32nd National Convention CPUSA resolutions

BY:Resolutions Committee| May 31, 2024

FINAL RESOLUTIONS FOR CONSIDERATION BY THE 32ND NATIONAL CONVENTION, CPUSA

The Resolutions Committee will present the following 23 resolutions for action at the 32nd National Convention, CPUSA. This culminates a four-month process of submissions and discussion.

The deadline for resolution submissions was May 7. The resolutions committee considered all submissions, referred some to various appropriate bodies including the incoming National Committee, suggested some for pre-convention discussion, combined those of the same subject, and is moving forward 23 resolutions for consideration at the Convention.

From May 17 to May 24 the preliminary resolutions were posted at cpusa.org for the purpose of making possible submission of proposed amendments. All proposed amendments received were considered by the makers of the resolutions and the resolutions committee. Proposed amendments that were not accepted will be forwarded to the incoming National Committee. The final resolutions are posted below.

The amendment process is now closed and there will be no new resolutions or amendments accepted from the convention floor

Palestine
Labor
Housing for people, not profit
Environmental crises and class struggle
The 2024 elections
An internationalist and anti-imperialist CPUSA
Affirming the revolutionary working-class character of the CPUSA
Recognizing the role of the United States in Ukraine and affirming solidarity with progressive forces
Cuba solidarity
Korea and peace in northeast Asia
Full equality for Native Peoples and Tribal Communities
Preserve and expand Social Security and Medicare
Party education 2024
LGBTQ+ equality
Building clubs and districts for sustainable growth
Rebuilding of the YCL and recommitment to youth leadership
Medicare for All
Policing
Immigrant struggles and immigrant rights
Women’s equality
Latina/o equality
Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim community solidarity
Jewish community

1. Palestine

Whereas: U.S. imperialism’s policy of regional hegemony and complicity and participation in Israel’s acts of genocide and crimes against humanity, including tens of thousands of deaths, about half children, means the Party needs to increase its support of the Palestine liberation movement and provide urgent education and mobilize action on the issue;

Whereas: the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States and the African Union Commission, and peoples and organizations worldwide have called for the immediate cessation of hostilities in Gaza and a negotiated settlement;

Whereas: students, faculty and staff of U.S. colleges and universities are calling for their institutions to divest from the industries that weaponize Israel’s acts of genocide, and stop profiting from the weapons industry in general;

Whereas: academic freedom and First Amendment rights are under attack at universities weaponizing the false charge of antisemitism against student and faculty expressing solidarity with the Palestinian people;

Whereas: the CPUSA has always stood for the democratic principle of equal rights for all people, including self-determination for the Palestinian people and the Right of Return;

Whereas: the Israeli military assault on Gaza and increased violent repression in the West Bank qualitatively changed circumstances that make clear the Palestine issue is of fundamental importance to peace in the wider region, which illuminates the dangers of expanding the conflict and provoking a major war in the Middle East, which could evolve into world war, and impacts all sectors of the U.S. progressive movement; and

Whereas: the CPUSA launched a national campaign at its peace conference in November 2023 that prioritized calling for an immediate de-escalation and ceasefire in Israel and occupied Palestine and produced a Toolkit for Peace Legislation;

Therefore, be it resolved: The CPUSA demands an immediate, permanent ceasefire in Gaza and urgently calls for cessation of all military operations against Palestine, urgent provision of humanitarian aid for Palestinian victims of the genocide, and ending U.S. funding for the Israeli apartheid regime;

Therefore, be it resolved: The Palestinian people have the right to self-determination, the right to their own independent state, and the Right of Return. The form of self-determination and expression of the Right to Return is for them to decide;

Therefore, be it resolved: The CPUSA supports the work of its fraternal parties in Palestine and Israel to conduct their struggle against Zionism and capitalism as they see appropriate according to their material conditions;

Therefore, be it resolved: The CPUSA supports the urgent call by Palestinian unions for worldwide union solidarity, such as expressed by the World Federation of Trade Unions and several major U.S. unions;

Therefore, be it resolved: The CPUSA supports and promotes the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement and its objectives launched by grassroots Palestinian organizers in 2005 as a highly effective nonviolent means of expressing solidarity with the Palestinian struggle for liberation;

Therefore, be it resolved: The CPUSA supports academic freedom, full First Amendment rights and the right of students, faculty, and staff to demand that their institutions end complicity with Israel’s genocidal regime and stop profiting in general from production and sales of killing machines;

Therefore, be it resolved: The CPUSA calls for U.S. institutional divestment from entities directly involved in the manufacture of weapons for the State of Israel;

Therefore, be it resolved: The CPUSA urgently supports provision of all necessary humanitarian aid for Palestinian victims of the genocide, in both Gaza and all historic Palestine, demanding restoration of full U.S. funding for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) that it has terminated;

Therefore, be it resolved: The priority responsibility of the Party and U.S. activists for work on this issue is to build a mass movement including Congressional action to cut U.S. military, diplomatic, and economic support for Israel along with solidarity with labor and social justice organizations supporting justice for Palestinians and all people of the Middle East; and

Therefore, be it resolved: the CPUSA places the demand for a just peace in Israel/Palestine in the overall context of demilitarization delineated in the Toolkit for Peace by joining the struggle for drastically cutting the U.S. military budget; promoting legislation for the U.S. to join the Treaty on Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and negotiating their abolition; and fully addressing poverty low wages, systemic racism, ecological devastation, and militarism by moving money from the military budget to human needs as envisioned in the Third Reconstruction.

A joint resolution of the CPUSA Peace and Solidarity Commission and the CPUSA International Department, with contributions from the Communist Party of Washington State, the Communist Party of Indiana, and the Communist Party of Colorado, Utah, and Wyoming

2. Labor

WHEREAS:

Monopoly capital’s domination of the country’s political and economic life, combined with extreme wealth inequality, has led many working class people to draw more basic conclusions about the nature of the capitalist system. This development has given rise to a new, class struggle approach to trade unionism and grassroots organizing. It is expressed principally on the shop floor and workplace organizing drives. It has found voice and leadership in the fight-back happening in the trade unions and is demonstrated by some key labor leaders.
This upsurge is driven by “worker-to-worker” organizing and rank-and-file movements. Its cause: The increased rate of exploitation and the heightened awareness of the enormous inequality between the earnings of billionaires and the relative stagnation of wages.

WHEREAS:

In the last year alone, around half-a-million workers walked off the job in a resurgence of collective action. Major strike activity increased by 280% in 2023. The number of workers who’ve walked off the job has quadrupled since 2021.

These strikes included workers in various sectors of the economy—from auto workers and Hollywood writers and actors to nurses, grad workers, and teachers. Strike activity has not been limited to official, large-scale work stoppages; it has also included countless smaller, spontaneous strikes across the retail, food service, and other low-wage sectors. Roughly 75% of the strike activity has been in the private sector, with over half of that in healthcare.

United Parcel Service truck drivers and warehouse workers of the Teamsters grounded their contract fight in the rank-and-file. The 1997 UPS strike was used as a blueprint for the campaign and utilized international solidarity as an effective means to win the contract. “Practice pickets” were conducted all over the country. Rank-and-file members participated in bargaining committees for the first time since the 1990s. The momentum of workers engaged at the warehouses, supply routes, and communities led to a powerful strike threat that forced UPS to cut a deal. This wave of militancy spread across the labor movement and set the stage for future battles.

The United Auto Workers stayed true to their word on September 14th, 2023 by initiating a strike at various plants in all of the Big Three for the first time. This strike, known as the Stand-Up Strike, drew inspiration from the historical Flint Sit Down Strike of 1937 which helped establish the union at General Motors. Prior to 2023, the union would target one company and set a “pattern” for the others. However, in a new approach, the UAW implemented a rolling strike strategy, announcing additional plants to be targeted each week to keep the companies on edge and in the dark.

The Stand-Up Strike, along with the overwhelming public support and solidarity that ensued, led to historic successes. The tier system was abolished, wages increased for all workers by at least 25%, and some workers doubled their pay. Cost of Living Adjustments were reintroduced, the right to strike over plant closures was achieved, and the EV and battery plants were brought under the master contract. These accomplishments were significant and were credited to a union that was unafraid to confront the companies.

As a result of the new fighting image of the UAW, thousands of workers in non-union plants started organizing throughout the South. On April 19, 4,000 Volkswagen voted 73% to 27% for the UAW. Other campaigns are ongoing at Mercedes in Alabama as well as at Hyundai, Toyota, Rivian, and others.

In October 2023, a coalition of unions representing 75,000 Kaiser Permanente health care workers went on strike in what would become the largest healthcare strike in U.S. history. The strike lasted only three days but secured wage increases of at least 21%, higher starting pay and bonuses, more investment in education and training, and increased staffing levels to relieve workers who were heavily exploited by being required to perform multiple duties.

WHEREAS:

The experiences of the working class during the pandemic profoundly changed mass perceptions of how the U.S. economy functions. For instance, grocery and other retail workers, nurses, and domestic workers were formerly relegated to the status of “service workers.” But under the conditions of COVID-19, the social importance of these “essential workers” was made clear. The irrelevant contributions of corporate and financial “class”, meanwhile, were obvious for all to see.

