The most important labor work of the Communist Party in the 1920s was the Trade Union Educational League organized by new member William Z. Foster in 1922. The T.U.E.L. of the 1920s would serve as an inspiration for future generations of radical union activists and continues as powerful point of reference for many organizers and Communists in the U.S. today. Here is the program and methods document as updated by the R.I.L.U.’s 3rd World Congress in 1924.

‘Program for the Trade Union Educational League’ from the Third World Congress of the Red International of Labor Unions. Labor Herald Library No. 12. Trade Union Educational League, Chicago. 1924.

I. General Policies.

a. REVOLUTIONARY GOAL. At all times and in all its campaigns and publications, the League shall emphasize the revolutionary aims of the left wing. It shall carry on a ceaseless warfare against the bourgeois ideology and organizations. It shall seek to destroy the workers’ faith in the capitalist system and to turn their eyes towards the establishment of a Communist society through the dictatorship of the proletariat.

b. Wages, hours and working conditions. In all movements of the workers to improve their standards of living or to resist attack upon the same by the employers, the League shall take an active part. In each case it must develop a complete program of its own and popularize this against all other programs. The league shall carry on an intensive campaign for the shortening of the labor hours, increasing of wages, improving working conditions, and it shall stimulate the workers, both organized and unorganized to conduct an effective struggle against exploitation. In the coming industrial crisis in the United States, the league must raise throughout the labor movement, the slogan of “No reductions in wages and no lengthening of the working hours.”

c. Organize the Unorganized. This campaign must be pushed with unrelenting energy, because the organization of the many millions now outside of the unions is one of the supreme tasks confronting the working class as a whole and the left wing movement as representing the real interests of the working class. “Organize the Unorganized” is not a temporary slogan that may be cast aside when industrial depression sets in. It must be continued constantly in good and bad times, until the masses are organized. In periods of prosperity this slogan builds the union and during the industrial depressions it holds them together. The campaigns should take the following general forms:

1. To stimulate the A.F. of L. unions to take in the unorganized.
2. To build up the present independent mass unions.
3. To support the foundation of new unions wherever practical, by utilizing the Workers’ Party industrial nuclei, local branches of the League, shop committees, and such other connections as can be made use of.

No one of these methods should be used to the exclusion of the others. All must be employed as expediency dictates. Every means must be utilized to create mass organizations. Special attention must be given to the organization of the agricultural laborers.

d. Labor Party. The league shall take an active part in the building of the labor party. This movement not only teaches the workers their first lesson in class political cation, but it also furnishes a favorable ground for the left wing to fight the trade union bureaucracy and to bring about trade union progress generally. The league must take full advantage of the favorable situation created by the labor party movement.

e. Unemployment. In the industrial crisis now developing in the United States and Canada, the league shall take an active part in organizing the unemployed into national and local councils, and other necessary formations. Wherever possible, these bodies shall work in close co-operation with the trade unions. The league shall stir up the trade unions everywhere to interest themselves in the question of unemployment. However, when the trade unions are unwilling to take up the organizing of the unemployed, or wherever they offer a resistance, the league shall create unemployed councils, etc., and conduct the work of the unemployed independently. It shall demand that the employers and the government shall provide work and funds amounting to full maintenance of the workers. It shall also demand that the unions themselves share their funds and work with those of their members who are unemployed.

f. Amalgamation. The amalgamation campaign is not a temporary one, to be abandoned in periods of industrial depression; it must be continued relentlessly and until the various craft unions are consolidated into industrial unions. Organization by industry instead of by craft is a burning need of the workers in good times and bad. Under the flag of autonomy small unions and federations continue their miserable existence, having neither the strength nor the means to fight against capitalism, and yet refusing to amalgamate with kindred trades. A vigorous struggle should be carried on for the creation of centralized industrial organizations. It is necessary to strive towards concentration of the means and methods of struggle for a national utilization of all the forces of the working class. The independent unions shall also be included in the league’s amalgamation programs.

In conjunction with the amalgamation plan the unions affiliated with the United Labor Council shall carry on an active campaign for admission as a bloc to the A.F. of L. unions in the same industry and the council itself shall co-ordinate the activities of its unions in this direction.

A leading principle in all amalgamation plans is to put the revolutionaries in control of the amalgamated unions.

g. The United Front. The T.U.E.L. shall pursue the policy of the United Front. It shall seek to unite all the workers for revolutionary action along class lines. The United Front shall not consist of alliances or blocs with trade union bureaucrats–though some of them may be dealt with under favorable circumstances–but it shall be based upon a common understanding, unity and action, of the rank and file, of the labor organizations involved in the struggle against the bourgeoisie. The United Front shall not be conceived as an aim in itself, but as a means to win the masses away from the reactionary leaders and to unite them upon the basis of a revolutionary program and action.

h. Exposure of Bureaucracy. The league shall make a special point of exposing the corruption of the trade union leaders. For this purpose a pamphlet shall be issued exposing in detail the crimes of the trade union leaders against the rank and file of the unions and the whole working class. This policy of exposure shall be carried on vigorously in all the league’s publications.

i. Recognition of Soviet Russia. The league campaign for the full commercial and diplomatic recognition of Soviet Russia shall be intensified; the recognition of Russia by England, Italy, and other countries, makes this campaign the more timely and effective in the United States.

j. Negro Workers. The problem of the politically and industrially disfranchised Negroes shall occupy the serious attention of the league. The league shall demand that the Negroes be given the same social, political and industrial rights as whites, including the right to work in all trades, equal wages, admission into all trade unions, abolition of Jim Crow cars, restaurants, etc. The league shall issue a special pamphlet dealing with the Negro workers.

k. Injunctions. The league shall take the lead in the fight of the American working class against the injunction. Whenever and wherever an injunction is issued by the courts against strikers, depriving them of their rights, the league shall endeavor to arouse the strikers and the trade union movement in general to mass violation of the injunction.

l. Expulsions. The league shall continue the present policy in case of expulsions from the trade unions. Wherever the expelled workers are few in number they shall be kept in the local leagues and in close connection with the National Industrial Committees. But when they are great in number, they shall be formed into unions of the expelled. These expelled members shall endeavor to fight their way back into the old organizations, except in such cases where the best course is plainly to form a new organization. For this purpose mass movements of the rank and file should be organized to fight against expulsions and for reinstatement. Where the bureaucrats attack the league in overwhelming force, it shall become a secret organization.

m. Canadian Autonomy. The movement of the Canadian unions for autonomy within the American trade unions is endorsed. This autonomy shall take the form of the establishment of Canadian sections of all American unions having branches in Canada. These autonomous sections shall be united together in the Canadian Trades and Labor Congress. They must secure full right to declare strikes, to organize the masses, and to raise all necessary funds. The aim of the league shall be the building of the whole Canadian labor movement into a solid organization and to bring it into direct conflict with the Canadian employers and state. The autonomy of the Canadian unions should not lead to a cleavage between the Canadian and American labor movements.

n. Industrial Affiliations. The league shall intensify its campaigns for the affiliation of the trade unions to the R.I.L.U. Capitalism is international, and labor must internationally resist the assaults of the world-wide capitalist class. This must be driven home to the American working class, which as yet has hardly acquired a glimmering of the need for international solidarity and action of the working class. The league must point out the fallacy of the present policy of isolation and seek to bring the American workers into relationship with the workers in other countries. For this purpose, resolutions on the question of affiliation to the R.I.L.U. shall be presented in all trade union conventions.

o. Shop Committees. The league shall carry on active propaganda in favor of the organization of shop committees in the industries generally. These shop committees shall be elected by all employees of a given industrial establishment, irrespective of sex, color, nationality, skill, etc. The shop committees shall serve to unite all the workers in the various establishments, whether members of a union or not. The shop committees shall voice the demands of the workers and form the basis for a common struggle against capitalism. Wherever possible, such shop committees shall be utilized for the organization of the unorganized. The league shall strive to reorganize the old unions into industrial unions, based on shop committees.

p. Workers’ Control. The league shall put forth the slogan of “workers’ control of industry.” The campaign for the establishment of shop committees shall be accompanied by a propaganda for the workers’ control. The shop committees, working under the direction of the labor unions, shall aim to break the power of the employers in the industries. The shop committees shall demand and fight for the right to control the financial and technical sides of industry, to control the hiring and discharging of workers, to penetrate the financial and commercial secrets of the employers, to regulate the supply of raw materials and the distribution of finished products. They shall aim to revolutionize the masses and to turn their trade unions into fighting working class organizations. They shall strive to give the workers the necessary industrial and political education and organization to carry them in co-operation with the revolutionary political organizations, victoriously through the final struggle against the bourgeoisie for the overthrow of the capitalist system and the establishment of a Communist society.

