The Labor United Educational League (LUEL) is a far-left caucus of labor union members affiliated with communist groups. The League was previously known as Labor United for Class Struggle and draws inspiration from the Trade Union Education League (TUEL), a communist-oriented group in the 1920s that exerted influence in U.S. labor organizing and within the Congress of Industrial Organizations prior to its merger into the modern AFL-CIO.

Labor United Educational League maintains an archive of the TUEL’s 1920’s magazine, the Labor Herald, and publishes Labor Today, an online, far-left pro-labor publication. The group is the U.S. affiliate of the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU) and urges labor federations to join the “militant” WFTU over the larger mainstream left-of-center International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC). ^{1 2 3 4 5}

Background

The Labor Union Educational League was originally called Labor United for Class Struggle, a loosely affiliated group of far-left union members and organizers supporting more “radical” and “militant” approaches in labor organizing. The Party of Communists USA (PCUSA), a small offshoot of the Communist Party of the United States (CPUSA), is affiliated with the group, with the Party calling for the establishment of Labor United for Class Struggle caucuses within local unions. ⁶

Labor United for Class Struggle was renamed the Labor Union Educational League in a statement that said the group was going “back to [its] roots.” The name of the organization invokes the Trade Union Educational League which was founded in the 1920s by CPUSA leader William Z. Foster as an organization dedicated to uniting “radicals” within various labor unions. The TUEL was active from 1920 to 1929 and published the Labor Herald, a publication that has been archived and digitized by the Labor Union Educational League. ^{7 8}

The TUEL was funded by communist party groups and exerted influence within the Congress of International Organizations and was opposed by the American Federation of Labor, prior to the two union federations merging into the AFL-CIO. The TUEL was reborn as the Trade Union Unity League in 1929 as international and U.S.-based communist groups abandoned a “bore from within” strategy and embraced “dual unionism” that promoted the creation of separate CPUSA-aligned unions. ⁹

World Federation of Trade Unions

The Labor Union Educational League is an affiliate of the World Federation of Trade Unions, a small international labor federation based in Athens, Greece, that promotes “radical” and “militant” union organizations and is connected with international socialist and communist organizations. The LUEL is effectively the U.S. affiliate of the WFTU and the Union’s constitution states that  “LUEL is flatly opposed to our present pitiful policy of yellow unionism through the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) & advocates affiliation with the militant international trade union movement known as the World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU),” underscoring the group’s opposition to mainstream labor union federations and the ITUC, with which the AFL-CIO is affiliated. ^{10 11}

Publications and Other Activity

The main activity of the Labor Union Educational League is publishing Labor Today, a far-left publication highlighting various U.S. labor organizing news and other left-of-center policies. ¹²

The group also endorsed the March on Washington For Gaza in 2024 alongside many other far-left, socialist, and anti-Israel groups. ¹³

1. “Introducing the Labor Union Educational League.” Labor Union Educational League. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://luel.us/introducing-labor-united-educational-league/
2. “Program.” Party of Communists USA. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://partyofcommunistsusa.net/program/
3. “The Labor Herald.” Labor Union Educational League. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://luel.us/publications/the-labor-herald/
4. “Home.” Labor Today. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://labortoday.luel.us.
5. “LUEL Constitution.” Labor Union Educational League. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://luel.us/about/luel-constitution/
6. “Program.” Party of Communists USA. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://partyofcommunistsusa.net/program/
7. Philip S. Foner, History of the Labor Movement in the United States: Volume IX: The TUEL to the End of the Gompers Era. New York: International Publishers, 1991. Page 105.
8. Tim Davenport, “Trade Union Educational League: Organizational History,” Early American Marxism. Accessed March 25, 2024. http://www.marxisthistory.org/subject/usa/eam/tuel.html
9. Johanningsmeier, Edward P. “The Trade Union Unity League: American Communists and the Transition to Industrial Unionism: 1928-1934.” 162.
10. “LUEL Constitution.” Labor Union Educational League. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://luel.us/about/luel-constitution/
11. Global Labor Unions and Federations. AFL-CIO. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://aflcio.org/about-us/our-unions-and-allies/global-unions
12. “Home.” Labor Today. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://labortoday.luel.us
13. “Endorsers.” March for Gaza. Accessed March 25, 2024. https://march4gaza.org/endorsers/