The Committee of One Million: A Petition to Support a Party of Working People
I learned early on in my career that it’s not easy to discuss alternatives to the Democratic Party, especially with labor union officials. In 1979, I was piloting the Labor Institute’s new political economy workshop with UAW Local 259, which represented Cadillac mechanics in the New York City area.
Sam Meyers, the president, was a labor radical who had survived the McCarthy era. He was militant and deeply committed to social democracy. He and Bernie would have gotten along nicely.
At the end of the course, in all naivete, I asked the workers what kind of political party they wanted to support – The Democrats? The Republicans? Or a new workers’ party? There was nearly unanimous consent for a new workers’ party.
Except for Sam, who jumped up and said, “You can’t do that. We have to stick with the Democrats.” And that shut down the discussion.
It’s been that way ever since. The leadership of nearly every progressive labor union is deeply entwined with the Democrats, even as half or more of their members have defected to MAGA.
As one national official told me, “The Democrats are the only political friends we have.” As a result, union members are not asked what they want politically, because the leadership fears the answer will divert the union from what it must do – stick with the Democrats at all costs.
But it’s a losing battle. Working-class support for Democratic presidential candidates has collapsed. Jimmy Carter received 52 percent in 1976. Kamala Harris got only 33 percent in 2024.
In rural America, the defections are even greater. Take Mingo County, West Virginia, the county that has lost 3,000 of its 3,300 coal jobs. In 1996, Bill Clinton got 70 percent of the vote. In each following national election, the Democratic vote has declined, with Joe ‘Six-Pack’ Biden getting 14 percent in 2020, and Kamala Harris getting only 12 percent in 2024. The research for my book showed that since the 1990s, as the mass layoff rate went up in rust-belt counties, the Democratic vote went down. (See Wall Street’s War on Workers.)
It’s hard not to sympathize with labor leaders as they cope with the day-to-day tasks of keeping their union alive and protecting their members from a system that is rigged against them. In that context, building something new is a fantasy, the idle dreams of pontificators (like me!). These leaders believe what others have been saying for decades – that third parties are impossible in the system we have.
Legitimate Worries about Third Parties?
There is some rationale to their fears. Third-party efforts can be dangerous, acting as “spoilers,” which then help anti-labor candidates win. Ralph Nader’s presidential run in 2020 may have tilted Florida and the presidency to Bush. After all those hanging chads, third parties became anathema to political dreamers, as well as labor leaders.
Most third-party efforts fail because they attract so few voters. They are then viewed as time-consuming distractions – more like vanity projects with the potential to have serious negative consequences.
But that’s not inevitable. The spoiler effect can be mitigated if the third-party efforts refrain from electoral activities until they are large enough to seriously contend.
What would you think if a million workers said they were willing to back a new political effort?
One million names on a petition would show that the effort has a far wider reach than a fringe group or a self-promoter. One million names would signal to the political actors that there is mass support for building a new working-class political home. One million names might even push some Democrats to support pro-worker legislation.
Mobilizing a petition drive would cost relatively little and could start with a few progressive unions circulating one that read:
“We the undersigned support building a new independent party of working people that would back working-class issues independent of both the Democratic and Republican parties. The new party would fight to:
Stop big companies that receive tax dollars from laying off workers who pay taxes.
Guarantee that everyone who wants to work has a decent-paying job, and if the private sector can't provide it the government will.
Raise the minimum wage so every family can lead a decent life.
Stop drug company price gouging, expand Medicare to cover everyone, and put price controls on food cartels.”
The Billionaires have two parties. We need one of our own!
Once a million names, emails, and telephone numbers are recorded, ways could be found to support independent candidates who were willing to fight for this platform. A website and newsletter could connect with those who have signed up.
But are there really a million working people out there who would sign this petition? We won’t know until it’s tried. Right now, approximately 1.7 million workers are suffering through involuntary layoffs each month. Federal workers are joining these ranks as Musk wields his axe. These are potential recruits for the Committee of a Million.
Dan Osborn, the former local union president, ran in 2024 as an independent for Senate in Nebraska on a powerful worker-focused populist campaign. He lost by seven points, while Kamela Harris lost the state by 20 points. Osborn is now setting up a political action committee to recruit and support more working-class candidates. Imagine what could happen if the Committee of a Million linked with his effort.
What are you smoking?
No! No! No! Say my friends in the labor movement. “We have to support the Dems to take back control of the House and stop Trump.”
But can’t we walk and chew politics at the same time? Can’t we work on those swing districts and support independents like Osborn? Don’t we have an obligation at least to ask our members what they really want? Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to find out if they are willing to sign up for the Committee of a Million?
I can’t stop obsessing over brutal realities. Trump is in power for the second time because there is no magic formula that will stop the exodus of workers of all shades and proclivities from the Democratic Party.
That ship has sailed. It’s time to link up with politically alienated workers and build something new outside of the two-party political oligopoly.
Sure, it could fail. But continued failure is certain if we don’t try something new.
If you have an alternative idea, please send it along. We’ve got to have this discussion.
We have a party. Right under our noses. It's the Justice Dems, aka AOC and 'the squad' in the House and Bernie and a handful of his friends in the Senate. 'The Democrats' are not unitary, but a tent over conflicting blocs. The one named above is ours. Now build it on all levels until it reachs, say, 150 or more in the House. Then the Dem tent faces a transformative crisis. We don't exactly know the outcome yet, but our party might emerge as a new First Party, as the GOP did in 860. Call it our 'Way of the Whigs' tactic. It's the only one that ever worked under our reactionary electoral system. It has only one saving grace. The ballot line doesn't belong to parties and their money people. It belongs to the state. And any group, like the Justice Dems, can use it if they meet the start requirements.
As a civil rights activist in my town of Ft Wayne, IN often says, " People need to get their noses out of Facebook and into real books."-- and I would add, "history books". The wealthy have been running things, including the 2 major political parties from the get-go. The way you fight them is by getting involved and fighting them for control of the existing Democratic Party. People like the great Walter Reuther understood that-- and look what he accomplished for working people-- by helping to create and then working with FDR and his Democratic coalition to build the new deal. What is missing today is people willing to work hard and sacrifice for what they believe in. If you think syphoning off volunteers & voters into yet another failed 3rd party effort will beat the wealthy-- then let me tell you about the "Green Party", who thought creating their new party would bring about a new "environmentally friendly" America....right. All they have done is make it easier for corporate America to implement their agenda-- by weaking the fragile coalition of volunteers & voters we need to "fight the right".