By Press Secretary, S.M. Cifone

ince the 1970s, the American working class has been faced with a seemingly nonstop cycle of pauperization. It is of no coincidence that this reinvigorated assault on the working class came in parallel with the rise of neo-liberalism and later increased with the counter-revolution in the Soviet Union. This pauperization has been in a consistent accelerated state since the 2008 recession which was then compounded by the post-COVID recession.

In the last decade, there has been a visible increase of militancy within the labor movement, though in most cases it has been aimless, with at best spontaneous actions. The first hint of this militancy came in 2017 when over 1,800 workers walked off the job at Spectrum Cable in New York City, only to eventually be sold out by the typical craft-union misleadership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 3 five years later. We saw this militancy rise with the wildcat Teachers’ Strikes in 2018. Spontaneous as they were, at least in the short term they led to major gains.

COVID did not bring a screeching halt to the growing labor militancy, unlike much of the rest of society. COVID-induced speed-ups led to two major national strikes in 2021 at Kellogg’s and John Deere. On top of these successful strikes, 2021 saw the growth of the drive to organize workers at Amazon leading to the successful authorization vote at the JFK8 warehouse in Staten Island in April 2022. The massive organizing drive at Starbucks has been another sign of a growing militancy within the American labor movement.

Perhaps the most important industry to see a growing rank-and-file militancy has been the railroad industry. This became apparent during the 2022 contract fight that saw railroad workers reject tentative agreements (TAs) which blatantly ignored rank-and-file objections to increasingly dangerous working conditions, only to be forced by then President Biden and a bi-partisan majority in Congress to accept these TAs thanks to Biden-imposed provisions from the Railway Labor Act. More on them later.

What can be the solution to the movement’s inability to harness the growing rank-and-file militancy into strength to lead the fight against monopoly capital? In 1922, former Communist Party USA General Secretary William Z. Foster made it clear what the solution is in the face of these attacks:

“What must be done? The answer is that we must stop our stupid and ruinous tactics of single trades or groups of trades going alone against the companies while the rest stand around twiddling their thumbs and awaiting the pleasure of the companies to give them a beating. What we must do is to so combine our forces that every railroad worker will stand shoulder to shoulder. We must build up such a solidarity that the entire body of railroaders in the country will move as one man, so that if one section is attacked all the rest will rally to its support. When we have accomplished that, then the ‘open shop’ slave drive will soon come to an end. Really united, the … railroad workers would be invincible.”^[1]

What is Amalgamation?

What Foster is clearly saying is the only path forward to guarantee the maximum strength for the labor movement is amalgamation. What is amalgamation? Amalgamation is the very essence of industrial unionism, mainly one industry-one union. Communists and class-oriented trade unionists in the United States have been fighting for amalgamation for over a century.

The push for industrial unionism dates back at least to the 1890s. The American Railway Union (ARU) led by Eugene Debs was an attempt at industrial unionism among the railroads which led the Pullman Strike of 1894. The ARU would be crushed by the strike, thanks largely to its ultra-left nature as a dual union. Dual unionism is the formation of a separate union within an industry, in this case the more militant unionists, which divides the workers in an industry. Dual unionism failed because it separated the militant unionists from the broader rank and file making it easier to defeat.

The dual unionist concept of organizing industrial unions was later picked up by the syndicalist Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). Before the October Revolution and the building of the Communist Party in the United States, the IWW was the center of not just the drive for industrial unionism, but militant unionism in general. Many soon to be leaders of the Communist Party would first pass through as a member of the IWW—also known as Wobblies—including William Z. Foster, Elizabeth Gurley Flynn, Eugene Dennis, John Reed and Earl Browder, among others.

Foster in his days as a Wobbly would go on to see clearly that its strategy of creating dual unions was not the answer to the workers problems. This started with a trip to Europe in which Foster became intrigued in France by the General Confederation of Labor (CGT). He witnessed how the syndicalists within the CGT organized militant cadre within their mainstream unions leading the workers’ everyday struggles. This led to Foster soon developing his strategy of “boring-from-within” aimed at organizing the rank-and-file of the moribund craft unions of the old American Federation of Labor (AFL).

