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Where are we today?

The domination of monopoly capital in our daily lives — at the workplace, in the grocery store, in the hospitals, and in the media — has led the working class to become more conscious of the main contradiction in capitalist society: between those who produce and those who profit. This development has inspired surges within the trade union movement and community organizing, specifically on the shop floors and in the neighborhoods. The growing momentum of worker-to-worker organizing and peoples’ movements is fueled by the increased rate of exploitation and the crisis of everyday living.

Anti-monopoly consciousness among the U.S. working class is on the rise. In the 2024 elections, 82% of voters said they think one of the biggest problems facing the country is the concentration of wealth and power in the hands of just a few corporations and wealthy individuals — and that the government is doing little to stop it.

However, the 2024 elections resulted in the re-election of the fascistic Donald Trump, the face of the most reactionary sections of the monopoly capitalist class. People are angry, disillusioned, and expressing their frustration with the conditions of life. Trump weaponized the grievances of working class people, demagogically calling the Republican Party a “working class party.”

Trump redirects anger and disgust at the status quo away from the billionaires and capitalists towards immigrant workers, labor leaders, women, LGBTQ people, people of color, and the “enemies within.” He was able to grow a mass base to support fascism’s ruthless drive to power. He has filled his cabinet with some of the most reactionary representatives of monopoly capital. But the ascension of fascism to power is not inevitable — it depends on the fighting spirit and organization of the working class and its allies to prevent it.

The Communist Party’s strategy of workplace concentration will guide trade unionists in building the power necessary to block a fascist takeover and weaken monopoly capital overall. This strategy focuses effort on creating a base within the working class, broadly understood as all workers who sell their labor power for a wage. All struggles for democracy and equality ultimately depend on the strength and unity of the working class for victory, even those not directly connected to the workplace.

The open dictatorship of monopoly capital

Monopoly capital wields immense economic and political power, dominating workers across industries — manufacturing, services, infrastructure, and the gig economy — while exploiting the majority of the U.S. population. Small and medium-sized businesses struggle under its weight, as monopolies control prices, supply chains, and politicians through lobbying and bribery. They evade taxes, crush family-owned businesses, displace farmers, exploit Native nations, and fuel housing crises by turning homeowners into renters.

Karl Marx predicted capitalism’s inevitable concentration of wealth into fewer hands, or monopolization, a process Lenin later analyzed as the merger of banks and industry into monopoly capital. This system drives imperialism, relentlessly seeking to redivide the world and expand to new markets. Today, transnational financial interests dominate every sector — manufacturing, agriculture, technology, and weapons production — prioritizing profit over workers’ well-being.

Fascism represents the open, terroristic dictatorship of the most reactionary sections of monopoly capital, enforcing corporate dominance through state violence. Despite rhetoric of “freedom” and “patriotism,” its true aim is to serve the ruling class. Donald Trump embodies this trend, echoing the paths of Mussolini and Hitler. By exploiting racism, sexism, homophobia, and economic grievances, he has built a mass base for fascism, threatening undocumented workers with mass deportations and internment camps. His rhetoric fuels division, undermining the collective power of the working class.

Trump did not create these divisions; U.S. capitalists have long exploited and divided the working class to maximize profits. Trump merely capitalized on this legacy, using it to ascend to the White House and now providing cover for the ruling class’s continued destruction. While his antics are harmful, his alignment with the most reactionary factions of the ruling class poses the greatest threat to the working class, making this the primary focus for the Communist Party and workers’ movements.

Only the working class — those who produce goods, operate machinery, grow food, care for the sick, and raise children — can lead the fight for a society that prioritizes people over profits. The multiracial, multinational, and multigender working class’s struggle against capitalism is the driving force for progressive change. Fascism fears nothing more than an organized working class, and the ruling class is desperate to prevent workers from uniting in their collective interest.

Attacks on labor rights are escalating, with figures like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk calling for the dismantling of the National Labor Relations Board, signaling an escalated assault on workers’ power. As former General Secretary of the Communist Party USA, William Z. Foster, noted of the post-war attacks on labor organizers:

“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 fascists will seek to destroy, one by one, every avenue for democratic struggle in order to consolidate their control. They seek a working class that is disunified, subdued, and terrified; unable to resist the heightened exploitation that corporate profits demand.

The working class response

The solution to this crisis of fascism lies in the working class’s greatest strength: solidarity. Solidarity means looking out for one another, combating discrimination, standing together against bosses, and fighting for fairness and democracy in our workplaces and communities. It ensures everyone has a place in society and involves a shared commitment to challenge ruling class power. When practiced consistently, working class solidarity forces capitalism to concede.

Class consciousness is growing among workers, mirrored by progressive shifts within the trade union movement. Reform efforts led by the broad-left forces are transforming “business unionism” into a militant, class-struggle unionism. Young workers are becoming more radicalized. They are taking leadership roles in organizing drives at Amazon warehouses, service jobs, manufacturing plants, and beyond. This surge in workplace organizing is helping to revitalize the labor movement.

