Stan Weir (1921–2001) was an influential

blue-collar A blue-collar worker is a working class person who performs manual labor. Blue-collar work may involve skilled or unskilled labor. The type of work may involving manufacturing, warehousing, mining, excavation, electricity generation and powe ...

intellectual,

socialist Socialism is a left-wing economic philosophy and movement encompassing a range of economic systems characterized by the dominance of social ownership of the means of production as opposed to private ownership. As a term, it describes the e ...

, and

labor leader 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 ( ...

. A rank-and-file worker for most of his life, Weir worked as a

seaman Seaman may refer to: * Sailor, a member of a marine watercraft's crew * Seaman (rank), a military rank in some navies * Seaman (name) (including a list of people with the name) * ''Seaman'' (video game), a 1999 simulation video game for the Seg ...

in the Merchant Marine during World War II, as an auto worker,

longshoreman A stevedore (), also called a longshoreman, a docker or a dockworker, is a waterfront manual laborer who is involved in loading and unloading ships, trucks, trains or airplanes. After the shipping container revolution of the 1960s, the number o ...

truck driver A truck driver (commonly referred to as a trucker, teamster, or driver in the United States and Canada; a truckie in Australia and New Zealand; a HGV driver in the United Kingdom, Ireland and the European Union, a lorry driver, or driver in ...

, and

painter Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface (called the "matrix" or "support"). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and ai ...

, before taking a position at the

University of Illinois The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (U of I, Illinois, University of Illinois, or UIUC) is a public land-grant research university in Illinois in the twin cities of Champaign and Urbana. It is the flagship institution of the University ...

, where he taught courses to

union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

locals. Politically, he was a leading figure in the "

Third Camp The third camp, also known as third camp socialism or third camp Trotskyism, is a branch of socialism that aims to oppose both capitalism and Stalinism by supporting the organised working class as a "third camp". The term arose early during W ...

" tendency of

Trotskyism Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...

, and was a member of the Workers Party and its successor the

Independent Socialist League The Workers Party (WP) was a Third Camp Trotskyist group in the United States. It was founded in April 1940 by members of the Socialist Workers Party who opposed the Soviet invasion of Finland and Leon Trotsky's belief that the USSR under Josep ...

. The character Joe Link in

Harvey Swados Harvey Swados (October 28, 1920 – December 11, 1972) was an American social critic and author of novels, short stories, essays and journalism. Family and early life Born in Buffalo, New York, Harvey Swados was the son of Aaron Meyer Swad ...

’s novel ''Standing Fast'' was based on Weir. In the 1980s he co-founded Singlejack Books, a publishing house for worker writers. A close friend to

James Baldwin James Arthur Baldwin (August 2, 1924 – December 1, 1987) was an American writer. He garnered acclaim across various media, including essays, novels, plays, and poems. His first novel, '' Go Tell It on the Mountain'', was published in 1953; de ...

Staughton Lynd Staughton Craig Lynd (November 22, 1929 – November 17, 2022) was an American political activist, author, and lawyer.Staughton Lynd, ''Living Inside Our Hope: A Steadfast Radical's Thoughts on Rebuilding the Movement,'' Cornell University Pres ...

and

C.L.R. James Cyril Lionel Robert James (4 January 1901 – 31 May 1989),Fraser, C. Gerald, ''The New York Times'', 2 June 1989. who sometimes wrote under the pen-name J. R. Johnson, was a Trinidadian historian, journalist and Marxist. His works are in ...

, Weir was at the forefront of much of the

labor movement The labour movement or labor movement consists of two main wings: the trade union movement (British English) or labor union movement (American English) on the one hand, and the political labour movement on the other. * The trade union movement ...

during the second half of the twentieth century.

References

Voices from the Rank and File: Remembering Marty Glaberman and Stan Weir
by

, fro
''Viewpoint Magazine''
*In Memoriam: Stan Weir, 1921-2001 (https://libcom.org/library/memoriam-stan-weir-1921-2001) *Weir, Stan. ''Singlejack Solidarity.'' Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 2004. *Weir, Stan.
The informal work group
"
Rank and File: Personal Histories of Working-Class Organizers
', ed. Lynd, A. and R.S. Lynd (Princeton: 1973, 1981, 2014), pages 179–200. {{DEFAULTSORT:Weir, Stan 1921 births 2001 deaths American Trotskyists American trade unionists University of Illinois faculty Members of the Workers Party (United States) United States Merchant Mariners of World War II