This strategy is largely still used by many left-wing forces within the labor movement through the various concepts of rank-and-file movements. This strategy played a major role in the development of the Congress of Industrial Organizations (CIO) in the 1930s. Since the merger of the AFL and CIO in 1955, many unions have consolidated to form larger unions.

TUEL Attempts to Amalgamate the Railroad Unions

The fight to amalgamate the railroad unions goes back to the days of the Trade Union Educational League (TUEL). In 1922, TUEL launched a drive to amalgamate the sixteen railroad craft unions in the U.S. into one industrial union. Foster noted then that:

“When American railroad men embark upon the amalgamation of all their trade unions into one industrial union they will not be pioneers blazing a trail through an unknown wilderness. On the contrary, they will be setting forth on a well-travelled road. … In fact, the United States is the only important country in the world where the industrial form of union is not predominant among railroad workers. Here alone, where the need for solidarity is greater than anywhere else is the antiquated craft type supreme—which does not speak well for our spirit of progress.”^[2]

There was some early success with the campaign as by the end of 1922. Eleven State Federations with the AFL passed resolutions in favor of amalgamation. As future General Secretary Earl Browder reported:

“A great call for the solidarity of Labor has gone out from the State Federations. Taking the form of a demand for industrial unionism through amalgamation, this call has swept through the Federations like a whirlwind, gathering victories at every turn. Many of the State bodies meet in the late Summer and early Fall, and in 13 of them the issue was raised. In 11 instances, the demand for amalgamation was adopted by an overwhelming majority, in many cases with only a scattered vote or two in opposition. It has been a veritable upheaval of sentiment for solidarity.”^[3]

In December 1922, a National Railroad Amalgamation Conference took place consisting of, “some 425 delegates, of all trades and callings, including smaller delegations from the four Brotherhoods, from all over the United States and Canada.”^[4] In a report for the International Press Correspondence, Foster wrote:

“They endorsed it 100%, declaring wholeheartedly for one union for the entire railroad industry. Then, organizing a committee of 100, members of which be located in all the principal railroad centers, they prepared to launch a great campaign to bring the many organizations together. …

“The conference adopted a general plan of action looking forward to the calling of a general amalgamation convention, at which all railroad unions, or as many as possible of them, shall be combined into one body. Instructions were given the executive officers to push this relentlessly. The plan of this program is of the utmost importance, destined in fact to mark an epoch in American trade unionism.”^[5]

Unfortunately, the campaign faced many setbacks, and neither TUEL or Foster would live to see the railroads amalgamated.^[6] On a positive note, the failure of this campaign would provide lessons which ultimately helped in the formation of the CIO in the 1930s.

Partial amalgamation would eventually come to the railroads with the 1969 merger of the Order of Railway Conductors (ORC), Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen (BLFE), the Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen (BRT), and the Switchmen’s Union of North America (SUNA) into the United Transportation Union (UTU). Then in 1986, the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station Employees (BRAC) would merge with the Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC) to form the Transportation Communications Union (TCU) which would then merge into the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) in 2005. The UTU would later merge in 2014 with the Sheet Metal Workers’ International Association (SMWIA) to form the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART).

The Need for Amalgamation Today

With this in mind, is amalgamation still applicable today? The answer to this can only be yes; although there are fewer, but larger unions, many industries are still divided among multiple unions. This can be seen in industries such as warehousing, transportation, service, etc.; but perhaps where it is most glaring is in the railroad industry.

As briefly mentioned earlier 2022 saw a prolonged contract fight between the different railroad craft unions and the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC)—the modern day cartel of railroad corporations. Of the remaining twelve railroad unions, ten unions came together to bargain as the Coordinated Bargaining Coalition (CBC) in these negotiations. This positive step towards possible amalgamation led to major wage gains in the tentative agreement that was ultimately rejected by the rank and file. Two unions did not join the coalition, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWE) and SMART-MD (Maintenance Division).