This dynamic led to these workers being elevated in the public eye to full-fledged and valuable members of our society and our class. The new view of service workers brought the popular understanding of what it meant to be “working class” more in alignment with the Marxist definition.

The labor struggles currently underway at Starbucks and Amazon, with solidarity being demonstrated from the entire labor movement, further illustrates this point. Led by youth, women, LGBTQ, and people of color, these organizing campaigns have drawn attention to, and helped boost support for, the growing public interest in trade unions.

The pandemic also put the issue of time on the job squarely on the table. Many “essential” workers—which includes healthcare, teachers, manufacturing, grocery, meat processing, transportation, etc.—worked forced overtime and risked their lives and health. During the UAW’s Stand-Up Strike, the struggle for a 32-hour workweek was a key demand. This expansive demand drew massive support not only from the auto workers, but from the broader U.S. working class in general.

Across the country, working class people have decided a proper work-life balance is in order. In 2022, the AFL-CIO resolved that it would “aggressively take up the fight for a shorter workweek and earlier retirement.”

The fight over workers’ time is a fundamental Marxist concept, and it has been a central concern of the labor movement across eras—from the Haymarket strike over the 8-hour day in 1886 to the Stand-Up Strike in 2023. Today’s generation adds a new, class conscious take on the quality of life that reprises the “bread and roses” campaigns of the past.

WHEREAS;

Labor has also taken initiative and given political leadership in the fight against cutbacks and wealth inequality. Many unions are using their bullhorns to flex their muscles and exert their national influence in a fresh, more unfettered way.

These steps towards burgeoning political independence take the form of struggles for pro-labor policies, political action to combat the threat of fascism, the build-up of community-labor coalitions that combine shop floor and neighborhood struggles, and a push toward a just transition for a more equitable, worker-centered approach to fighting climate change, based on good union jobs.

“Bargaining for the common good” has emerged as a frequent bargaining demand. It is an important component of the People’s Front strategy. For example, the Chicago Teachers Union fought for community benefits, housing for the homeless, and smaller class sizes and extended a hand to other workers who were not teachers. SEIU has bargained contracts for tenants unions. In Maine, a labor-environmental alliance has formed that pushes for progressive policy around green jobs. In the peace movement, labor has joined the fight and expressed itself politically in the fight for a ceasefire in Gaza and a just transition to a peace economy.

However, although working class internationalism has begun to take shape in a broad way, it still lags behind monopoly capital’s global dominance. Labor must continue to take steps to overcome the obstacles to its own globalization. Steps are indeed being taken, though: Workers in the automotive industry are standing up and building unity with auto workers in Mexico; garment workers in the U.S. are building solidarity campaigns with garment workers in Bangladesh; and the United Steelworkers have recently stood in solidarity with global workers in steel, energy, and oil.

Analyzing developments in the political economy of capitalism in the recent period helps to understand why the labor movement has become more assertive and aware of its role and power.

In reaction to the Great Recession and the subprime mortgage crisis, class consciousness started to regrow in the working class and expressed itself as the Occupy Wall Street Movement, which brought the slogan of “the 99% vs. the 1%” into public conversation. The concept became a popular shorthand way to describe the inequality of economic and political power in the country.

Though a positive development, the slogan itself is rather inexact and undeveloped. While the majority of the American population indeed qualify as working class, the 99% vs. 1% conceptualization itself did not frame the contradiction in exact terms. It did set off conversations about the nature of U.S. capitalism, however, which continue to evolve today.

The hatred, anger, and distrust of Corporate America that boiled to the surface during that earlier crisis continues to fuel current developments in the labor and democratic movements. It’s now the framework of class struggle that emanates from working class and labor organizations across the board.

More and more, people are seeing society in class terms—working class vs. capitalists, billionaires vs. workers, etc. Workers increasingly understand that the principal contradiction in the capitalist system is the one between labor and capital.

WHEREAS:

These broad shifts in class consciousness have been matched by progressive shifts taking place inside the trade union movement itself. There are reform movements gaining ground in many unions and across a variety of industrial sectors. Such reform movements have emerged at various times in labor’s history.

Underpinned by the giant strikes in packinghouses and the steel industry in the aftermath of World War I, for instance, rank-and-file movements following figures like William Z. Foster and others pushed for industrial unionism over craft unionism. They wanted to bring more workers into the union movement, but leaders from another era wanted to keep unions as an insider’s club.

In the 1930s, the Congress of Industrial Organizations and its industrial unions, including UAW, Steel, United Electrical, Farm Implement Workers, and others, took up the same fight and struggled to bring all workers within one industry together under a single union. They also fought for rank-and-file control over the shop floor, as well as higher wages and benefits. The shop steward system, inherently more democratic than the previous top-down structures of the American Federation of Labor, allowed for greater worker involvement in the governance of unions.

The Cold War ended that democratic aspect that prevailed in most unions at the time. As anti-communist right-wing leaders in the labor movement became further entrenched, control of the union leadership got farther away from the shop floor. Accountability of the leadership to the membership vanished in several unions. There were still strikes and struggles, of course, but planning and deciding on union policy involved less and less participation from rank-and-file members.

The reform movements of the past decades, aiming to restore democracy and increase class struggle unionism, were primarily centered on contract demands, increased union democracy, and opposition to corruption. These included the National Negro Labor Council of the early 1950’s, Miners for Democracy, Coalition of Labor Union Women, Coalition of Black Trade Unionists, the Steel Workers Rank-and-File, plus the Dodge Revolutionary Union Movement and the New Directions Movement out of Detroit in auto. The Teamsters for a Democratic Union and Unite All Workers for Democracy are currently among the most well-known. The Stand-Up Strike and the victory of Volkswagen workers would have been impossible without those earlier reform efforts. The Starbucks Workers United campaign should be further analyzed and studied in this respect.

The resurgence of militant, class struggle unionism is catalyzing reform. It’s being driven by a broad left taking shape in the working class movement in general, and the trade union movement in particular. The goal isn’t abstract “union democracy” but rather consistent, fighting working-class democracy.

Reforms must empower the rank and file, foster unity, and develop worker leadership. Labor’s fightback drives reform, and the reformed structures become the vehicle to carry the fight forward against the companies.

WHEREAS:

The U.S. labor movement is undergoing a significant revitalization. Increased support for unions, coupled with headline-grabbing union drives, indicate a major shift in the balance of forces between the working class and monopoly capital. So, why is union density stagnant at around 10%? This signals the need for a bold reimagining of labor’s organizing strategy and tactics, including the power of the rank-and-file.

To fully empower the working class, the Communist Party must fight to respond to these new organizing efforts, ensuring that any worker desiring union representation is supported in their efforts to build or join a union.

Simultaneously, the labor movement must continue its long history of combating racial and gender oppression within and outside the workplace. These democratic struggles are inseparable from the relative power of the class struggle, which is itself conditioned on the broadest, strongest expression of working-class unity as the fundamental basis of working class power itself. The super-exploitation of the racial and gendered oppressed ensures that massive profits continue to funnel in, the stains of white supremacy and male supremacy are maintained, and overall bargaining power for the working class declines.

Immigrant workers, regardless of their documentation status, are the main workforce in high-risk industries such as construction, meat processing, landscaping, farmwork, and warehousing. Undocumented immigrants often face super-exploitation, repression, and abuse by government authorities like Homeland Security, Border Patrol, and ICE.

The MAGA fascist bloc is using these workers to create division among the working class. Big corporations and wealthy elites take advantage of economic struggles to drive a wedge between immigrant and non-immigrant workers, ultimately increasing their own wealth and power. The key solution lies in implementing a comprehensive immigration reform that prioritizes the democratic rights of immigrant workers and ensures they receive the same labor protections as all U.S. workers.

Further, legislative action is critical to protect the right to to unionize and to strike—a fundamental tool of working class power. The working class must play the leading role in this fight. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act would represent a national defeat of the extreme-right’s so-called “right to work” laws and offers additional essential reforms, including a card-check process instead of a 30 day election, expands the scope for strikes, and makes it more difficult for employers to permanently replace striking workers.

Enacting legislation like the Striking and Locked Out Workers Healthcare Protection Act, as well as the Food Secure Strikers Act, would provide vital support and security to workers exercising their right to strike. The Paycheck Fairness Act would address pay disparities between men and women workers through closing loopholes in the 1963 Equal Pay Act and increasing penalties for violating equal pay provisions.

As the rise of artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes the economy, the labor movement must proactively address its implications, such as potential job displacement and downward pressure on wages due to automation. To counter this, trade unions must advocate for policies that ensure workers share in the benefits of AI-driven productivity gains, demand retraining programs for those displaced, and push for regulations that prioritize human welfare in the development and deployment of AI technologies.

Beyond protecting current rights, the labor movement must embrace transformative visions for the future. Nationalizing critical industries like banking, healthcare, energy, and railroads would place immense social, economic, and political power in the hands of the broad people’s front. Nationalization would allow for democratic control over vital sectors, ensuring that production and services are centered around social needs rather than private profits.

The renewed interest in unions provides an opportune moment to revitalize the labor movement. By embracing new organizing, furthering the struggles against oppression, safeguarding strikers’ rights, proactively grappling with AI, the labor movement can defend our hard-won democratic gains while driving the process forward of winning an anti-monopoly people’s democracy.

