Success at the Fifth Congress of the American Party of Labor

On Sunday, March 31, 2024, the American Party of Labor successfully concluded its Fifth General Congress. Delegates from all around the country as well as local activists gathered in a union hall in Orlando, Florida, draped in red flags with images of the Party’s grain and gear symbol, to vote on measures to improve the Party’s internal structure and external organization and to revise the Party’s guiding documents.

Opening ceremonies for the Fifth Congress included greetings from fraternal organizations and speeches about the state of the Party. Camilo Lazo was elected National Chair. During his speech, he stated:

“It is to our party’s credit that when everyone else was saying [Trump] is unelectable… and to concentrate their fire on Hilary Clinton… we called it! We sounded the alarm on Trumpite reaction and correctly categorized it as a variant of fascism when no other group was willing to do that.”

Camilo emphasized how material conditions have changed in the United States and internationally since the last Congress, and how a Marxist-Leninist party must adapt to those changes:

“As communists it is our duty and our obligation to prepare for all possible eventualities, and to not only deal with the encroaching fascist threat as it is presented to us, but to prepare for what may happen, and to take the serious steps necessary to build a revolutionary party and an infrastructure that can support that revolutionary party.”

Victor Vaughn was re-elected National Secretary to continue serving as the Party’s chief ideological officer and recounted some of the previous eight years’ successes in the advancement of the party’s theory and practice:

“We’ve started a series of political educationals on important topics like the definition of fascism, the class nature of Cuba, [and] the dangers of things like populism…

We have been at the forefront of actively opposing the alt-right phenomenon, and advocating for the humane treatment of all people.”

Left to right: Jack Shulman, Francis Isolde, Ramón Pebenito.

Sebastian Lemba was elected as Organizational Bureau Director, continuing after his appointment to the position in 2022. A moment of silence was observed for the Party’s fallen comrade from New York City, Ramón Pebenito, as well as other departed comrades and ideological predecessors depicted in framed pictures nearby. Sebastian reported on the growth of the Party since taking office:

“I feel like we’ve come a long way… with a lot of help from a lot of new people. And people who have been with us, some who are unfortunately no longer with us, have made it possible to go in a direction that I want to go into… Ramón helped out a lot in creating the blueprint for the direction of the Party and the Org Bureau.”

Deputy Chair Benjamin Rizzo expressed condolences: “Comrade Ramón was a stalwart comrade who is sorely missed by everyone in the Party.”

Sebastian continued with his Bureau report by sharing the immediate direction that is planned for this next term: “Going forward, we are going to expand the Party… We’re going to have a more focused direction and instruction. I’m looking forward to making the Party effective more than anything else, but also growing the Party in terms of its size and its presence in other cities – major cities especially – but also I’m really interested in seeing what people have in terms of strategies for rural areas… If we look back to the early CPUSA, they did a lot of that, and they did it really effectively.”

June Vass was elected as Information Bureau Director, continuing the work that began with her appointment in 2022, beginning with a brief explanation of the Bureau’s duties: “In the Info Bureau we manage all the websites, social media, publications – whether theoretical or news – and everything public-facing, even designs for our flags.”

She expressed a central motivation behind the Bureau’s recent work that has aimed at reducing production costs in order to maximize outreach, and to enable more Party funds to go toward organizing efforts and participation in international events.

“We have been standardizing and modernizing our designs… really focusing on uniformity, legibility, function, and accessibility.” 

Isabelle Bernardi, appointed Deputy Director of the Organizational Bureau after serving as Women’s Commissioner, started by reporting on the structural change of the Party’s Commissions since the last Congress:

“Previously, the LGBTQIA+ Commission and the Women’s Commission were merged. The last eight years we’ve seen those commissions become distinct and working in tandem but separately to talk about their different issues.”

Isabelle continued by acknowledging the creeping fascism in states like Florida under Ron DeSantis:

“Here in Florida, actually, abortion rights have been under attack… The American Party of Labor has members here in Florida that are opposing these attacks on abortion rights and taking part in advancing the rights of women and reproductive rights. The Women’s Commission of the APL believes that abortion, like all healthcare, is a human right which should be as broadly accessible as possible. The Women’s Commission, with the entirety of the Party, is working to usher in a socialist future where that is possible and healthcare rights in general are guaranteed.”