Unions are increasingly asserting political independence, supporting progressive candidates and taking stands on foreign policy issues like Palestine and Cuba. However, they must broaden their focus to represent not just their own members, but the entire working class — including the unemployed and workers without papers.

While union density remains stagnant at 10% (6% in the private sector), organized workers hold strategic positions in transportation, utilities, energy, manufacturing, and more. This underscores the need for bold new organizing strategies, with rank-and-file workers leading the charge. Labor’s current numbers are insufficient to elect national candidates or adequately compel politicians, making it crucial to unite the whole of the working class in the fight for political and economic democracy.

As UAW President Shawn Fain says, “Unite the membership, unite the working class, fight like hell, and let everyday working-class people lead our movement.” Labor must continue to build coalitions with community, civil rights, women’s, student, and senior organizations to amplify our power. Workers should run for office, using these campaigns to speak for the entire multinational, multiracial, and multigender working class.

The Communist Party must support new organizing efforts, ensuring every worker who wants a union can build or join one. Growing the labor movement and uniting the working class is essential to defeating fascism and advancing democracy.

The role of the Communist Party USA in building working class power

The Communist Party and its trade union members must actively engage in movements against fascism, corporate greed, and monopoly power. Class consciousness doesn’t arise spontaneously — it requires deliberate intervention. Communist trade unionists bring the “Communist Plus” to struggles, elevating workers’ understanding of capitalism, exploitation, labor’s value, class struggle, oppression, and the path to socialism. The “Plus” connects workers’ immediate grievances — like low wages or poor benefits — to the broader capitalist system, fostering anger not just at individual employers but at the ruling class as a whole. It also equips workers with the skills to build lasting solidarity in workplaces and communities, meeting workers where they are and advancing our class interests.

By raising class consciousness, we help workers see the link between their daily struggles and the capitalist system. We combat racism, sexism, homophobia, and other divisive forces not just in words but in action, strengthening working-class organizations in unions, churches, and communities. Communists fight for tactical unity, working wherever we are to empower the working class.

Class-conscious trade unionists must challenge harmful ideas, replacing them with politically mature and effective ones. For example, “business unionism” and “service unionism” must give way to class struggle unionism and democratic unionism. Unions must move beyond narrow economic fights for their members and embrace the principle that “an injury to one is an injury to all.”

Racism, sexism, anti-LGBTQ bigotry, and chauvinism are toxic barriers to solidarity, exploited by the ruling class to divide workers. The labor movement must prioritize fighting these prejudices, embracing an anti-racist, anti-sexist, and anti-homophobic class consciousness. Class struggle unionism must champion social, political, and economic justice, not just economic gains.

In the broader fight against fascism, communist trade unionists must help build and lead democratic coalitions against the most reactionary forces, embodied today by Trump and his allies. The working class and trade unions must be at the forefront of these coalitions, uniting to defeat fascism and advance working-class power.

The strategy of workplace concentration

Workplace concentration updates the old policy of industrial concentration, which focused on basic industries like steel, auto, and energy. This new approach adapts to the changing composition of the working class and the economy, targeting a broader range of sectors. The goal is to organize the entire working class — not just specific industries — into the struggle for democracy and against corporate domination.

Communists, alongside trade union activists, must implement workplace concentration by focusing on sectors where we already have a presence: building trades, public education, transportation, food service, warehouses, and manufacturing. In areas without clear workplaces or industries to concentrate on, creative initiatives can engage working-class neighborhoods or social spaces to build connections that eventually lead back to workplace organizing.

Workplace concentration involves winning over workers and community members where they live and work, drawing them into active class struggle and expanding from these strongpoints. It strengthens the most organized sections of the working class, builds a fighting constituency, and develops leaders through struggle. By starting where class-conscious workers are active and expanding outward, this strategy lays the groundwork for unified working-class action. It also links workplace organizing with broader social justice movements, creating bridges to democratic struggles.

To implement this strategy, class-conscious workers must fight where they stand. In unionized workplaces, this means strengthening the steward system, leading coworkers in struggle, and building solidarity through direct action. In non-unionized workplaces, workers can form rank-and-file committees to build collective strength. Where unionization is difficult, labor activists should support shop-floor organizing. Whether in a unionized shop or not, labor activists must build trust and respect by embodying firmness, honesty, and a strong work ethic.

Workplace concentration is the foundation for reviving class-struggle unionism and rebuilding the labor movement. It requires a return to rank-and-file leadership and struggle-oriented organizing, as seen in campaigns like those at Auto plants, Amazon, and Starbucks. By starting where workers are today and concentrating our efforts strategically, we can connect widespread anti-corporate sentiment to the fight against fascism’s monopoly power.

Through these efforts, the organized working class will become the central pillar in the struggles for political and economic democracy and towards a new horizon in our country’s history.

Image: Fred Barr / CPUSA; Teamsters ULP strike action by Taryn Fivek / CPUSA; UAW rallies and marches to demand Stellantis fulfill its contract agreements to keep jobs in the U.S. by UAW (Facebook); “This is a coup” by Dylan M