What labor gains on the picket line can be lost at the ballot box. The fight right now is to save U.S. democracy and expand it. The leading role of the working class is essential in blocking the fascist threat. That will allow labor and our allies to push forward with progressive legislation like the PRO Act as well as protect the rights of all workers and disenfranchised groups.

“The stronger the trade unions are, the stronger, too, is American democracy,” William Z. Foster said. “Monopoly capital’s assault on labor seeks to reduce the unions to impotency. And worst of all, by weakening the labor movement, they would force our country in the direction of fascism.”

The resurgence of labor’s fighting spirit, which we are now witnessing, is a necessary ingredient for the effort to revive American democracy—and expand it.

This would not simply be the formal, procedural, “democracy” that capitalist society promotes. Rather, it is a mass-movement democracy driven by the engine of the working class, a democracy imbued with a fighting, anti-fascist spirit. It is the engine that will transport us down the road to Socialism USA.

The need for unity of the entire labor movement is crucial for its ability to stop the MAGA movement and its threat to democracy, and to move forward with building a larger labor movement. That unity is weakened when nearly 6 million union members are outside the umbrella of the AFL-CIO.

Only 10% of the workforce belongs to a union while many millions more want to join a union but are unable to for various reasons.
5% of the working class do not have the right to vote due to lack of documentation, and nearly 1% are disenfranchised due to being incarcerated.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED THAT:

The Communist Party USA shall support and engage with the Labor Commission to

Assist districts and clubs to adopt plans of work with focus on contributing to the labor movement’s revitalized fighting spirit
Develop a strategy of concentrating our efforts on workplace activities with focus on local conditions, industries, trade unions, and organizing campaigns
Fight to respond to new labor organizing efforts to ensure that any worker desiring union representation is supported in their efforts to build or join a union
Special focus and consideration for state, city, and federal employees and their unionization efforts should be made
Develop sub-committees under the leadership of the National Committee and National Labor Commission based on industry, workplace, trade union, etc. to foster collectivity and unity of action
Focus the action of the Labor Commission on building broad coalitions for the 2024 elections to block fascism and defend democracy
Avoid sectarianism and work to unite the labor movement in order to build worker power
Fight for progressive labor legislation that protects the rights of workers to organize and strike
Struggle for comprehensive immigration reform that prioritizes the democratic rights of immigrant workers and ensures they receive the same labor protections as all U.S. workers
Take up the fight for a a living wage and shorter work week with no cut in pay
Push for the nationalization of key industries
Produce pamphlets on various activities, history, and tactics of Communists in the trade union movement
Help to raise class consciousness among workers and bring a class struggle analysis
Adopt a Labor Program for all workers for the Communist Party USA
Develop consciousness of the global class struggle and of the organizations across the globe fighting on behalf of our class
Develop cooperation with parties, unions, and states worldwide around such tasks as establishing international safety and training standards for an industry and building international unity to enforce these standards
Find efforts to rebuild the unity of the entire labor movement by helping to bring all unions into one federation and to develop a common agenda to organize workers into unions and build union power
Join with others to help put forward structural changes that will open the doors of unions to workplace activists as full-fledged members
Work to guarantee that all working-class people have the right to vote

Submitted by the CPUSA Labor Commission

3. Housing for people, not profit

Whereas the housing crisis across the United States continues to grow. Millions of people in the U.S. are walking the streets, not knowing where they will sleep tonight, while tens of millions are behind on their payments and living in fear of evictions. This crisis is especially impacting poorer communities, people of color, immigrants, seniors, and youth; but it is also affecting middle income families, many of whom are working class and living paycheck to paycheck. Even people living in subsidized and public housing can no longer feel secure.

Whereas the housing crisis is not only a crisis for renters, but also for mobile home renters and owners as well as for homeowners who can’t keep up with their mortgage payments. Nearly 10 million people were robbed of their homes during the 2007-9 financial crash, disproportionately Black and Brown families.

Whereas the housing struggle is informed by local policies, and therefore the struggle may take on different priorities for working people in different localities. Across the country tenants and homeowners are calling on our elected officials to enact rent controls, establish new rights and legal protections for tenants, build more affordable public housing, extend mortgages, and rein in the banks. Whether it be through tenant unionis, rent control, or deeply affordable public housing people are standing up for the right to housing as a human right.

Whereas the housing crisis is rooted in a capitalist housing system which sees housing as a thing (a commodity) that benefits landlords, real estate developers, private equity funds and big banks, all at the expense of poor and working-class families.  This crisis falls hardest on people with special housing needs, including single parents, people with disabilities, the elderly, and on people already suffering discrimination and abuse from racist policies, homophobia, and transphobia.

Therefore, be it resolved that while we applaud efforts by local communities, renters, and working-class homeowners to feed and temporarily find shelters for folks thrown out on the streets, our demands must go further than band-aid solutions. Our goals are twofold: ending evictions and foreclosures, and providing safe, affordable housing to all.

Therefore be it further resolved that all clubs engage in the local struggle as a means towards collective power of organized working-class communities to fight for housing for people, not profit; and

Directly intervene to protect people from evictions and foreclosures, which hit super-exploited Black, Latino, Asian, and Indigenous renters and homeowners the hardest.
Organize tenant associations and fight for reforms that increase and strengthen protections for tenants of public and privately-owned housing. These include rental assistance programs, the right to free legal representation (Right To Counsel), the right to a renewal lease with limited increases, sealing eviction and foreclosure records, and other measures that help people find housing, stay in their homes, fight discrimination, and get needed repairs.
Create the strongest possible rent control laws at the local, state, and federal levels.
Massive investment in affordable housing, including immediate funding for government agencies such as HUD and Section 8 housing programs. This means building more public housing by sharing funds with state and local governments, not building more housing as an extension of the real estate market. This will require repealing the Faircloth Amendment at the Congressional level, which prohibits an increase in new public housing units, so that the burden is not on state and local governments to come up with their own funding mechanisms to create more affordable housing. In addition, tenants must have direct, democratic control over how buildings are run, and enforcement of housing protections and maintenance needs. Public and subsidized housing should be made available to all, including those who lack ‘legal status’ in the U.S.
Encourage local communities to use eminent domain to take possession of large housing blocks from landlords who violate rent control and other housing laws and who otherwise abusively exploit their tenants, or when rentals lack proper health and safety standards.
Call for a mandate to require all new housing, particularly federally subsidized projects, be built and maintained by union labor, with the opportunity for work and apprenticeships being offered first to the affected communities and to people of color and women.
Housing should cost no more than 10% of a household’s income. HUD guidelines call for 30% of a renter’s income, but many are paying closer to 50% or even more. An immediate rollback of rents and mortgages to no more than 30% of income is needed, while continuing to struggle to bring it down to 10%.
And most importantly, demand a minimum guaranteed income for all families, enough to cover housing costs. We know what is possible because during COVID relief, the Child Tax Credit cut childhood poverty in half, and evictions were made illegal.
Tax the rich and corporations, beginning with a reversal of the Reagan–Bush–Trump tax giveaways for the rich, and institute a 50% cut in military spending in order to fund social programs, including a massive affordable housing construction program.
Create laws directing mortgage-lending institutions to make it easier for low-income people and people of color to access low interest rate loans.
Establish a publicly-owned infrastructure bank that would finance the building of public housing.

Submitted by the Resolutions Committee, based on the Housing for People, Not Profit program, CPUSA Political Action Commission

4. Environmental crises and class struggle

Whereas climate crises are getting worse. Extreme weather events, multi-year droughts, mega-fires, intense hurricanes, melting permafrost and glaciers and ice sheets, and global warming are all happening with great frequency. The impacts are already worse than the predictions from just a few years ago.

Whereas the environmental aspects of life on earth will only grow in intensity and importance over the coming decades. Environmental issues are arenas of class struggle. The UAW strike earlier this year included issues around organizing new electric vehicle plants and battery plants. The union wanted to be sure that the urgency of environmental crises doesn’t result in new plants being non-union.

Whereas workers face environmental degradation at work and in their communities. Workers in many industries are subjected to toxic chemicals, to poor ventilation, and to unnecessary accidents on the job. They often live in communities which continue to be used as dumping grounds for industrial waste. The “new” energy sector is a fast growing sector of the economy, and those workers need to be organized—many hundreds of thousands of them.

Whereas capitalists want to impose the costs to fix environmental crises onto workers. Companies use bankruptcy laws to evade their pension plan obligations, but also their obligations to clean up the toxic messes they leave behind. They seek to dump the costs of cleanup onto the taxpayers, who by and large are the same workers the same companies try to pay less, try to avoid having to tell their workers about the chemicals they are exposed to on the job (companies lobby against “Worker Right to Know” legislation).

Whereas U.S. monopolies have continually stolen the wealth of other nations and indigenous peoples, and attacked their right to control their own resources, including oil, copper, lithium, nickel, cobalt, rare earth minerals, and other natural resources that need to be kept in the ground or extracted for the transition to sustainable energy production.

Whereas the U.S. over its history has contributed far more to global emissions than any other country – including through its military, which is the single largest institutional producer of greenhouse gasses – but has contributed just $2 billion to the UN Green Climate Fund, even as developing countries need more than $200 billion every year by 2030 to adapt to climate change.
Whereas the growing alliance between sectors of the labor movement, exemplified by the Labor Network for Sustainability, deserves our support and encouragement.

