Revive the International Labor Defense!
For International Working Class Defense of All Class War Prisoners and Victims of Capitalist State Repression!
Revive the International Labor Defense!
The Communist Workers Group (CWG-US) is calling for all anti-racist, anti-capitalist, anti-imperialist workers and working class organizations to convene an international conference in order to revive the traditions of international class struggle defense of the masses against capitalist state repression, persecutions and attacks. The urgent need for a broad organization uniting disparate formations in defense of the working class and oppressed can be seen with the arrest of Black Lives Matter activists; the persecution of Rasmeah Odeh, Marissa Alexander, Purvi Patel; the continuing incarceration of Mumia Abu-Jamal; the mass arrests and persecution of workers throughout MENA and worldwide.
It was the International Labor Defense (ILD), organized by the Workers Party (later Communist Party – USA) as the American section of the Comintern’s International Red Aid, that carried out principled defense work on behalf of class war prisoners, including Sacco and Vanzetti and the Scottsboro Boys.
There are lots of calls for socialist unity today. The obvious first step to such unity would be a broad international defense organization that stands for the non-sectarian working class defense of class war prisoners and all the oppressed based upon the old Wobbly principle that “An Injury to One is an Injury to All!” An organization that places no faith in the capitalist courts, government agencies or labor boards to achieve justice and that calls for the united international working class in alliance with the oppressed to come to the defense of all victims of capitalist state repression, utilizing effective class struggle methods. This would mean building legal campaigns with financial and moral support, especially from within the trade unions while advocating and initiating targeted labor-led boycotts, hot cargoing, local, national and international job actions, leading to mass mobilizations and political strikes that liberate our jailed comrades.
James P. Cannon writing to Eugene Debs outlined his conception of class struggle defense:
“The main problem as I see it is to construct the ILD on the broadest possible basis. To conduct the work in a non-partisan and non-sectarian manner and finally establish the impression by our deeds that the ILD is the defender of every worker persecuted for his activities in the class struggle, without any exceptions and without regard to his affiliations.” – “ILD Will Grow Quickly”, James P. Cannon, July 1925
We do not subscribe to a magician’s interpretation of the idea that “The Truth Shall Set You Free!” Clearing houses for information on repression meted out to worker militants around the world already exist, are supported by the trade union bureaucracies and are subverted by the ruling classes in that they are toothless and have no fighting principles or political program for putting an end to the rule of the oppressors. Put another way, they speak without authority to the question of why our sisters and brothers are continuing to be victimized. Some identify capitalism and imperialism as the problem, but don’t show how capitalist class interests require repressions in any way that illuminates effective pre-emptive labor tactics. We aim for nothing less than freedom for all political prisoners.
A truly non-partisan and ‘International Labor Defense’ that fights to liberate class war prisoners will unite all working class forces in United Front actions, not around a minimum democratic program that relies on the ruling class to honor it’s feigned love of democracy, but to initiate, join, promote and lead action campaigns to free all class war prisoners regardless of their political affiliation.
An effective non-partisan ‘International Labor Defense’ will coordinate locally, nationally and internationally to fight in the unions and all workers organizations for labor unions and federations to do more than perfunctory statements of support and pro-forma cash contributions to this or that case. A truly non-partisan ‘International Labor Defense’ will assign itself the propaganda task of exposing the capitalist class’ victimization of the workers, unemployed, poor and oppressed and take up the organizational task of uniting workers and their allied organizations to take real, timely and massive actions to free our fighters.
The CWG-US is making this public call and appealing to a broad array of Marxist, labor and worker organizations to organize to make this a reality.
Free all class war prisoners!
Historical issues of Labor Defender: https://www.marxists.org/history/usa/pubs/labordefender/
