Labor Party (United States)

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Labor Party




Party Chairman	Mark Dudzic
Senate Leader	N/A
House Leader	N/A

Founded	1996
Headquarters	Washington, D.C

Political ideology	Social Democracy
International affiliation	N/A
Color(s)	Blue and Red

Website	http://www.thelaborparty.org/

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The United States Labor Party is a social democratic political party advocating workers' interests. Membership is around 5000.

The party was formed in 1996 by the United Mine Workers, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, American Federation of Government Employees, California Nurses Association and hundreds of other local labor unions. This organization allied itself with the Green Party of Wyoming in 1998 to field its first candidates for local and federal offices. It has not run candidates since (and never any outside of Wyoming), and the future of the party remains uncertain, particularly after the death of Tony Mazzocchi, the founding national organizer. All of the founding unions continued to actively support Democratic Party candidates.

In December 2005, the party announced that it would seek ballot status in South Carolina and run a candidate in the 2006 legislative elections. Labor Party News quotes Leonard Riley, President of the Charleston International Longshoremen's Association Local 1422 as saying, "Given the results of the past few elections, I think the workers of South Carolina would jump at the opportunity to consider a Labor Party which would guarantee an uncompromised voice for working people on their issues." [1] Although South Carolina law permits electoral fusion, the Labor Party has pledged not to endorse candidates of any other party.

Party officials acknowledged that the choice of South Carolina may seem unusual. The state has the second lowest concentration of union workers in the United States. However, party officials believe that the relatively high unemployment rate, the decline in the textile industry, and the indifference of the state Democratic and Republican parties to the interests of working people, African-Americans and women create a political space for the Labor Party. ^[1] The party submitted 16,500 signatures on July 11, 2006. If 10,000 of the signatures are valid, the party will be qualified for the 2007 and 2008 elections. ^[2] This effort is apparently unrelated to the concurrent attempt of the Working Families Party to gain ballot access in South Carolina. ^[3]