Whereas there is an important environmental rights movement (ERA) expanding at state levels, with Pennsylvania, Montana, and New York having already adopted such rights in their state constitutions. The long-term goal is the federal constitution. that would move all land, air, water, and climate justice struggles forward.

Whereas the Paris Climate Accords commitments are not enough to stop the increasing amounts of greenhouse gases being emitted. We need a fundamental restructuring of our industry, agriculture, distribution, and the legal framework to tackle the massive problems facing all humanity.

Whereas environmental consciousness is a developing path to socialist consciousness, a new path to understanding the need to fundamentally transform our entire relationship to the natural world on which we depend.

And whereas our Party has a unique role to play in fighting for class approaches to winning and implementing real solutions.

Therefore be it resolved that our strategy gives more importance to the environmental aspect of the struggles we are already involved with. This is necessary to reach young people, who worry about their future for very good reasons. Also, many existing workers will face disruption when environmentally destructive work gets shut down—retraining, jobs, and extended unemployment insurance are required so that workers don’t pay the price for the crimes committed by the companies they work for.

Be it further resolved that our electoral strategy incorporates environmental issues. There are growing numbers of environmental voters. Our electoral work is one way of insisting on a class approach to environmental issues; and environmental justice issues are part of the struggle over immigration—environmental crises are part of the cause of immigration and refugees fleeing environmental degradation.

Be it further resolved that we support efforts to create a just transition to a carbon-neutral future, with replacement of lost wages, job training and job placement in new industries for all workers, and environmental justice addressing racial and gender inequalities in the impacts of a changing economy, supports for developing countries to pursue sustainable development, including substantial contributions to the UN’s various climate funds, and defense of other nations’ and indigenous people’s right to self-determination, including control over their own resources.

And be it further resolved that we update our Environmental Program. This program and its conclusions must be derived from the most recent research of the climate science community and revolutionary theory.

Submitted by the Communist Party of Washington State

5. The 2024 elections

WHEREAS the 2024 elections, at the federal, state, and local levels, represent a pivotal juncture, a moment of crisis. The crisis we face features the threat of fascism, bellicose militarism, brutal racism, military assaults on immigrant workers, anti-human attacks on women, people of color, and LGBTQ people, and an unrelenting war on workers, and especially their unions. The crisis also includes existential attacks on our environment and smashing democratic structures, including the right to vote.

WHEREAS the MAGA forces have put forward a dangerous fascist agenda outlined in their 2025 Project that seeks to cut support for public institutions, Social Security, SNAP, public education, healthcare, union rights, and democratic and civil rights. Defeating Trump alone is not enough. We must defend the Constitution and defeat MAGA candidates at all levels in the 2024 election.

WHEREAS the recent upsurge in labor militancy and the people’s movement has mobilized hundreds of thousands of people into action, resulting in significant victories such as union organizing drives, historic wins for labor by the UAW, Teamsters, SAG-AFTRA, the election of a progressive mayor in Chicago and Los Angeles, and the victory in Ohio to enshrine the right to reproductive healthcare into the state constitution. These, and many other recent examples, show that when we organize and fight back, we can win.

WHEREAS growing working-class militancy and unity is decisive to defeat Trump, MAGA, and the extreme right at the ballot box in 2024. The Communist Party USA is part of, in the thick of, this deepening struggle. Communists are independent but in the mix of this exploding anti-extreme-right coalition.

WHEREAS the corporate/financial extreme right and the extreme-right coalition have a strategy to disrupt, demoralize, and splinter the growing unity in the anti-fascist and people’s movement. Principled unity in action is an asset Communists bring to the table. Communists and our friends have a strategic role in building and maintaining unity within the anti-extreme-right coalition.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that to defend the working class, people’s movement, and democracy, the Communist Party issues this urgent call to action to build a broad People’s Needs, Not MAGA Greed Campaign, an all-people’s front to win victory. We must go all out to support the all-people’s front for a maximum voter turnout on the critical issues affecting our lives.

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Communist Party is committed to year-round organizing and mobilizing on the issues facing the working class, to build a broad-based grassroots movement on its behalf, and will encourage our members to work in their local communities with labor and other forces in targeted voter registration, education, and mobilization efforts, in support of the issues to help elect Communist and progressive candidates, support voting rights for immigrants, and support progressive ballot initiatives. We call on our members to work on neighborhood-based canvassing and to get out the vote with labor and allies for the strongest pro-worker and progressive candidates at every level.

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a victory over rightwing candidates will be a decisive defeat for the corporate rightwing and fascist forces. This will help change the balance of forces and clear the way to change the direction of our nation–to slash the military budget, end the sending of weapons to Israel, tax the rich, win quality healthcare for all, strengthen the right to vote, strengthen union organizing rights, restore Roe v. Wade, and end police murder of people of color.

THEREFORE, BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that Communists will give full united support and participation in the broad front to defeat Trump, Trumpism, and the MAGA Republicans.

Submitted by the CPUSA Political Action Commission

6. An internationalist and anti-imperialist CPUSA

WHEREAS imperialism has changed its character over time, and

WHEREAS U.S. imperialism insists that it alone reserves the right to dominate, to dictate, to interfere, and to act as the sole economic, military, diplomatic, political, and cultural superpower to further the economic interests of U.S. and largely U.S.-based transnational monopoly corporations, and

WHEREAS the U.S. has created institutions such as the IMF, the World Bank, and military alliances to enhance the reach of its imperialist enterprise and to enforce its own rules, replacing the collective responsibility of the United Nations and International Law, and

WHEREAS the U.S. stands far beyond other world economic and military powers in maintaining approximately 800 military bases on foreign soil, patrolling the oceans and imposing and enforcing unilateral economic sanctions on other sovereign nations, and

WHEREAS the international working class serves as a counterforce to U.S. imperialism, and

WHEREAS, as evidenced by its ongoing activities and resolve, the Communist Party USA is the Marxist-Leninist, working-class Party in the imperial core and recognizes its special responsibility to contribute major efforts to global peace and justice,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Communist Party USA affirms that special responsibility of our Party to commit itself fully to the struggle against U.S. imperialism in all of its forms; to oppose the U.S.-led Cold War 2.0 against China, Cuba, and other countries; to consistently promote a policy of non-interference in the domestic affairs of other nations; to support movements in other countries striving for national sovereignty and self-determination; to support multilateralism and equality among all nations; and to offer a correct, Marxist-Leninist analysis of imperialism–what it is and how it works, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that our Party remains vigilant, consciously committing itself to a consistent internationalist, working-class perspective, to offer support to fraternal parties’ struggles in their own countries while never dictating to others the nature of their struggles or how their struggles should evolve, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Communist Party USA refers this resolution to the incoming National Committee for further consideration as a priority.

Joint resolution submitted by the CPUSA International Department and the CPUSA Peace and Solidarity Commission

7. Affirming the revolutionary working-class character of the CPUSA

WHEREAS the National Committee adopted the following statement on December 3, 2023, “We are a working-class, revolutionary party, organized on the basis of collectivity and democratic centralism, understanding that the former is the first stage in the achievement of the latter,”

And WHEREAS the desperate efforts of the United States’ ruling class to dominate the world economy through sanctions and proxy wars is resulting in growing global resistance and solidarity, as well as an increased danger of nuclear devastation,

And WHEREAS thinking people in America and around the world, especially younger people, are rising up against the old system of capitalism and imperialism,

And WHEREAS younger people are organizing, but often without a clear analysis and without the goal of bringing the working class to power,

And WHEREAS labor unions, the basic organizational units of the working class, are rising in popularity while other institutions are falling,

And WHEREAS youth uprisings and labor unions cannot and will not bring the working class to power without a “Working-class, revolutionary party,”

And WHEREAS the CPUSA’s basic purpose as a political party is to bring the working class to power,

And WHEREAS for various reasons, including some well-intended, there have been some errors and misunderstandings about the CPUSA’s commitments and methods in past years,

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that nothing in the CPUSA program or organizational norms shall contradict the National Committee statement of December 3, 2023, reaffirming the principles outlined in our Program: “We are a working-class, revolutionary party, organized on the basis of collectivity and democratic centralism, understanding that the former is the first stage in the achievement of the latter.”

