The Labor Party Question: Rethinking American Exceptionalism, the CPUSA’s Role and CPUSA-Led/Influenced Trade Union Activity Circa 1936 to 1955

One issue that has haunted the US trade union movement from its early years to the present day is “Why is there no labor party in the United States?” The earliest posing of this question is probably Werner Sombert’s 1906 book, Why is There no Socialism in the United States? which attributes this lack of a US labor party to American exceptionalism. More recent volumes published in the twenty-first century attribute a US labor party’s absence to other factors. In basic terms, the question posed in these books refers to why there is no mass workers’ party in the United States which might take the form of Labor, Social Democratic, Socialist or Communist parties which express the interests of the working class in the political arena as opposed to trade unions which represent the working class’ interests in the economic arena. It was important for trade unions to participate in political activities in the promotion of the passage of pro-worker laws such as the 1871 Trade Union Act in Britain, which provided unions with legal protection, and the 1874 Factory Act which capped the workday at 10 h. Trade unions also supported, worked for and made financial contributions to candidates and political parties that they perceived would benefit labor and the collective interests of workers. To achieve this objective, labor unions directly affiliated themselves with workers’ parties, those perceived as being pro-working class and socialist in orientation (such as Labor, Social Democratic, Socialist and Communist parties, as previously mentioned). Typical exemplars of such workers’ political parties included the British Labor Party, established in