II. The Structure of the League.

One of the most urgent problems confronting the league is to consolidate the existing revolutionary sentiment into concrete organization. The league does not and must not rest solely within the realms of propaganda. It. must redouble its efforts to build a real organization. It must follow up its various campaigns with work to bring the sympathetic elements into definite organization. At the same time it shall take the necessary precaution to protect itself from the attack as a dual union, by the trade union bureaucracy. To these needs the following organizational measures are necessary:

a. National Industrial Committees. In each industry there shall be a national committee, alive and functioning vigorously. These committees shall serve to unite all the revolutionary and sympathetic elements in their respective spheres. As soon as possible there shall be created sub-national committees within the national industrial committees to correspond with the important unions in the several industries. The national industrial committees shall each aim to keep a paid secretary in the field. These committees shall keep in close touch with the International Propaganda Committees and shall send them regular quarterly reports, and such other information as may be necessary to keep them in touch with the development of the American labor movement.

b. Local General Groups. In each city there shall be organized a local general group. These local general groups shall consist of all the revolutionary elements in the vicinity, either members of or eligible to membership in the trade unions. These members shall be required to subscribe to the class struggle propaganda fund, subscribe to the Labor Herald and to satisfy a local committee as to their sympathies with the movement. The local general groups shall be sub-divided into local industrial groups, and these shall be affiliated to their respective national industrial committees. The local general groups are of the most vital importance to the league, and every effort should be made to have them established in all industrial districts.

c. The League Press. In addition to the Labor Herald, there shall be established bulletins for each national industrial committee and also for the four districts of the league. These bulletins must carry the full program of the league at all times. The industrial bulletins must devote an established section regularly for news from their respective International Propaganda Committees, and they must support the complete program of the R.I.L.U. The national office of the league shall issue a news service to furnish information on the league’s activities to the press of the Workers Party and the labor press. Each national industrial committee shall publish at least one pamphlet dealing with the problems of its industry. The league shall also publish a series of general pamphlets. In addition to these else here mentioned, there shall be pamphlet on the I.W.W., the Russian trade unions, the question of Canadian autonomy, Washington versus Moscow, etc. The Labor Herald shall publish the mater on the activities of the R.I.L.U., to be furnished by the latter.

d. Finance. The finance system of the league must accomplish the double task of furnishing the necessary funds for the league and consolidating the members into a definite organization. To this end there shall be organized a class struggle propaganda fund, independent of the league. Every member of the league should subscribe regular contributions to the fund. The contributions should be monthly. The utmost efforts must be made to develop the class struggle propaganda fund, and to enlist all possible subscribers as contributors to it. No one shall be considered a member of the league unless he contributes to the class struggle propaganda fund. Fifty per cent of this fund shall go to the national league, the other fifty per cent shall be divided between the local general groups, the national industrial committees and the district. In addition, the present system of raising funds by means of entertainments, sale of literature, donations, etc., shall be continued and intensified. The national and industrial committees shall devote particular attention to the securing of regular donations and special contributions from local unions within their sphere of influence. Such funds as they are thus able to raise shall be at their own disposal. The national industrial committee shall not introduce individual contribution systems in connections with the class struggle propaganda fund.

III. Methods of Work.

The Trade Union Educational League must never be allowed to become merely a propaganda body. Above all, it must be a fighting organization. It must ever and always take the lead in the workers’ struggles, no matter how these manifest themselves. It must emphasize the importance of direct action and seek to constantly throw ever larger masses of workers more militantly against the employers and the capitalist state. In addition to being educational, the league must be the every-day leader in the battles against capital. In all strikes its militants must be highly active, with a program covering every phase of the situation. In all conventions they must carry on a systematic and thoroughly prepared campaign against the reactionary bureaucracy. For the league to content itself with action and conventions alone, however, would be as great a mistake as for it to ignore conventions altogether and to concentrate entirely upon strikes. The two branches of work, in conventions are strikes, but go hand in hand, supplementing and strengthening each other. Every struggle must be utilized for the upbuilding of the league. In every possible case the league shall place candidates against the reactionaries in the local and national union elections, and use these elections to the utmost for propaganda purposes.