Submitted by the Communist Party of Texas

8. Recognizing the role of the United States in Ukraine and affirming solidarity with progressive forces

Whereas the Communist Party USA stands in solidarity with the working class and progressive forces worldwide in their struggle against fascism, imperialism, and for national self-determination;

Whereas the CPUSA recognizes the significant role of the United States, through its intelligence apparatus and instruments like the National Endowment for Democracy, in instigating the 2014 coup against Ukraine’s elected government, leading to the installation of a Western-aligned puppet government;

Whereas the CPUSA condemns the support and empowerment of neo-Nazi political groups and militias by these forces–notably the Azov movement and Azov Battalion, which not only undermines the democratic fabric of nations but also betrays the sacrifices made by millions in the fight against Nazism and fascism during the Second World War;

Whereas the CPUSA acknowledges the failure to implement the Minsk accords, largely due to sabotage by forces seeking to perpetuate conflict and division, thereby exacerbating the suffering of the Ukrainian people and contributing to the escalation of tensions in the region since 2022;

Whereas the CPUSA affirms the right of national self-determination for all people, including the nationalities of the former Soviet Union;

Be it resolved that the Communist Party USA

Condemns the role of the United States government and its various agencies and fronts in undermining the sovereignty of Ukraine, Russia, and other nations in pursuit of imperialist objectives.
Denounces the U.S. and NATO’s support and collaboration with neo-Nazi groups and militias which have overtly characterized themselves in the tradition of Axis forces and collaborators during World War II.
Calls for the U.S. to cease all transfers of military and lethal aid to Ukraine and for a ceasefire (as called for by the African Union) to allow for the most expeditious path to peace and stability within the framework of existing international, multilateral processes.
Expresses unwavering solidarity with the working class, communist parties, progressive forces,
and all those fighting against imperialism, fascism, and for social justice in Ukraine, Russia, and globally.
Supports the right of self-determination for the people of Ukraine and the former Soviet Union in determining a political settlement based on the democratic will of the people as a basis for lasting peace and cooperation.
Commits to working with domestic and international partners, peace movements, and progressive organizations to raise awareness of these issues, mobilize support for peaceful solutions, and challenge the narratives that seek to justify U.S. and NATO imperialism and aggression.

Submitted by the Communist Party of Texas

9. Cuba solidarity

WHEREAS the Cuban Revolution which triumphed on January 1, 1959, has served as a beacon of liberation for workers and oppressed people around the world, and

WHEREAS socialist Cuba has played a magnificent role in helping to defend and free nations victimized and exploited by imperialism from bondage including from the fascist apartheid system in South Africa and Namibia, and

WHEREAS Cuba’s solidarity with the people of Angola, at the cost of the lives of Cuban volunteers, helped that country to free itself from violent interventions organized by imperialism and apartheid South Africa, and

WHEREAS Cuban solidarity with the nations and peoples of the world has included fully subsidized training in Cuba of personnel from dozens of countries around the world and sending its own doctors, nurses, educators, and others to provide care in scores of countries, which have played a major role in combating the Ebola epidemic in Africa in 2014 and in the recent ongoing Coronavirus epidemic, and

WHEREAS in spite of all odds, Cuba has developed state of the art biomedical research, high quality health care for its own people and a first rate, free education system from preschool through graduate school, and

WHEREAS U.S. imperialism and its allies have never forgiven Cuba for achieving these advances and challenging imperialist hegemony, and have used every economic tool, such as trade blockades and denial of access to international banking and development financing, and actual terrorism in an unrelenting campaign of slanderous actions and propaganda to reverse Cuba’s achievements and international solidarity programs, and

WHEREAS during the Obama administration, some but not all of U.S. anti-Cuba policies were ameliorated, whereas the Trump administration not only reversed important advances but added more than 300 new anti-Cuba sanctions, and again relegated Cuba to the list of “State Sponsors of Terrorism” without evidence or reason, doing serious damage to the Cuban economy and the wellbeing of the Cuban people, and,

WHEREAS instead of returning to the Obama administration’s more diplomatic approach, the Biden administration has continued the sanctions imposed by previous administrations, including the Trump administration, and has kept Cuba on the list of State Sponsors of Terrorism,

NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT

The Communist Party USA once again salutes our Cuban comrades, the revolutionary government of Cuba, and the noble and self-sacrificing Cuban people for their 65 years of struggle to create a better, socialist and communist world for future generations, and
The Communist Party USA goes on record once again to denounce U.S. imperialism in general and specifically the anti-Cuba policies of the current administration and other political forces in our country, and
The Communist Party USA emphasizes the high priority of removing Cuba from the list of State State Sponsors of Terrorism and asks all our Party and YCL members, as well as our friends and allies, to prioritize its removal, and
The Communist Party USA pledges itself once more to strengthen our active efforts to end the U.S. Blockade of Cuba and to defund and shut down all our government’s anti-Cuba programs, including Radio and TV Marti among others, and
The Communist Party USA commits to expand our cooperation with labor unions, civic and community organizations, religious organizations, and others to put mass pressure on our government to end the six-decade long campaign against Cuba, to repeal anti-Cuba legislation, including the Trading with the Enemy, Torricelli, and Helms-Burton Acts, and to increase our mass educational work on Cuba.

Submitted by the Latin America/Caribbean Subcommittee of the CPUSA Peace and Solidarity Commission

10. Korea and peace in northeast Asia

Whereas northeast Asia has been the site of major power contention and several wars since the late 19th century;

Whereas today U.S. imperialism is escalating military activity and tensions as part of its new cold war campaign, for example, by enlarging the scope of joint military exercises with the Republic of Korea (ROK), supporting Japan’s rearmament, and striving for a Japan-ROK-US anti-China military alliance;

Whereas the U.S. has heavily armed the ROK in spite of the protests of the Korean people;
Whereas there are anti-ballistic missiles in South Korea as part of the U.S. government’s missile defense system called the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system (THAAD) aimed both to spy on China and to prevent any Chinese retaliation to a U.S. nuclear first strike, actions which increase the risk of a major new war;

Whereas U.S. imperialism in 1945 created a puppet government in occupied South Korea against the will of the Korean people, and was responsible for past atrocities such the genocidal bombing of northern Korea during the 1950-53 war, using chemical weapons and causing some 2-3 million civilian deaths, which was opposed by CPUSA at the time;

Whereas U.S. imperialism considered use of nuclear weapons against Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK) and China during and after the war, and in recent years President Trump threatened the DPRK with “fire and fury like the world has never seen”;

Whereas U.S. imperialism’s economic sanctions and diplomatic boycott of the DPRK has needlessly caused great suffering for the people, and the U.S. refuses to sign a peace treaty to end the official state of war which has continued from 1953 until today; and

Whereas in the name of working class internationalism it is the duty of the CPUSA and U.S.-based Left and progressive activists to expose and counter U.S. imperialism; now be it resolved that

Therefore the CPUSA, as part of its campaign to oppose any war in northeast Asia and stop a new cold war against China,

Demands that the U.S. cease military activity in and around the Korean peninsula and sign a peace treaty with the DPRK and relevant parties to end the Korean War, which has continued from 1953 to today;
Demands that the U.S. establish normal diplomatic relations with the DPRK and cease all economic sanctions;
Demands that the U.S. dismantle the many U.S. bases in Korea, Japan, and the Indo-Pacific and restore complete sovereignty to the ROK without Pentagon control over its military command; and
Calls on the CPUSA to support people-to-people cultural and educational exchanges and activity with the DPRK, and to promote studying the history of the DPRK and all of Korea from a Marxist-Leninist standpoint.

Submitted by the Asia-Pacific Subcommittee of the CPUSA Peace and Solidarity Commission

11. Full equality for Native Peoples and Tribal Communities

Whereas: The Native Peoples and Tribal Communities have inhabited this continent for millenia and developed a diverse culture in harmony with the natural world.

Whereas: Europeans brought capitalism, disease, conquest, private property, white supremacy, chattel slavery, massacres, forced-marches, and suppression of Native culture and languages.

Whereas: The Indigenous people fought back against genocide, theft of tribal lands, and forced confinement on reservations considered worthless until gold, silver, oil, and forests were discovered, and then stolen back from the Native Americans.

Whereas: Nisqually leader Billy Frank led the “fish-ins,” a struggle that won back the right to fish in their own rivers, many tribes from across the nation came to Washington D.C. in the “Trail of Broken Treaties” and occupied the Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) to protest centuries of oppression.

Whereas: Today, Native peoples and tribes lead the struggle against oil and gas pipelines, Standing Rock Sioux versus the Dakota Access Pipeline, oil and gas billionaires nullifying the tribe’s treaty rights in laying the pipeline across their tribal lands.

Whereas: In 2018, the protest against the Keystone XL Pipeline in North Dakota led by the tribes was joined by thousands of non-Native environmental activists protesting a profit-greedy pipeline scheme that could destroy the water table and emit millions of tons of global warming gases into the atmosphere.

Whereas: The Federal government recognizes 574 Native American tribes and the total Native population is 6.8 million. The Indigenous tribes, the Inuit and Aleut peoples of Alaska, and the Native Hawaiians are a complex sector of the U.S. population with many differences of culture and language, separated by living on and off their reservations. Yet all of them are racially and nationally oppressed, their sovereign rights infringed upon or outright nullified.

Whereas: The murder of Seattle woodcarver John T. Williams, a member of the Nuu-Chak-Nuith tribe, by a white Seattle policeman on August 26, 2020, and the murder of Jonathan Tubby, a 26-year-old Oneida tribal member by Green Bay, Wisconsin police after a traffic stop in 2018 exposes the racist genocide inflicted on tribal members across the country. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports that Native people are 2.2 times more likely to die from police gunfire than whites–the highest fatality rate of any racial minority, even higher than the genocidal death rate of African Americans at the hands of police.

Whereas: Struggles are rising across the nation of the tribes fighting for their right of self-determination.

Whereas: Over 4.7 million Native Americans are of voting age but voting registration is only 66%. Yet their political determination, with the support of non-Native voters, is electing Native candidates to federal, state, and local offices. Deb Haaland, a Laguna Pueblo, was elected and re-elected to Congress and later appointed Secretary of the Interior by President Biden–the first time a tribal member has headed this Department that includes the BIA. Rep. Sharice Davids, a member of the Ho-Chunk Tribe, was elected to Congress from Kansas City, defeating a Trumpite Republican in a deep “red” Republican stronghold.

Whereas: Arizona has 67,000 Native Americans eligible to vote, and these voters are a key force in the multiracial coalition that seeks to break the extremist Republican grip on Arizona. Similarly, the 90,000 Indigenous people of Wisconsin played a major role in flipping Wisconsin “blue.” And the 91,766 Native Americans of Washington State are a force for positive political change, increasing from one to three the number of Native Americans in the Washington State legislature. And more tribal members are running for statewide office and the Washington State legislature in the November 2024 election.

Whereas: Gerrymandering suppresses Native American political representation. In Washington State, the Confederated tribes of the 2.3 million-acre Colville reservation fight the splitting of their reservation and, in 2011, Washington State split six reservations, thus undermining the tribe’s political clout: Yakama, Puyallup, Chehalis, Swinomish, and Nisqually reservations.

Therefore be it resolved that the CPUSA fully supports the struggles of the Native Peoples and Tribal Communities for full social, economic, and political equality and national sovereignty over Native lands, including the Land Back movement. We demand emergency measures to alleviate poverty on a path to sovereignty. We demand expansion of federal and state funds and services for all the reservations and assistance as well to tribal members living off the reservation in towns and cities. We oppose schemes to undermine and nullify tribal treaty rights. The theft of oil and minerals from tribal lands by the oil and mining billionaires such as Koch Industries must be halted.

Further be it resolved that we work to reverse under-representation of Native and tribal people in all levels of government. We demand measures that insure Native voting rights, including an end to gerrymandering. We support Native struggles against poverty, malnutrition, homelessness, and drug addiction. The Native peoples and tribal communities are an essential contingent of the mass coalition to defeat the rightwing extremist Republicans in the 2024 elections. We are one!

Submitted by the Communist Party of Washington State

12. Preserve and expand Social Security and Medicare

Whereas: Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are the “crown jewels” of benefit programs to provide retiree income and health security for 60 million senior citizens, children, and disabled people in the United States;

Whereas: These programs uphold the truth that health care–cradle to the grave–is a basic human right. That allowing greedy Wall Street banks and insurance companies to squeeze profits from the illness and injuries of suffering people–and healthy people too–is a profound expression of capitalist corruption and crime.

Whereas: These programs were won in bitter struggle against greedy corporate interests and are financed through a Trust Fund based on a payroll tax levied on workers and their employers that has deposits of about one trillion dollars;

Whereas: Insurance companies and their reactionary agents in government are salivating to get their greedy hands on our money, scheming to impose cutbacks and outright privatization on these vital programs;

Whereas: Already more than half of Medicare recipients have been tricked into switching from traditional Medicare to so-called “Medicare Advantage” (MA) that is neither Medicare nor an advantage;

Whereas: “Medicare Advantage” has been exposed as a racket by the wealthiest insurance companies caught red-handed filing tens of billions in false claims while also denying or delaying urgently needed care for MA enrollees, causing millions of injuries and death;

Whereas: The Biden Administration terminated a Trump Medicare rip-off, “Direct Contracting Entities” (DCEs), substituting their own scheme, so-called “ACO REACH” (Affordable Care Organization–Realizing Equity, Access, and Community Health), a change in name but still focused on total privatization of Medicare;

Whereas: If the Wall Street thieves succeed in privatizing Medicare, their next target will be privatization or outright repeal of Social Security. Indeed, the House Republicans plan to convene a so-called “Fiscal Commission” in secret to draw up sharp cuts in Social Security, Medicare, and all other benefit programs to “balance the Federal Budget” while ramming through trillions in tax cuts for the billionaires and a trillion-dollar Pentagon budget. Too many Democratic lawmakers failed to sign a letter to President Biden denouncing this “Fiscal Commission”;

Whereas: A strong grassroots movement is demanding that traditional Medicare be improved and expanded, that Congress approve legislation that “levels the playing field” by slashing or terminating traditional Medicare co-pays, adding dental, vision, and hearing, paying for it by recovering the estimated $80 to $140 billion in MA overcharges and false claims, that ACO-REACH be terminated, that Congress approve and the President sign “Medicare for All.”

Therefore be it resolved: The CPUSA joins in this movement. We call on all members of Congress to terminate the “Fiscal Commission.” We call for all out mobilization to defend and expand Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid. Our aim is single payer “Medicare for All” and beyond, socialized medicine as a basic human right. We call for an increase of Social Security benefits to provide a living income for all senior citizens and disabled people. To pay for these increased benefits, “Scrap the Cap,” make the wealthy pay Social Security withholding taxes on all their billions of dollars of income.

Submitted by the Communist Party of Washington State

13. Party education 2024

WHEREAS: Lenin famously said, “Without revolutionary theory there can be no revolutionary movement.” We, as 21st-century U.S. Communists, affirm that principle. We cannot fulfill the role that our working class and people require of us without an understanding of present-day reality guided by our revolutionary theory. We must be fully engaged in the ideological struggle, just as we are in the economic and political struggle.

AND WHEREAS: Interest in socialism and Marxism are growing. Our Party must aim to become the premier institution of Marxist education in this country.

AND WHEREAS: Education must become an integral part of Party life at all levels. The Party must develop in its members the conviction that no comrade ever “outgrows” the need for education. Marxism is a living science that aims to change the world, not simply reflect on it. Marxist education, therefore, not only orients people to Marxist principles and theory but also, and above all, educates on how to apply Marxist analysis to a changing world. As such, Marxist education is necessary not only to new recruits but also to veteran members.

AND WHEREAS: We have great confidence in the ability of working-class people to understand our science of Marxism and to apply it creatively. In line with this confidence, we must endeavor to make all our education accessible to our class, clearly explaining the terms we use without oversimplifying their content.

THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED: This convention calls on the entire Party to revive the long-standing Party tradition of including Marxist education in every district and club. These educationals should discuss how to apply Marxist theory to the understanding of and response to contemporary issues and struggles. Each club and district should have at least one member assigned to take responsibility for ensuring that educationals are a vital and consistent part of club life. Marxist education plans are encouraged for each club and district, depending on size and capability.

These plans may include:

club and district standing agenda educationals based on People’s World or cpusa.org articles;
Marxist literature (examples: Marxist books – especially those included on the suggested reading list at cpusa.org developed as a resource for clubs and Districts by the Organization Department – and Party pamphlets);
Regular study groups;
Participation in national and regional schools and national webinar Marxist classes.

FURTHERMORE, BE IT RESOLVED: The Communist Party USA further charges the national Education Commission to:

Continue monthly online Marxist classes and workshops
Hold multiple Marxist traveling schools each year, aiding districts and regions to encourage broad participation by local members and guests;
Hold national online Marxist schools as regularly as feasible;
Hold online new members classes; and
Develop public educational activities including through the Working-Class Project.

As the struggle grows fiercer, let’s all commit to studying harder and fighting harder!

Submitted by the CPUSA Education Commission

14. LGBTQ+ equality

Whereas the LGBTQ+ community is under attack from multiple fronts, both judicially and legislatively;

Whereas previous precedents and protections are under attack by the ultra-right controlled Supreme Court;

Whereas gender-affirming healthcare, proven to be safe and effective in improving the mental health and well-being of transgender, nonbinary, and gender non-conforming individuals, is under attack in Republican controlled states;

Whereas discrimination and hate against members of the LGBTQ+ community continue to dominate talking points and policy decisions within Trump’s fascist GOP;

Whereas hate crimes against the LGBTQ+ community have skyrocketed over the past few years;

Whereas Trump’s GOP and the looming fascist threat significantly endanger the livelihoods of people in the LGBTQ+ community;

Whereas the Communist Party USA recognizes the extreme right’s use of homophobia, transphobia, and queerphobia as efforts to divide the working class;

Whereas the Communist Party USA affirms its solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community against hate and discrimination, and in its pursuit of full democratic rights; and

Whereas the Communist Party USA has established commissions dedicated to investigating and developing other special questions;

Therefore be it resolved that the Communist Party USA recommends to the National Committee to consider formation of a national commission on LGBTQ+ equality to sharpen its understanding of the conditions facing members of the LGBTQ+ community in the U.S. and as a special question, and which will work to:

strengthen Party solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community against the looming fascist threat,
provide guidance to the National Committee on political questions related to the LGBTQ+ community,
write for People’s World and Party social media whenever possible on the local LGBTQ+ struggles, and
insure that when sections of the class and people are mentioned as key components, LGBTQ+ is included.

