Main LA Index | Main Newspaper Index
Encyclopedia of Trotskyism | Marxists’ Internet Archive
From Labor Action, Vol. 14 No. 20, 15 May 1950, p. 6.
Transcribed & marked up by Einde O’Callaghan for ETOL.
Labor Action this week opens a discussion on the question of independent labor political action, with the publication on this page of resolutions now before the Independent Socialist League and discussion articles on them.
This discussion originates in the deliberations of the year-end plenum of the National Committee of the Independent Socialist League which convened in New York. At that time a number of motions were presented on the question of independent political action and its relation to the slogan for a labor narty. None of the motions received a majority vote of the National Committee despite the considerable discussion that ensued on their presentation.
The whole question is now being discussed in the Independent Socialist League and in its discussion bulletin Forum. No decision has yet been taken on how to consummate this discussion for the purposes of arriving at a decision of the League.
In this connection, it is necessary to refer to the campaign of Willoughby Abner, a candidate for the Illinois State Legislature from Chicago, reports of which were carried in recent issues of Labor Action. Abner’s candidacy arose several weeks after the plenum above referred to. The issue arose on a proposal of the Chicago Branch of the ISL, which declared that the actions of the South Side PAC, State PAC and CIO should be regarded favorably by all union militants and progressives. Since the National Committee of the ISL had adopted no decision on the motions presented to it, the question of attitude toward the candidacy of Abner, nominated and supported as an opponent of the Democratic Party machine by PAC and the CIO, had to be decided by a referendum vote of the National Committee.
A motion supporting the actions of the progressives in PAC and the CIO in furthering the candidacy of Abner and the fight against the Democratic machine was carried by a majority vote in a referendum poll of the National Committee. While this motion dealt with an important electoral campaign, it did not decide the general question of new methods to We employed in independent political action, such as those contained in the Shachtman motions or in others presented to the plenum. The matter of general ISL policy is yet to be decided. The Abner campaign, and the ISL attitude toward it, was exceptional. – Ed.
Main LA Index | Main Newspaper Index
Encyclopedia of Trotskyism | Marxists’ Internet Archive
Last updated on 2 April 2024