1 (Preamble): Who We Are
a. Socialists For a Democratic Union (SFDU) is a caucus of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) international labor union.
b. We are an association of democratic socialists, communists, and class-struggle unionists.
c. We pledge our allegiance to the working class across all borders.
d. While we recognize the vital role of struggle for harm-reducing reforms, we believe that capitalism must be abolished root and branch.
e. We demand the emancipation of the working class by the working class itself.
f. We do not teach, advocate, or encourage the overthrow or destruction of the United States government by force or violence.
2: Mission Statement
a. Our caucus is a strategic organizing body within CWA whose purpose is to advance class consciousness, elect socialist leadership throughout our union, and contribute to a broader anti-capitalist movement.
b. Our caucus forms part of a larger anti-capitalist revolutionary project, the global struggle for the self-empowerment of the working class, which we work toward by building socialist institutional power in our sectors.
c. We work to elect principled, ideologically committed leaders. Institutional power and fascist tendencies must be confronted through forceful leadership that won’t waver under pressure.
d. We seek to raise class-consciousness as a primary goal. This is simultaneously practical and aspirational, linking immediate union work with a long-term revolutionary horizon.
3: Definition of a Labor Union
A labor union is an association of workers organized for the purpose of advancing and protecting worker power through collective action.
4: Union Governance
a. We advocate for a democratic union in which leadership is accountable and subordinate to the will of the general membership.
a.1.The general membership must be sovereign over all union affairs and decisions.
a.2. Leadership must defer to member decisions.
a.3. Top-down decision-making must be abolished.
a.4. We demand fair and democratic elections for all union officers at all levels of the organization.
b. Clear, open communication is essential to a union’s success.
b.1. We expect maximal transparency in all decision-making.
b.2. We advocate for freedom of expression, debate, and collegiality both inside and outside the union.
c. Leadership must serve, and never rule.
c.1. We insist on collective, class-conscious service from leadership.
c.2. Officers must be democratically elected and accountable, not a separate power center.
c.3. We support leadership stepping back when out of step with members.
d. Once a decision is democratically made, the union must act in unity.
d.1. We insist on accountable action.
d.2. We call for disciplined unity of action while preserving individual rights and dignity.
5: A Universal, Intersectional Political Project
a. We affirm that labor unions are fundamentally political entities.
a.1. We demand redistribution of power and material improvement in our working and living conditions. These are political aims.
b. But labor unions do not serve just workers. They form part of a broader, universal political project: emancipation from all forms of domination.
b.1. Feminism, anti-racism, and anti-colonial struggle are natural parts of this broader project.
b.2. The emancipation of the working class is intertwined with the emancipation of all oppressed peoples.
6: Internationalism
a. An international labor movement is our best hope for ending capitalism.
b. U.S. workers must be allies, not adversaries, of workers in other nations.
b.1. U.S. imperialism materially creates divisions within the worldwide working class, heightening global inequality to its utmost extremes and pitting U.S. workers against the workers in other nations.
b.2. In this reactionary conservative elements within the U.S. labor movement have far too often prevailed by drawing our movement into complicity with the most heinous crimes of our government and its masters, the ownership classes.
b.3. This history of betrayal must be overcome through international solidarity of a strength equal in force to the deadliest forces of reaction: imperialism, reactionary nationalism, supremacism and fascism.
b.4. A new culture can and must be fostered among ourselves in the labor movement worldwide, to make good once and for all on that oath of the working class: “An injury to one is an injury to all.”
7: Tactics
a. What matters most in union work is a class-struggle perspective and solidarity with all workers. The key distinction lies in adaptation to circumstances.
b. Tactical adjustment is necessary depending on the circumstances faced by any group of workers, but flexibility in tactics in no way justifies abandoning the broader anti-capitalist struggle. Adaptation to circumstances does not change our core principles.
b.1. Tactics must be developed collectively by workers themselves.
c. Labor unions must build power, foster solidarity, and develop worker consciousness both inside and outside the workplace.
c.1. Electoral struggle is one tactical option among many—limited but potentially useful.
c.2. We must engage vigorously in building worker power through alternate means, and shift emphasis away from traditional electoral politics toward workplace-based influence.
d. Public sector and non-majority unions face specific constraints, but these do not diminish their role in the labor movement.
d.1. Legislative obstacles to collective bargaining affect method, not mission.
d.2. While we acknowledge that public sector unions, like those in higher ed, have less direct leverage over capital, and must adapt accordingly, we reject the notion that legal recognition defines a union’s power or legitimacy—historically or today.
d.3. Class struggle—not legal status—determines a union’s purpose. While non-majority unions may have different forms of leverage and legal limitations, they are essential components of the broader labor movement.
d.4. Rising private sector unionization presents opportunities for mutual reinforcement.
8: Caucus Governance
a. SFDU is member-led, not leader-driven.
a.1. We support and practice simple majority voting and open communication.
a.2. All members are expected to hold to the highest standards of transparency, honesty, and collective participation.
a.3. We reject executive-style governance, and emphasize rank-and-file sovereignty. Members of our collective leadership body, the Central Committee, are elected to short terms and are recallable by majority vote.
b. We favor direct democracy informed by revolutionary political education.
b.1. We believe that collective self-education and theory should guide democratic decision-making.
b.2. As a caucus our governance model is and must continue to be grounded in political theory and class-struggle analysis.
c. While freedom of expression must be protected, unity in action is essential once decisions are made.
c.1. Group processes must be coordinated in order to avoid atomization and ensure a unified voice.
c.2. The tension between spontaneity and structure, and between personal liberty and unity, is acknowledged—and navigated through principles like freedom of expression, unity in action, and accountable leadership.
c.3. We prioritize discipline but maintain freedom of conscience and a live-and-let-live approach to coalition-building, affirming the right to criticize in all cases.