National Democratic Labor Association

  

National Democratic Labor Association
Chairperson	Robert Rauner
Founder	Zhou Xinyue William Z. Foster
Slogan	"Preserving the rights of the people"
Founded	17 May 1921
Headquarters	Chicago
Membership  (2020)	284,000
Ideology	Official:  • Continentalism  • Landonism  • Liberal socialism Historically:  • Left Communism  • Syndicalism  • Anticallahanism
National affiliation	National Front
National People's Congress	71 / 1,580
Seats in Republic-level chambers	234 / 2,794
Politics of the United Commonwealth Political parties Elections

The National Democratic Labor Association (NDLA), known also as the Labor Front, is a legally recognized political party in the United Commonwealth of Continentalist States, and a member of the Continentalist Party-led National Front. The Labor Front has its roots in a "Registered Section" of the Continentalist Party, having emerged during the creation of the United Commonwealth and the first assembly of the National People's Congress in 1921.

The faction was founded by Zhou Xinyue and William Z. Foster and represented the interests of trade unions and syndicalists. Following the death of Aeneas Warren in 1922, the Labor Front was one of two major factions that jockeyed for control over the United Commonwealth, being staunchly opposed to the succession of Seamus Callahan and his "Revolutionary Front". The Labor Front briefly achieved power in 1922, supporting the appointment of Foster as president, and forming the basis of the First Triumvirate, which consisted of Labor Front member Jim Maurer, Labor-leaning Morris Hillquit, and Meyer London. However, this alliance was outmaneuvered by Callahan, and coupled with the assassination of Zhou in 1922, the Labor Front fell from preeminence. The Labor Front cooperated with the Continentalist Party, but came to represent opposition to the policies of Callahan and the emerging doctrine of Callahanism. Throughout the 1920s the Labor Front consisted of those critical of the emerging private sector in the Continental economy, Callahan's nationalistic rhetoric, and the bureaucracy of the Continentalist Party, but after 1924 did little to mount resistance against Callahan's rise as paramount leader.

Becoming a legally recognized political party in 1932, the Labor Front became fully subservient to the Continentalist Party, and its original ideology and syndicalist roots were abandoned in favor of a party doctrine that placed it fully in line with the Continentalist Party. Since then, the party has officially acted in an advisory role to the Continentalist Party rather than as true opposition. The Labor Front is intended to reach out to social groups attracted to the concept of liberal principles and private property, by adopting a controlled platform of "Liberal socialism", while still being inline with Continentalist goals. The Labor Front was reinvigorated in the 1950s under the leadership of Raymond Beshear, who supported Decallahanization and democratization, while it was opposed by the faction surrounding Amelia Fowler Crawford and doctrinaire Callahanists, such as Winston Ashtabula. The Labor Front achieved success in its support for Rupert Gardner, reaching its height in membership in the 1960s, before falling out of favor once more after 1970.

History

Formation and First Triumvirate

Founders of the Labor Front

Zhou Xinyue

William Z. Foster

During the 1921 drafting of the Constitution of the United Commonwealth, a loose faction began to take shape which came to be known as the "Labor Front", taking its name from the historical United Labor Front and from its association with worker unions. This faction was formally codified as a "registered section" of the Continentalist Party of the United Commonwealth on 17 May 1921, under the leadership of Zhou Xinyue and William Z. Foster. The Labor Front came to consist of those from trade union and syndicalist backgrounds, and as such was sympathetic to those causes, and included those who agreed with amendments proposed by Zhou during the congress, such as the right to maintain well regulated militias and other civil liberties. In late 1922 the Labor Front became at the forefront of a debate regarding the role of trade unions in the nation, with the Labor Front arguing decisively in favor of them. Conversely, the Revolutionary Front formed around the leadership of Seamus Callahan, Meyer London, and Bill Haywood, who argued that trade unions should be directly incorporated into the state apparatus to create a militarized “production atmosphere”.

These debates proved politically advantageous for Foster, as he gained support through a number of debates with Callahan, and also earned support from Aeneas Warren, who while formally neutral tacitly sided with the Labor Front on the issue. Callahan’s position was criticized as a “factional attack” and "bureaucratically nagging the trade unions" by Foster, who said, "Introduction of genuine labor discipline is conceived only if the whole mass of participants in productions takes a conscious part in the fulfillment of these tasks. Bureaucratic methods and orders from above cannot achieve this". Likewise, the faction gained prominence in its attacks against the large bureaucracy that was emerging, for which Callahan could take partial blame due to his involvement in office appointments. James Maurer writing in 1922 famously stated, "we are being sucked into a foul bureaucratic swamp." Warren in his final days feared for the splintering of the party, and privately recommended to James Maurer that Callahan be sidelined and that a secret resolution for party unity be passed, which would ban factions within the Continentalist Party except during pre-Congress discussions. Maurer was elevated as a non-voting member to the Central Committee at the behest of Warren, while Foster became Warren's apparent heir.

The First Triumvirate, which included Labor Front member Jim Mauer (left), as well as Morris Hillquit (center) and Meyer London (right).

