The Labor Party is an American

social democratic Social democracy is a political, social, and economic philosophy within socialism that supports political and economic democracy. As a policy regime, it is described by academics as advocating economic and social interventions to promote soci ...

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

advocating workers' interests and active in the state of

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

. The party was formed in 1996 by the

Oil, Chemical, and Atomic Workers International Union The Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers Union (OCAW) was a trade union in the United States which existed between 1917 and 1999. At the time of its dissolution and merger, the International represented 80,000 workers and was affiliated with the AFL� ...

, United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America,

United Mine Workers The United Mine Workers of America (UMW or UMWA) is a North American labor union best known for representing coal miners. Today, the Union also represents health care workers, truck drivers, manufacturing workers and public employees in the Unit ...

, International Longshore and Warehouse Union, American Federation of Government Employees, California Nurses Association, and hundreds of other local

labor union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s. From the beginning a dispute over the Party's running of candidates arose with many of the official unions totally opposed to running candidates that might cause the defeat of their normal Democratic allies. Smaller locals and left union activists on the other had pushed for a clean break with the Democratic Party. This issue was debated internally for years until 1999 when the Party's leadership agreed to some endorsements of Labor Party members running. In 2001 the Labor Party endorsed labor sponsored independent candidates in San Francisco and Ohio local elections. After the 2000 elections even symbolic support dripped away. The future of the party remains uncertain, particularly after the 2002 death of

Tony Mazzocchi Anthony Mazzocchi (June 13, 1926 – October 5, 2002) was an American labor leader. He was a high elected official of the Oil, Chemical and Atomic Workers International Union (OCAW), serving as vice president from 1977 to 1988, and as secret ...

, the founding national organizer. All of the founding unions continued to actively support Democratic Party candidates. In December 2005, the South Carolina Labor Party announced that it would seek ballot status in

and run a candidate in the 2006 legislative elections. ''Labor Party News'' quoted Leonard Riley, President of the

Charleston Charleston most commonly refers to: * Charleston, South Carolina * Charleston, West Virginia, the state capital * Charleston (dance) Charleston may also refer to: Places Australia * Charleston, South Australia Canada * Charleston, Newfoundlan ...

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 uncompromising voice for working people on their issues

Although South Carolina law permitted

electoral fusion Electoral fusion is an arrangement where two or more political parties on a ballot list the same candidate, pooling the votes for that candidate. It is distinct from the process of electoral alliances in that the political parties remain separat ...

, the Labor Party pledged not to endorse candidates of any other party. Party officials acknowledged that the choice of South Carolina may have seemed unusual due to the fact that the state had the second lowest concentration of union workers in the United States. However, party officials said 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 created a political space for the Labor Party. The party submitted 16,500 signatures on July 11, 2006. If 10,000 of the signatures were valid, the party would be qualified for the 2007 and 2008 elections. This effort was apparently unrelated to the concurrent attempt of the Working Families Party to gain ballot access in South Carolina, a state that allows

. In July 2007 ''

Ballot Access News ''Ballot Access News'' is a United States-based website and monthly online and print newsletter edited and published by Richard Winger of San Francisco, California. Winger is an expert on ballot access law in the United States. History Published ...

'' reported that the SCLP was attempting to recruit candidates. The party suspended active operations in 2007 but a group said to be affiliated with the party nominated one candidate for the

South Carolina State House The South Carolina State House is the building housing the government of the U.S. state of South Carolina, which includes the South Carolina General Assembly and the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina. Located in t ...

for 2010. The candidate, Brett Bursey, received 442 votes, or 3.06%. In December 2012,

Mark Dudzic Mark Dudzic is the National Organizer and Chairman of the United States Labor Party as well as a labor activist. For 18 years, prior to becoming Labor Party Chairman, Dudzic was president of Local 8-149 OCAW (a branch of the Oil, Chemical and At ...

wrote an article in which he confirmed that the party had suspended operations in 2007. While some have taken this to mean that he said that the time was currently not right for the Labor Party to exist, others have seen this as a start of a discussion about the future of the Labor Party."Labor Party Time? Not yet"
/ref> In the 2020 South Carolina House of Representatives election, Labor Party candidate Willie Legette ran for District 95. Legette won 12.1% of the vote, coming in second place to incumbent Democrat Jerry Govan Jr.'s 86.6% of the vote.

Notable members

Adolph Reed Adolf (also spelt Adolph or Adolphe, Adolfo and when Latinised Adolphus) is a given name used in German-speaking countries, Scandinavia, the Netherlands and Flanders, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Latin America and to a lesser extent in vari ...

, academic and author *

Theresa El-Amin Theresa El-Amin is an African-American civil rights activist, union organizer and former member of the Green Party of the United States Steering Committee. Biography El-Amin attended Tuskegee University and became an activist in 1966 with the Stu ...

, civil rights activist * Gary Olson, academic

External links

Official site

References

{{Authority control Defunct progressive parties in the United States Defunct social democratic organizations in the United States Political parties established in 1996 Labor Party (United States, 1996) politicians Labor parties in the United States 1996 establishments in the United States Political parties disestablished in 2007 2007 disestablishments in the United States Political parties in South Carolina Political parties in the United States