Ultimately, the rank-and-file membership would reject the tentative agreement because the NCCC would not address the increasingly dangerous working conditions faced by railroad workers. This would lead to then President Biden invoking provisions of the Railway Labor Act of 1926^[7] which would force so-called “cooling-off periods”, arbitration and eventually lead to Congress and the President forcing the rejected tentative agreement on the railroad workers in December 2022.

Throughout this fight, which actually lasted three years, there was a cross-craft caucus of railroad workers leading the way in organizing the rank and file to fight back against the speed-ups of the railroad cartels. This group, Railroad Workers United (RWU), was the voice of the rank and file throughout this fight. They put a spotlight on the draconian “Hi-Viz” attendance policy being implemented, as well as, the massive cuts to maintenance and speed-ups caused by so-called Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR) while the capitalist media claimed the only hold-up was sick days^[8]. The path forward for amalgamation is through rank-and-file caucuses like RWU.

How Can Amalgamation Be Fought For Today?

RWU has consistently passed resolutions calling for coordinated bargaining among the railroad unions; they passed a new resolution in February last year with a new reinvigorated push to unite the railroad unions:

“Whereas, In 2022, the last round of bargaining for the national contract covering over 100,000 railroad workers made headlines around the world, bringing attention to the crisis in the U.S. railroad system and the poor conditions of railroad workers; …

“Whereas, While a coalition of the various railroad unions was formed for the last round of negotiations, unity broke down as individual union officials began to accept tentative agreements based on the inadequate Presidential Emergency Board recommendations …

“Whereas, Very little was done to involve rank-and-file railroad workers in negotiations or mobilize them in actions designed to put pressure on the companies in order to break the deadlock; and

“Whereas, The lack of strike preparation carried out by the unions meant that the companies felt confident in delaying negotiations and not offering any serious improvements …

“Therefore be it resolved RWU calls on rail labor to adopt a new approach for future contract negotiations, one based on real unity of all unions and crafts where no union settles until all unions have a satisfactory agreement, open negotiations with clear communication to the rank and file about progress, and mobilization of the membership for actions to build up a credible strike threat; and

“Be it finally resolved that RWU is calling for and willing to help organize a conference of all members of rail labor committed to discussing, debating, and developing a strategy for an aggressive, united contract campaign going forward into the upcoming round of national handling in freight service.”^[9]

RWU is taking a proactive step towards uniting the railroad craft unions. Actions like these are the only steps forward to ultimately amalgamate the different crafts into one industrial union in the railroad industry.

This latest push towards amalgamation has not come without backlash from the misleaders of the railroad unions. Throughout 2024, several of the unions agreed to individual tentative agreements with several of the individual rail carriers leading to a split in the CBC. There is no doubt that these misleaders of labor saw the growing push from RWU as a threat to their power.

As Foster noted in 1922:

“A more powerful objection to amalgamation, however, than any of the foregoing is one that is never expressed by those holding it; viz, the fear of the higher officials of the craft unions concerned that in the new, more economically operated industrial union they will lose their authority, and probably their very jobs. This fear is by far the most serious hindrance to amalgamation; it always does more to block the fusing of labor organizations than any other factor. Few officials can rise above it.”^[10]

It is clear the struggle to amalgamate the railroad unions is far from over. We must mobilize all possible forces to support RWU in their goals. With this, the railroads are not the only industry where amalgamation is necessary. For example, the Building Trades is another industry in need of a cross-craft rank-and-file movement similar to RWU with the goal of amalgamating the different crafts into one industrial union.

Organizing at Amazon Needs to Amalgamate within a Single Union

While the earlier mentioned organizing victory at the JFK8 Amazon Fulfillment Center was a sign of breakthrough of a budding militant labor movement, the campaign to organize Amazon has been a spotlight on the fragmentation of the labor movement as a whole.

This campaign was launched with a pandemic-era organizing effort by the Retail, Wholesale and Department Store Union (RWDSU) in Bessemer, Alabama. This campaign was riddled with both organizing mistakes and an all-out assault by Amazon which ultimately led to its defeat in April 2021. As the workers in Alabama were casting their votes, the Amazon Labor Union (ALU) JFK8 unionization effort kicked off in Staten Island, followed by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT) passing a resolution to organize Amazon at their convention that June. To add to the disarray, multiple unionization efforts were launched after the ALU victory at JFK8, some affiliated with the new ALU, others independent on their own.

