Originally published in Labor Today
For the average working American, the American Dream is just that: a dream that will never materialize. The cost of living has significantly increased while real wages (wages adjusted for inflation) have stagnated over the decades. The goal of owning a home is becoming a thing of the past. Healthcare is seen as an unattainable luxury for many and those with medical benefits through their unions, the rapid privatization of healthcare by the monopolies is chipping away at those benefits. American infrastructure is deteriorating and bridge collapses and train derailments become regular occurrences. In the world, prospects of a third world war are threatening the peace and security of the working masses. All this happens while the bosses and their monopolies are raking in record profits.
It may appear that the situation in America is hopeless for the working class but in fact, there is still a path to better living and working conditions in the country. That path is the building of an anti-monopoly coalition. This anti-monopoly coalition is the key to revitalizing democracy in the US and returning America to “We The People”. The anti-monopoly coalition must be made up of the downtrodden and all patriotic Americans who love peace and democracy, all led by the bastion of American democracy: a militant class-oriented labor movement.
We have seen over many decades the AFL-CIO strategy of tailing the parties of the bosses, particularly the Democratic Party, is not meeting the demands of the working class. In 2024, we are starting to see the need for independent political action for the working class coming to a head with unions like the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and the International Association of Fire Fighters (IAFF) refusing to endorse a Presidential candidate from either of the two parties of the bosses: neither the Democrats nor Republicans. Other unions like the United Electrical, Radio, and Machine Workers (UE), are going a step further and are calling for an independent electoral party for the working class. It’s time for the rank-and-file of the American labor movement to work to build an anti-monopoly coalition.