IV. Relations of League to Independent Unions.

The league recognizes the present importance of the independent unions and shall remain in friendly and helpful connections with them in the class struggle.

a. Red International Committees. The formation and constitution of the Red International Committee, which serves as the connecting link between the revolutionary minorities and the revolutionary unions, is endorsed. There shall be a campaign made to bring all the available independent unions in the Red International Committees and the United Labor Council of America. For this purpose a general conference shall be called of all the independent unions, either adhering to the R.I.L.U. or sympathetic to its program. This conference shall be held under the auspices, direct or indirect, of the R.I.L.U. and the U.L.C. of A. The R.I.C. shall be made up of independent unions and revolutionary minorities, which shall have voting strength equal in the R.I.C. The R.I.C. shall map out a plan of militant campaign of action to include the organization of the unorganized, the organization of the unemployed, the amalgamation of the various unions, the development of the labor party movement, the affiliation of unions to the R.I.L.U. and the whole left wing program. The league shall be the representative of the Profintern in the United States and Canada. The revolutionary nuclei in the independent unions affiliated to the Profintern shall be party nuclei, and as such, under party control. As soon as practicable, the R.I.C. shall engage a paid secretary and issue a bulletin.

b. Red International Affiliation Committees. The formation of the Red International Affiliation Committee for work within the I.W.W. is endorsed. The League recognizes that revolutionary importance of the I.W.W. and the R.I.A.C. is intrusted to establish all possible connections within that organization. The attitude of the R.I.A.C. towards the I.W.W. shall be one of friendly cooperation and criticism. While pointing out definitely and clearly the mistakes in the I.W.W. ideology and tactics, the R.I.A.C. shall do everything possible to participate effectively in the I.W.W. struggles and to win the support of its membership and to secure the affiliation of the I.W.W. to the R.I.L.U. Wherever possible, united front arrangements in defense work, strikes, etc., shall be established between the league and the I.W.W. As soon as practicable, the R.I.A.C. shall issue a bulletin.

V. Relations of the League with the Workers’ Party.

a. Build the Party. The political and economic struggle of the working class is inseparable. The league recognizes the futility of carrying on the trade union work merely for itself. The chief aim of all its efforts shall be the building of the revolutionary mass political organization of the working class, the Workers Party: To this end, all the struggles of the workers shall be directed into political channels, and all the campaigns of the league for the Labor Party, amalgamation, etc., etc., shall be utilized to strengthen the membership and leadership of the Workers Party.

b. Build the League. The league recognizes the impossibility of its functioning effectively without the full and wholehearted support of the Workers Party. To develop this support it shall carry on a campaign to bring all the working class members of the party into the unions and into the league, to make them subscribers to the Class Struggle Propaganda Fund, and to have each branch and official of the Workers Party held responsible by the Workers Party for the establishment, maintenance and functioning of the league in their respective localities.

Resolutions and Decisions of the Third World Congress of the Red International of Labor Unions Held in Moscow July, 1924. Labor Herald Library No. 12. Published by the Trade Union Educational League, Chicago. 1924.

Contents: On the report of the Executive Committee, On the immediate problems in the revolutionary labor movement, The struggle for the unity of the international labor movement, The international struggle for the eight-hour day as a maximum, Labor unions and factory and shop committees, On International Propaganda Committees, On strike strategy, Problems of the R. I. L. U. in colonial and semi-colonial countries, On the agricultural proletariat and the peasantry, Organizational construction, On the struggle against Fascist labor unions, On emmigration, On work among women, Role of labor unions in the labor sport movement, Labor unions and co-operatives, On the problems of the international revolutionary labor press, On the International Workers’ Aid, On the International Red Aid, Problems of the adherents of the R. I. L. U. in Great Britain, Program of action for the Trade Union Educational League in the United States of America, Program of activity for the Trade Union Educational League in Canada, On the work of the adherents of the R. I. L. U. in Czechoslovakia, On the work in Scandinavia, On the work of the adherents of the R. I. L. U. in Spain, On the work of the adherents of the R. I. L. U. in Belgium, On the work of the adherents of the R. I. L. U. in Holland, On Latin America, The struggle for the release of the political prisoners in the United States of America, APPEALS: The tenth anniversary of the world war, Against the white terror, Against the persecution of the revolutionary proletariat in Esthonia, Latvia, Finland, and Poland; Against the murder of violence upon the revolutionary workers in Jugo-Slavia; Against the white terror in Bulgaria; Against the persecution of workers in Turkey; Against the persecution of Egyptian workers; Against the terror in China.

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