What has been the result of this fragmented, disorganized effort to organize Amazon? The answer is simple, nothing has changed for Amazon workers. Foster, when talking about the Steel Workers Organizing Committee’s (SWOC) efforts to organize the steel industry, made it clear how a mass industrial unionization campaign should be national in scope:

“The organization movement must be industrial and national in character. That is … in every steel center, not simply here and there spasmodically in individual mills or steel centers.”^[11]

The solution is clear, the campaign to organize Amazon cannot succeed until it becomes national in character, and not simply a loosely-connected effort in a handful of locations nationwide. Amalgamating these efforts within a single, united union is necessary for this organizing drive to reach its ultimate aim in unionizing Amazon. This process began in June 2024 when ALU members voted to affiliate with the IBT forming Local 1 of the new division of the Teamsters, ALU-IBT.

More still needs to be done as the RWDSU campaign in Bessemer is awaiting a third election, and Carolina Amazonians United for Solidarity and Empowerment (CAUSE), an independent union, lost an election at the RDU1 facility in Garner, North Carolina earlier this year and has continued their campaign there. These movements must unite into one united effort to organize Amazon.

The Communist Role in the Struggle for Amalgamation

It is clear that these campaigns mentioned are attempting to move the labor movement in a progressive direction. However, there is something lacking within these movements preventing them from reaching their logical end—an amalgamated and united labor movement. This is where the Communists come in.

Another core part of a major organizing drive, such as what is necessary at Amazon as well as amalgamation of the railroad unions, is discipline. Foster made it clear when again talking about SWOC’s efforts:

“The campaign must develop a strong discipline among the organizers and workers in order to prevent the movement from being wrecked by company-inspired local strikes and other disruptive tendencies. The necessary discipline cannot be attained by issuing drastic orders, but must be based upon wide education work among the rank and file and the development of confidence among them in the cause and ultimate victory of the movement.”^[12]

When looking at the state of the American labor movement since the CIO organizing drives of the 1930s, it is clear the only period in which this necessary discipline existed was the heyday of the CIO. It was Bolshevik discipline and what Foster termed “characteristic Communist clarity” that helped play a decisive role in building a nascent industrial union movement in the 1930s.

[1] Foster, William Z., “Amalgamation or Annihilation”, The Labor Herald, April 1922, p. 6.

[2] Foster, William Z., Railroaders Next Step—Amalgamation; Trade Union Educational League: Chicago, 1922. Available in Selected Works of William Z. Foster, Vol. 1; New Outlook Publishers: Seattle, 2025, p. 40.

[3] Browder, Earl, “Eleven States Demand Amalgamation. What Are You Going to Do About it Mr. Gompers?”, The Labor Herald, December 1922.

[4]Foster, William Z., “The National Railroad Amalgamation Conference in the U.S.A.”, International Press Correspondence, January 23, 1923, Vol.3, No. 9, p. 69.

[5]Ibid., pp. 69-70.

[6]For more on the TUEL’s campaign in the 1920s you can find several pamphlets and articles by Foster in Selected Works of William Z. Foster, Vol. 1; New Outlook Publishers: Seattle, 2025. You can also find the complete collection of TUEL’s The Labor Herald at https://luel.us/publications/the-labor-herald/.

[7] For more on the Railway Labor Act see: Foster, William Z., The Watson-Parker Law: The Latest Scheme to Hamstring Railroad Unionism; Trade Union Educational League: Chicago, 1927.

[8]You can find more on the railroad workers struggles of 2022 here: https://youtu.be/HhjlDc3uKic?si=dGentqGxBW3I8QTo

[9]The full resolution can be found at https://www.railroadworkersunited.org/resolutions.

[10] Foster, Op. Cit., 1922 in Op. Cit., 2025, p 56.

[11] Foster, William Z., Organizing Methods in the Steel Industry; Labor United Educational League: Staten Island, 2025a, p. x.

[12] Ibid.