After Warren's death in September 1922, Foster attempted to secure Warren's succession and received the backing of the Labor Front, however, he was successfully outmaneuvered by Callahan, who secured his own election as General Secretary of the Continentalist Party. Failing to secure the presidency, Foster relinquished control to a triumvirate, as per Warren's vision of collective leadership, as he had the ability to ensure a majority of Labor Front members would occupy the presidium. The First Triumvirate was formed with Jim Mauer, Morris Hillquit (a Foster-leaning moderate), and Meyer London. The Labor Front would tentatively control the government of the United Commonwealth for the remainder of the year, however, they were slowly undermined by Callahan, who began making alliances with other high ranking party members, such as Dorian Conesus, and also began exercising his powers as general secretary to promote loyal appointments. The Revolutionary Front managed to attract more moderate members of the Central Committee, such as John L. Lewis, while Foster began to lose support for his controversial defenses of anarchists such as Sam Dolgoff.

Despite the growing power of Callahan, he remained hesitant to act due to Zhou’s support of the Triumvirate, and his control over the military. In late 1922 he was in a position to begin launching thinly veiled attacks against members of the Triumvirate, most notably in his publishing of Lessons of May, The publication detailed the events of the Continental Revolutionary War in a way that portrayed Callahan as a hero, while painting several Labor Front members in a poor light due to their apprehension to join the revolution when it first began. John Fitzpatrick, the Secretary of War and a staunch ally of Foster and Zhou, had his reputation particularly tarnished, and he resigned his post in November in favor of a Callahan ally. Callahan’s denouncement of the Triumvirate led to its disbandment in November. Callahan would also launch a plot to dethrone Zhou at the end of the year, in what became known as the Waldmann Plot. The led to the assassination of Zhou Xinyue, while also implicating Foster and Maurer, both of which were expelled from the party by the end of the year under Callahan’s supervision. Foster would later be executed in 1923, having confessed to being involved in a plot to kill interim leader Coleman Mueller—having confessed either to save the image of the party, or as the result of torture. An additional 4,000 individuals would be identified between November 1922 and May 1923, and imprisoned or executed under the leadership of Mueller and Callahan, many of which members of the Labor Front. As a result, the Labor Front nearly ceased to exist by mid 1923.

Callahan era

The Labor Front carried only in name into the mid 1920s, however, it was forced to take a much more cautious approach. The Labor Front would attract those who were skeptical of Callahan's initiatives, but outright public condemnation was highly muted. Chief among the issues argued by the Labor Front was that Callahan's economic policies were weakening the socialized sector of the economy, as Callahan was reproaching the private sector. However, Labor Front members hardly disagreed on Callahan's central economic goals, only their implementation and details. According to Dr. Robert Brovkin, "the differences in ideology were largely incidental, as the true debate was which leader would end up on top." Callahan's policies generally coalesced into the ideology of Callahanism, a term used derogatorily by some members of the Labor Front, which generally opposed Callahanism for its perceived deviations from orthodox Landonism. However, as Callahan's personal power grew within the United Commonwealth, the ability of the Labor Front to mount any significant opposition greatly diminished. In the wake of Great War I Callahan was appointed Premier of the Council of People's Commissars, and also stifled political opposition in the name of promoting the war effort. The Labor Front became one of many factions invited to become a legally recognized political party in 1932, although the party had to formally drop any anti-Callahanist or opposing doctrine. At this time it adopted the formal name of "National Democratic Labor Association".

As a political party, the Labor Front was crafted to strategically appeal to a demographic of voters that the Continentalist Party had less appeal to. Specifically, it adopted a platform of Liberal socialism, which sought to attract those concerned with individual liberties and private enterprises. Throughout the 1940s the Labor Front advocated in favor of workers' unions and protecting those in the workplace, led campaigns in favor of increasing housing, and supported the establishment of cooperatives, however, all of these initiatives were done under the scrutiny of Callahan and inline with the official plans of the Continentalist Party.

Post-Callahan era

After the death of Seamus Callahan in 1947, members of the Labor Front and other minority parties gained some leeway to speak out against Callahanism and the era's ruling policies. The Labor Front included those in favor of Decallahanization, and the party also endorsed the collective leadership of the Second Triumvirate, which consisted of Norman Thomas, Hoyt Vandenberg, and John L. Lewis. Perhaps the most prominent voice of the Labor Front in the post-Callahanist era was Raymond Beshear, who became one of the highest ranking members of the National People's Congress. He directly called for increased democratization within the Continentalist Party, and policies to ensure that no one man could ever achieve supreme, unchecked power. For this reason Beshear became the chief opponent of Amelia Fowler Crawford, who postured to become Callahan's success, both literally and ideologically. Among the Labor Front's other accomplishments of the 1950s was a push for comprehensive public transportation, which passed in 1953.

Electoral history

National People's Congress

Election	Seats	%	+/–	Coalition
1932	41 / 780	5.25	–	National Front
1936	20 / 790	2.53	21
1940	15 / 820	1.83	5
1944	24 / 820	2.92	9
1948	102 / 866	11.78	78
1952	53 / 874	9.38	49
1956	55 / 890	9.38	2
1960	126 / 890	14.15	71
1964	163 / 1,104	14.76	37
1968	112 / 1,242	9.02	51
1972	54 / 1,242	4.34	58
1976	54 / 1,242	4.34

Election	Seats	%	+/–	Coalition
1980	62 / 1,340	4.63	8	National Front
1984	76 / 1,340	5.67	14
1988	76 / 1,340	5.67
1992	76 / 1,340	5.67
1996	70 / 1,340	6.12	6
2000	63 / 1,340	4.70	7
2004	66 / 1,410	4.68	3
2008	72 / 1,496	4.81	6
2012	72 / 1,500	4.80
2016	70 / 1,500	4.67	2
2020	71 / 1,580	4.49	1

See also

• Continentalist Party of the United Commonwealth
• List of political parties in the United Commonwealth