In the wake of changes to government employee unions’ power in Wisconsin and elsewhere, The Communist Party USA is working in conjunction with national labor unions and other left wing political groups to organize protests in Madison, Wisconsin and across the nation on April 4th.
Scott Marshall, Vice Chair of The Communist Party USA said his organization is working with the likes of MoveOn.org, the SEIU, the AFL-CIO and others to make April 4th, the anniversary of the assassination of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., a national day of action.
“Support is beginning to grow,” said Marshall in an online meeting earlier this month. “A bunch of organizations already are hyping the idea of massive demonstrations on April 4th.”
The Community Party in particular has benefited from the recent debate over Wisconsin government employee unions’ power to collectively bargain, using the opportunity to build their ranks.
“In this struggle, the question of building the Left and building the Party has to come to the fore,” Marshall said. “Recruiting has picked up, more people are joining the Party and the broader left is getting bigger.”
The Communist Party USA leader said his members cannot just participate alongside other organizations, however. They must continue to join and help lead them.
‘We have to totally be imbedded in this movement and in these activities,” Marshall said. “Every comrade has a part to play.”
During the recent demonstrations in Madison, several protesters invoked images of Dr King, who was shot in Memphis, Tennessee on April 4, 1968, while in the city to meet and march in support of striking African American sanitation workers.
MacIver News Service’s Bill Osmulski reports from Madison, Wisconsin: