The following report was given by Cameron Harrison on behalf of the Labor Commission to the CPUSA National Committee on Saturday, October 11, 2025.

As the National Committee convenes, the Trump administration, acting for the most reactionary sections of monopoly capital, is charging ahead with an unprecedented offensive against the working class. This assault began with the all-out terrorization of immigrant workers through ICE raids, mass lay-offs of federal workers, and the largest union-busting act in U.S. history, stripping collective bargaining rights from over one million federal workers. Now they are sending active duty troops to our cities’ working class communities to terrorize working families under the guise of “deporting criminals.”

The MAGA right is rapidly implementing the anti-worker policies of Project 2025 by gutting the National Labor Relations Board, slashing government programs and healthcare, enacting billionaire-backed policies that fuel inflation and job loss, and waging a cultural war targeting African Americans, Latinos, women, and the LGBTQ community. The central question for our labor movement is this: how do we not only stop this drive toward fascism, but fight forward?

Uneven fightback

As requested by the National Committee, we have begun discussing our analysis of the U.S. labor movement and we plan to continue this. For now, we can confidently say the labor movement’s response to the fascist danger is uneven and contradictory. The U.S. labor movement faces immense challenges and these are both internal and external.

On the one hand, a fighting spirit is growing, rooted in the rank-and-file on shop floors. Workers are resisting ICE raids in their communities and organizing new unions, from auto workers in Kentucky, to Starbucks workers across the country, to hotel and healthcare workers. Just this week, 32,000 home healthcare workers in Michigan organized and won their union with SEIU. It was the largest union organizing win in many decades.

This energy was unmistakable at our recent, well-attended Labor Commission Conference in Chicago. The conference showed growth in young worker participation and direct organizing activity. We established two new sub-committees with new comrades stepping up to lead. One is focused on labor–community defense of immigrant workers, and the other on organizing the unorganized. A new generation of militant, young party activists demonstrated a deep commitment to building a class struggle oriented labor movement. They rightfully understand that labor’s power multiplies through coalitions with community organizations.

On the other hand, this grassroots militancy contrasts with a dangerous hesitation at the leadership level. While it is true that several national unions have endorsed and participated in the numerous people’s movements, such as the No Kings demonstrations and the defense of immigrant workers, the response by the national leadership of most unions and the AFL-CIO have not matched the intensity of Trump’s attack.

For instance, the Coalition of Black Trade Unionists called for a national day of action and it continues to lack the necessary support. And some industrial unions, having lost millions of members to bipartisan neoliberal policies, are seeking narrow deals with the Trump administration to protect jobs — a real concern that nonetheless highlights that neither the Republican nor Democratic Parties are putting forward a true working-class centered industrial policy.

Compounding matters, our labor movement’s strength is sapped by a persistent crisis of union density, at a dismal 9%, which limits its capacity to lead. Rampant union-busting and a rigged legal framework, combined with a hesitation by some unions to take seriously the need to organize the unorganized, all block the large-scale organizing needed to reverse this decline.

In the face of federal hostility, promising initiatives are emerging at the state level, however. State labor federations in Oregon and Maine are fighting for pro-worker legislation, from winning relief for workers hit by federal shutdowns to mobilizing against ICE raids and taxing poverty-wage employers.

The path forward

The path forward for the working class movement must be one of organized, mass mobilization and building labor’s independent political power. The ruling class is over-reaching and revealing itself in new ways to the working class and its allies. It is urgent that trade unionists and party members run for office in the 2026 midterms on a bold, working-class agenda that names fascism, inequality, and corporate monopoly power as the primary enemies. This is essential to challenge both the MAGA right and corporate Democrats.

And of course, our struggle is inextricably linked to the international fight against imperialism and fascism. We attended the 80th Anniversary of the World Federation of Trade Unions and they reaffirmed the necessity of class-struggle unionism, democracy, and peace. This internationalism is visible in actions like Italy’s recent general strike against their government’s complicity with the genocide in Gaza, and in recent resolutions from U.S. labor bodies like the Oregon AFL-CIO, UE, and the National Nurses demanding a ceasefire and arms embargo. Developing working class internationalism is highly important.

Comrades, the balance of forces is dire but not predetermined. While the fascist threat is sharpening and the response from some labor leaders has often been inadequate, the militant energy at the grassroots, new organizational forms, the growth of young labor leaders, and the first steps of running class-conscious workers for office provide a foundation for resistance. Let’s continue to build on this fight back and bring out the unique role that our party plays: connecting the economic crisis to the political crisis, fighting for unity around a strategy that can win, and furthering the cause of working class democracy.

Our primary task now is to stimulate and supplement a unified, militant labor movement capable of defending democratic rights, organizing the unorganized, and ultimately advancing the class struggle against the capitalist system that breeds fascism and war.

Image: SEIU members celebrate Labor Day, by SEIU Healthcare Michigan (X); SEIU home care workers celebrate their win, by Michigan Home Care Workers United (X)