an avowed socialist and says that “Smith has blood on his hands.” Sawant calls for a $25 minimum wage, free universal health care and a halt to US aid to Israel.
What, if anything, can these two contests tell us about the potential for working people to break with the Democratic Party and build a new party for the working class? Are working women and men coming closer to understanding that the capitalist system and its owners are the source of their woes and that both parties are rotten to the core? What is the state of class consciousness today? We might think of class consciousness as nothing less than when the objective, general, and rational interests of a class become its recognized goals. It would read something like the following: “Our collective working class goals cannot be realized without overthrowing the exploitive class relations that prevent us from getting what we want and need.” Some recent studies by D. W. Livingstone suggest that on the one hand, less than 10% of workers possess a well-developed revolutionary class consciousness. On the other hand, we know that these are often the core activists in social movements.
What’s Next? Is Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani’s Run for Mayor of New York City Part of the Answer?
Democratic Socialist Zohran Mamdani is the Democratic nominee for Mayor of New York and running on the Democratic line. He won a decisive victory in the Democratic primary election in June 2025, defeating former Gov. Andrew “ass grabber” Cuomo and nine other candidates. Mamdani received 56% of the vote. In the Nov. 4 general election, Cuomo is running on the independent “Fight and Deliver” ballot line. Eric Adams, the incumbent mayor is running on the self-designated “End AntiSemitism” line in a pitiful maneuver to win the Zionist vote. NYC’s rapacious ruling elite is terrified (ditto, the national Democratic Party) by the prospect of a Mamdani victory but NYC’s CEOs are split on their favored candidate. Even the hapless, reviled, and thoroughly corrupt Adams has raised $1.5 million from the uber rich since June 10. Major union leaders had endorsed Cuomo, but most have now come around to backing Mamdani, perhaps in an effort to catch up with their membership. Think here of how every major union refused to offer financial and organizing resources to the Labor Party in 1997–8.
It’s worth noting that NYC is the richest city in the United States. It has 66 bil and 384,000 millionaires. It’s also one of the ten poorest cities in the country. Incidentally, if elected, Mamdani wouldn’t be the first socialist elected to office in the city. Vito Marcantonio, a friend of W.E.B. Du Bois and Paul Robeson, represented Harlem in Congress from 1935–1950. Benjamin Davis, an African American, represented Harlem on New York’s City Council from 1944–1949 before being convicted under the Smith Act for his association with the Communist Party and served over three years in prison. Robeson publicly spoke out for Davis.
Mamdani won by attracting different ethnic groups, young New Yorkers, (average age in NYC is 38) and previous nonvoters. There were 30,000 enthusiastic volunteers who knocked on 1.6 million doors across the city and Mamdani amassed 4.5 million followers on social media. Mamdani’s campaign was all about “kitchen table” issues that could make NYC livable again—in other words, basic shit. The vibe I’m hearing is, “This guy actually likes the city.” He’s establishing a link with people and conveys a sense of solidarity and empathy. His proposals include rent control, free mass transit, “no cost” municipal day-care and elder-care, raising the minimum wage to $30 an hour and one city-owned super market in each borough to keep prices down. Economist Richard Wolff notes that if he chose to use them, New York City’s mayor has vast powers. For example, he could use eminent domain to build high quality low-cost housing on existing golf courses and seized empty buildings, city-financed summer camps for kids and much more. His programs will be financed by taxing corporations and a 2% tax on individuals with an income exceeding one million dollars. Adding to his appeal is that Mamdani is a longtime, vocal supporter of Palestinian rights, promised to restrict funding to any charity that supports Israeli settlements and will arrest Benjamin Netanyahu if he ever sets foot in the city, in accordance with the International Criminal Court rulings on Israeli genocide in Gaza.
When asked if he liked capitalism, Mamdani said “No. I have many critiques of capitalism. Dr. King said, ‘Call it democracy or call it democratic socialism; there must be a better distribution of wealth for all of God’s children in this country.’ That’s what I’m focused on: dignity and taking on income inequality.” (CNN interview)
Elsewhere, I have cited socialist Kshama Sawant’s campaign, “Workers Strike Back,” against the longtime Democratic Congressperson David Smith. The latter’s largest donor is AIPAC and Palantir’s Alex Karp is a major supporter. Smith has said that the extreme “left policies” of the Democrats are the reason they lost the 2024 race to Trump. As the ranking Democrat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, he’s totally behind Israel’s genocide in Gaza, voted for the Iraq War and been a corporate tool over his entire tenure.
Sawant has said that Mamdani’s race is very important and, overall, a good thing that a socialist may become the mayor of New York. However, if I understand her, she is convinced that if NYC’s billionaires had to have a socialist mayor it would be someone who ran as a Democrat. Why? Because it might increase the chances of domesticating him/her/they as a sheep herder for the Democratic Party in the mode of AOC or Bernie. (I confess that Bernie fooled me the first time.)
Mamdani asserts that, “There is a battle for the soul of the Democratic Party.” Sawant argues that “The soul of the Democratic Party is evil. Look at 2024. They would rather let Trump win than allow a working class agenda to win.” I agree. I mean, what the f@*k. They wouldn’t run a candidate who pledged to end military funding for Israel on her first day in office… an absolute red line for many of us. My own view is that the Democrats have contempt for ordinary people and their views. They are entirely beholden to their corporate donors and the capitalist system they uphold.
We don’t know what Mamdani will do if he’s elected. He has said “I want to represent all New Yorkers”, but of course that’s impossible. Perhaps it’s only political rhetoric but it does obscure the essence of class struggle. That is, no matter how “nice” and approachable Mamdani seems, the ruling class will pull out all the stops to crush him. Sawant had said, “If elected, I won’t represent Microsoft or Amazon.” In doing so, she’s drawing attention to class struggle and how Democrats end up selling out the working class. She contends that politics is everything and given that, what strategy is one going to adopt. So far, Sawant has received contributions from 43 states.
My sense is that Mamdani’s campaign might foster a predisposition or preconsciousness toward a more robust socialism, toward class consciousness and away from the two-party system, especially among younger folks who are less fixed in their ways. If I lived in NYC, I’d vote for him but with keeping all the above in mind.