Isabelle continued with an expression of solidarity for the people of Palestine, particularly for the women and children who have been martyred, on behalf of the Women’s Commission:

“Our eyes right now are on the women of Palestine, who are living in occupied territory and currently are victims of a genocide. Over 30,000 people have been killed in Palestine by the Israeli Occupation Forces, and there’s been some liberal posturing about this, that women and children have been ‘disproportionately affected,’ but this is kind of a play on language that’s really gross. Women are being targeted, and children are being targeted, because this is a complete ethnic cleansing and total wiping out of the Palestinian population…The Women’s Commission also sees this for what it is: not a conflict, or an Israel-Hamas war, this is a genocide.”

Since the founding of the Women’s Commission in 2021, members have been working to build and develop relationships with mass women’s organizations:

“We have close ties with the International Women’s Alliance now; with GABRIELA, which is a Philippines solidarity organization of Filipinas in the US; and we are also working with SWAN, Stand With Abortion Now… in Florida. We’ve taken part in the launch of the Care for Caregivers campaign in Oregon, which is a campaign protecting the rights of migrant workers in Oregon that work in long-term care facilities. A lot of these women are experiencing wage theft and rampant workplace abuses, so the American Party of Labor and our Women’s Commission are working with the Care for Caregivers campaign to help organize these migrant workers, advance their rights, and to build similar campaigns in other divisions such as southern California.”

Both June and Isabelle received honors and Meritorious Service awards for their contributions.

LGBTQIA+ Commissioner Ian Ocx was not present, but his written speech was delivered in absentia by Isabelle: 

“The LGBTQIA+ Commission of the APL has been growing in size and activity since its re-founding in 2021. There has been an increase in Party coverage of queer issues within our Party paper, The Red Phoenix, as well as national calls to defend the lives of transgender people. Party divisions and individual cadre have been involved in local organizing concerning LGBTQIA+ issues.”

“The Commission has been doing its best to cover, report, and agitate around queer issues as they arise around the country. One of the most important items to be released was the Party’s National Call to Defend Transgender Lives. This was issued after a severe increase in legal and extralegal attacks against transgender, gender-nonconforming, and gender-queer peoples. This national call does not need to end with its publication but should also be a line and issue to organize around in local communities. We want our Party’s support for transgender people to be as material as possible.”

“The drastic increase in RP articles concerning LGBTQIA+ issues in 2023 is representative of several things. First it represents that our Party’s work around queer issues is growing. It is also representative of the need for the working class movement to have a developed understanding of queer issues. However, it also represents the growing need to cover queer issues in relation to the near-endless attacks on the LGBTQIA+ community as a whole within the U.S. Over the last few years the U.S. has seen a steady increase in attempted legislative attacks on queer people; some years have even seen over 500 attempted anti-LGBTQIA+ laws in legislative sessions; that is an average of 10 attempted anti-queer laws per state per year. While the overwhelming majority of these laws are defeated in legislative session every year, not all of them are. The struggle for LGBTQIA+ inclusion and liberation within the U.S. is intensifying. Now more than ever, our Party needs to be on the ground organizing within the queer community and reporting on issues relevant to the democratic rights of LGBTQIA+ people.”

After the speeches were concluded, messages of international solidarity from fraternal organizations were read aloud, including statements by the Resist US-Led War Movement, as well as our comrades in Iran, Pakistan, Chile, Tunisia, Turkey, Mexico, Ecuador, and France.

At the Congress, the Party Platform and Program were fine-tuned with new demands, including provisions to demand gender-affirming care, extending housing support and social services for the homeless population and an end to sweeps, to expand accommodations and accessibility for people with disabilities. The Party’s supreme documents were also updated with new language throughout to improve scientific accuracy and inclusivity. During the first discussions about the Program, a lengthy debate erupted over the first sentence, in a show of passion demonstrating the Party’s commitment to proletarian democracy and the dismantling of the capitalist-imperialist system in the United States. 

The creation of new Party bodies included the founding of the Politburo as an exercise in expanding democracy within national leadership; a Science, Technology and Medicine working group to study and research these fields to inform the Party’s organizational practices; and a Labor Commission to formulate tactics and strategy within the labor movement.

Concluding ceremonies for the Fifth Congress included a playing of “The Internationale.” The delegates vowed their continued dedication to the struggles and victories to come and to sharpen the Party as the American working class’ weapon in the battle for peace, equality, and socialist democracy.

National Secretary Victor Vaughn proudly announced the publication of the American Party of Labor’s new theoretical journal, Marxist-Leninist Currents, now available for purchase in paperback and to read online for free. New issues will be published and available for purchase biannually. As always, all proceeds go directly to our work.