Submitted by the Indiana District, CPUSA and the Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware District, CPUSA

15. Building clubs and districts for sustainable growth

WHEREAS our responsibilities as a Communist Party are heightened by the urgent challenges and opportunities facing the working class and planet. Our united front strategy and tactics and vision of socialism are critical for the future, and

WHEREAS the “Build the Party, Build the Clubs” 2024 convention discussion document encourages our Party to re-commit itself to club-building in neighborhood and workplace concentrations, including expanded use of the People’s World in club-building work, and

WHEREAS a club based in a specific neighborhood or geographic area or in a workplace is our daily tie to the working class. It is our grounding to develop and bring forward new leaders, including women and people of color, for our Party and the broad movement. Determining key neighborhoods and workplaces for concentration places Communist Party clubs where the multiracial, multigender working class is positioned to have maximum impact in organizing and winning victories, and

WHEREAS the Connecticut District has had sustained, multigeneration success with using the People’s World as a tool to develop relationships and build clubs from scratch in a multiracial working class neighborhood or workplace selected for concentration, and

WHEREAS we live in a large and varied country. Our history teaches us that even when building from scratch, and even when members are scattered and at far distances from each other, consistent, strategic planning and action over time can result in strong, diverse club organizations rooted in a community or workplace. Such clubs can become positioned to get out the vote, participate in coalitions, build labor-community unity, organize collective action, win demands, and potentially field candidates. Such clubs have the opportunity to contribute to education and organizing in their neighborhoods through consistent circulation and distribution of the People’s World, and

WHEREAS There are many aspects of strengthening and upgrading our organization. But building clubs, and the districts to sustain them, is the foundation for the long term. It is the foundation for bringing teenage youth into the Young Communist League (YCL) and then into the Communist Party from generation to generation. For new members taking leadership responsibility, the experience of building grassroots clubs, and coordinating the work of those clubs at the district level, and working in coalitions at those levels, is an essential part of developing leaders for the CPUSA;

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that a national strategic approach be developed to concentrate in key states and areas with the goal of expanding and building grassroots Communist Party clubs and districts and defeating the imminent fascist threat, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Communist Party USA prioritizes resources to expand club-building work, and assisting districts in building clubs, including using the People’s World in both printed and online formats. Where there is no district, priority attention and assistance be given to building club concentrations with the goal of establishing a district when possible, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that strong consideration be given to re-establishing a National Organization Secretary for the purpose of assisting districts with this club-building process, and assisting the establishment of districts that can sustain club growth, and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Communist Party USA reaffirms its commitment to support local YCL clubs and youth organizing nationally as a continuation of the YCL.

Submitted by the Connecticut District, CPUSA

16. Rebuilding of the YCL and recommitment to youth leadership

WHEREAS there has been a significant increase in new and young membership to the Communist Party USA in recent years.

WHEREAS young people face unique problems under capitalism and have a special relationship to the process of change.

WHEREAS the YCL is one channel through which young workers and students learn about and may become involved in the CPUSA.

WHEREAS there has been an increase in establishment of YCLs throughout the country.

WHEREAS the Party has now hosted three successful Little Red Schoolhouses in New York that have educated over 100 YCL and young Party members.

WHEREAS the YCL remains unofficially refounded on a national basis.

WHEREAS in 2019 it was resolved that “the Communist Party shall facilitate the establishment of a national Communist youth organization that unites a generation of young political activists in the fight for socialism.”

WHEREAS Article II, Section 4 of the CPUSA Constitution reads that “In elections to all Party committees, conventions and conferences, steps shall be taken to maximize the representation of workers, youth, people of color, and women.”

THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the Party commits to create a transitional national formation to aid in the growth of YCLs during this unprecedented upsurge of youth membership. This leadership body is to be a preformation to an official national refounding of the YCL.

BE IT ALSO RESOLVED that the Party commits to value youth leadership within both the Party and the YCL, understanding that the YCL may take leadership on youth issues, but that does not mean all youth involvement and leadership should or must be relegated to the YCL.

Submitted by the Philadelphia Debbie Amis Bell Club, CPUSA

17. Medicare for All

Whereas healthcare is a human right, and

Whereas the U.S. healthcare system is a greedy trillion-dollar capitalist conglomeration of insurance companies, hospitals, and drug companies that profit off the illnesses and injuries of people, while denying and delaying treatment, and

Whereas in 2021, more than 27.2 million people in the U.S. went without health insurance, non-elderly Black people continue to have a higher uninsured rate (11%) than their white peers (7%), and with the ranks of the uninsured expected to rise dramatically as federal support for state Medicaid programs during the COVID-19 pandemic timeout. As a result, between 5 million and 24 million Americans could lose their Medicaid coverage, and

Whereas for this legislative session, in the U.S. Senate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-VT, with 14 co-sponsors, recently reintroduced the latest version of the Medicare for All Act, S.1655, while in the House, Rep. Pramila Jayapal, D-WA, and Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-MI, introduced H.R.3421, with 112 co-sponsors, and

Whereas when passed, the legislation will create a national health insurance system with better coverage at a much lower cost than Americans pay today. Coverage will include dental, vision, hearing, and eldercare–any medically necessary procedure–with no co-pays or monthly premiums, and

Whereas with the average household spending between 15 and 25% of their income on healthcare, this will come as a tremendous relief, and

Whereas tens of millions more Americans are underinsured. Medical bankruptcies, which currently beset half a million Americans a year,will become a thing of the past as people’s medical care will replace private profit as the focus of the U.S. healthcare system;

Therefore be it resolved that the Communist Party USA commits to campaigning, educating, and organizing for the passage of a single-payer healthcare system as presently proposed in the Medicare for All Act of 2023. This includes joining and helping local Medicare for All organizations in their endeavors.

Submitted by the Communist Party of Indiana

18. Policing

Whereas the Communist Party USA stands in solidarity with all victims of state violence, prioritizing the struggle for all of those affected by police violence,especially in communities of color, and

Whereas the working-class is under attack by over-policing, such as state legislative bills targeting communities of color as “crime reduction hotspots,” and

Whereas state legislatures continues to pass unconstitutional laws targeting our civil rights, and

Whereas many state governments attempt to curtail current organizing for accountability with FBI involvement, and

Whereas Black women are disproportionately affected by many states’ recent reproductive rights bans, and

Whereas workers are familiar with the historic use by capitalists of the police and other armed forces of the state to break protests and strikes, and

Whereas in the current criminal justice system, there exists a major disparity between those poor working-class people of all colors and minorities and their white counterparts, unity between the core elements of the working class must be sought in order to accomplish our goals, and

Whereas the need for solidarity from the Communist Party USA with victims of the police is critical now,

Therefore be it resolved that the Communist Party USA commits

To working especially with Black and Brown people, hardest hit by police violence, to build a movement for community democratic control of the police,
To fight for all meaningful reforms while effectively organizing towards community control of the police,
To write for People’s World and Party social media whenever possible on related local struggles, and
To participate and organize for broad collective marches and rallies that our party collective deems appropriate on the issue of policing.

Submitted by the Communist Party of Indiana

19. Immigrant Struggles and Immigrant Rights

Whereas: The CPUSA program, The Road to Socialism USA, says “Working class unity is a necessity. Fighting against racism and sexism and for immigrant rights is essential to build that unity”;

Whereas: In the U.S. as a whole, from October 2021 to September 2022, ICE deportation agents carried out 142,750 immigration arrests and 72,177 deportations, increases of 93% and 22%, respectively. Deportation is common, as is violence against the person deported, their family, and their community;

Whereas: Migrant labor is primarily caused by global economic inequality, violence, and global warming. U.S. imperialism is primarily responsible for all three. Migrant workers across the country are also under ongoing violent attack from the federal and state government and are scapegoated by the extreme right in a politically driven hate campaign;

Whereas: The dreamer youth have been disenfranchised and threatened with deportation or losing a parent to deportation;

Whereas: Racist and xenophobic people perpetrate violence against immigrants;

Whereas: The immigrant population is a valuable and treasured population that contributes culturally and financially;

Whereas: Working people and poor farmers in Mexico, Central America, the Caribbean and other parts of the world have been devastated by the practices of U.S. and other big transnational corporations;

Whereas: The United States’ pro-corporate and imperialist foreign policy has at different times sponsored coups, civil wars, and dictators in Haiti, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and other countries and sanctions have been imposed on Venezuela, Cuba, and Nicaragua by the U.S. and other countries. causing economic chaos and destabilizing democratically elected governments, causing many to have to migrate to sustain themselves and their families; and

Whereas: Subsistence farmers in developing countries are driven off the land by global warming, a result of unsustainable capitalist development, and neoliberal U.S. Imperialist policy;

Therefore, be it resolved: The CPUSA will consistently struggle against U.S. imperialism, especially as it affects labor migration;

Be it further resolved: The CPUSA expresses solidarity and outrage at the ongoing migrant deportations that split families and terrorize communities. The CPUSA supports immigrants and migrants building their lives in the United States regardless of immigration status;

Be it further resolved: The CPUSA will work to

Support progressive legislation that will regularize the status of currently undocumented immigrants, with a clear path to citizenship so they can vote and participate in the political system,
Support the idea that everyone should have a right to vote regardless of immigration status,
Support deferred action and a pathway to legal residency for undocumented immigrant workers involved in complaints against employers,
Support and protect asylum seekers by providing an efficient and easy to access way to present themselves at the border and request asylum without fear of detention or deportation, and
Support the idea that Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals should be fully in place for ALL DREAMERS, by means of Congressional legislation or executive order, and with provision for a pathway to citizenship;

Be it further resolved: The CPUSA will focus on identifying migrant and immigrant groups, and dreamer groups, and working with them around the issues they prioritize. These may include stopping racist and political oppression, migrant deportations, ensure state and educational materials are available in a wide variety of languages and that we fight for health care, housing, food, and education needs for all immigrants: and

Be it further resolved: The CPUSA will focus on migrant and immigrant communities for our organizing, political work, and recruitment, agitating for the removal of membership or affiliation with the CPUSA as a grounds of inadmissibility and a bar to naturalization in U.S. immigration law.

Submitted by the Immigrant Rights Subcommittee of the CPUSA Political Action Commission and the Communist Party of Indiana

20. Women’s equality

Whereas: Women in the United States face unique oppressions under capitalism related to their social and cultural roles in society, and working-class women, trans women, immigrant women, and women of color even more so; with African American women experiencing what Claudia Jones called triple oppression;

Whereas: Overall, women are paid 84% of what men are paid because of workplace discrimination against women and “occupational segregation,” in which women work in low-paid, “feminized” occupations. Mothers, immigrants, trans people, Latinas, and Black women suffer larger pay gaps; for example, workers who are Black women earn 64% of what the average worker is expected to earn. Lower wages have lasting effects that include less Social Security and financial security for women and a lower wage floor for all workers regardless of gender;

Whereas: More than 91% of domestic workers are women, and over half of domestic workers are Black, Latino, or Asian American/Pacific Islander women. The median pay for domestic workers is $12 an hour, and domestic workers are three times as likely as other workers to live in poverty. Immigrants are disproportionately represented in the low-paid domestic workforce (35%), and immigrants are particularly vulnerable to labor and sex trafficking;

Whereas: Transgender workers face high rates of community ostracization and workplace discrimination, contributing to high rates of unemployment, homelessness, and economic coercion into sex work, particularly for transgender women of color;

Whereas: 80% of women aged 25–54 are in the paid labor force yet perform 75% of the unpaid reproductive labor in the home, including child care, elder care, and housework;

Whereas: Women workers are especially affected by the lack of parental and sick leave; lack of affordable, quality childcare; lack of workplace flexibility in determining hours and place of work (or erratic work schedules that make planning for childcare difficult); and tax penalties for being unmarried;

Whereas: Women’s rights have increasingly come under extreme attack by the Right over the two decades, especially their reproductive rights and bodily autonomy with the fall of Roe v. Wade, including the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025, which seeks to ban the abortion pill and limit access to contraception;

Whereas: Reproductive health care is of extreme concern for African American women, regardless of income levels: they are two to three times more likely to die from pregnancy-related complications than white women and are more likely to experience life-threatening conditions when giving birth, due to racism in the medical establishment and poor hospital quality;

Whereas: Sexism, misogyny, and cisgenderism are rampant in our society, and the ruling class sows hatred to create division among genders, especially between cisgender and transgender people;

Whereas: Violence against women is a growing problem: one in four women experience intimate partner violence, sexual violence, or stalking; and transgender persons are four times as likely to be victims of violent attacks as cisgender persons; in 2022, 83% of murdered transgender persons were people of color and 54% were African American trans women;

Whereas: Women are underrepresented in mainstream politics, with women making up only 28% of the 188th U.S. Congress and 33% in state legislatures;

Whereas: The struggles of working-class women are in the interest of the entire working class, as women’s issues advance the struggle for reforms and for socialism; and working-class unity among all genders is required to advance these struggles;

Whereas: The CPUSA has addressed women’s issues through Marxist educationals, club and district work on reproductive rights, and other issues but not in a systematic way; women are inadequately represented in our own Party; Party members are affected by the capitalist culture of sexism, misogyny, and cisgenderism; and

Whereas: Women have been central to countering the Right, including the 2018 mobilization of the women’s vote that removed the Republican Party from power in the U.S. Congress and their activism to ensure reproductive rights in more than a dozen states since the fall of Roe;

Therefore be it resolved that the Communist Party USA recommends to the National Committee to consider formation of a national commission on women’s equality that will research issues relating to women; provide political guidance to the Party; develop and propose activities, plans of action, and campaigns to clubs and districts that match a club/district’s capacity; and work with the clubs and districts to make the Party a more welcoming place for women, give women greater voice in the political life of the party, and recruit and retain more women; and

Be it further resolved that the Communist Party USA recommits itself to the struggle for women’s equality in the United States, including to combatting sexism, campaigning for safeguarding and restoring reproductive rights, and advocating for the redress of labor issues that uniquely affect women including unpaid domestic labor, lack of adequate maternity accommodations, and income inequalities; this will be done with consideration to the particular needs of and oppression experienced by transwomen and women of color.

Submitted by the CPUSA Women’s Collective

21. Latina/o equality

Whereas: Latinas/os are a significant and growing sector of the U.S. working class counting in the millions, all part of the mutiracial, multiethnic body of the U.S. working class;

Whereas: Latinas/os are a racially and national oppressed group and also subject to violent repression from law enforcement;

Whereas: Latinas/os are subjected to discrimination and national oppression by the ruling class in order to divide the U.S. working class and maintain the capitalist system;

Whereas: Latinas are the most exploited group in the U.S. with the lowest wages;

Whereas: Latinas/os are a significant component of local and national elections, making a significant difference in current elections and even more potential difference in future elections due to the growth of our communities;

Whereas: 65 million Americans (1 out of 5) are Latina/o, and 34 million Latinas/os are eligible to vote while the median age is 24 versus the white community at 38; and

Whereas: 11 million immigrant Latinas/os (many of whom are from Latin America) are used as scapegoats by the extreme right for electoral gain to divert our working class away from the real issues that are confronted by all workers under capitalism and that all of these attacks have a democracy limiting, racist, and divisive edge to them; Now, therefore,

Be it resolved that the Communist Party USA recommends to the National Committee to consider formation of a national commission on Latina/o equality to appraise the national leadership on Latina/o issues and how best to address these issues; it is necessary to refresh and update a theoretical response to the question of Latina/o, Chicana/o, Mexican American/Mexicanas/os, and immigrants from Latin America; we should build on what has already been analyzed and developed by earlier comrades and provide updated analysis for the Party’s consideration;

Be it resolved that such a commission is to further study this important sector of our working class, especially its largest component, Mexican Americans, Chicanas/os (counted at 40 million) and make recommendations on how best to engage in struggle for equality for Latinas/os;

Be it resolved that the Party places special emphasis on mobilizing the Latina/o community for political engagement and actions on how best to grow the
CPUSA in the Latina/o communities across the country; and

Be it resolved that, as was stated in CPUSA history, “Our Party has a unique role to play in relation to the fight for equality of the Mexican-American/Chicana/o. Our program and assessments, our working-class base, our history and present record in the fight for equality and against racism, and our understanding of the basic needs for multiracial working-class unity, brings a special contribution to this struggle.”

Submitted by the Resolutions Committee

22. Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim community solidarity

Whereas Islamophobia and hatred and attacks on the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities endanger democratic rights for all, including physical attacks and attacks on the right to free speech;

Whereas the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, received 3,578 complaints during the last three months of 2023 amid an ongoing wave of anti-Muslim and anti-Palestinian hate, a 178% increase over the previous year; and

Whereas the targeting of the Palestinian community is aimed at creating divisions and silencing the cries for an end to the genocide and for peace in Gaza; now be it resolved that

Therefore the Communist Party USA stands in solidarity with the Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim communities and joins with all democratic-minded people to reject such attacks; and

Therefore the Communist Party USA is committed to reach out to and to collaborate with Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim organizations and communities seeking to build a stronger voice.

Submitted by the Resolutions Committee

23. Jewish community

Whereas Jewish comrades and allies in the CPUSA have been meeting regularly and building a collective which we hope can serve as an anchor point for the rising majority of the Jewish masses in the U.S. who reject racist imperialism and are looking for a working class alternative to the far right;

Whereas the MAGA Right, together with some centrist forces, has sought to isolate progressive Jews by imposing distorted definitions of antisemitism that attempt to portray as antisemites those Jews who criticize the policies and actions of the State of Israel;

Whereas the MAGA Right attempts to court Jewish voters by exploiting fears of real antisemitism, we see our collective’s role as providing the theoretical and practical political analysis and organizational know-how to help the Jewish community sharpen its struggle against the true antisemitism of the Christian nationalist fascist MAGA Right;

Whereas we seek to provide clarifying analysis and practical political direction for the rising majority of the U.S. Jewish community who want to reject the far-right U.S. foreign policy of enabling the fascist Israeli far right, and who want to put a stop to the horrifying genocidal, illegal violence perpetrated by the State of Israel. We seek to work with workers’ movements and parties around the world to put a stop once and for all to the State of Israel’s routine and murderous violations of international law and bring into existence a democratic and socialist society for both peoples; and

Whereas, most importantly in this moment, we stand in solidarity with the Palestinian community and their demands for Palestinian self-determination, an end to the illegal occupation and settlements, and a just, democratic, non-racist society for both peoples, and we seek to provide the much needed “Communist Plus” of building a truly working-class solidarity movement with the Palestinian people; now be it resolved that
Therefore, the Communist Party USA recommends to the National Committee to consider formation of a national commission on the Jewish community to provide political guidance to the Party as well as developing plans of action related to the Jewish community.

Submitted by the CPUSA Jewish Collective

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