Left Labor Project (LLP)

The group announced its dissolution in 2021 after acknowledging declining activity and member attrition. Despite that announcement, the group’s logo appeared among the endorsing organizations on a January 2026 New York City rally flier calling for abolition of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agency, suggesting at least nominal continued use of the “Left Labor Project” name by organizers. ^{1 2}

Background

The Left Labor Project was founded in 2008 by mostly older activists within New York City unions who sought to coordinate socialist influence across the labor movement rather than seek control within individual locals or internationals. Its founding principles stated explicitly that LLP was “socialist,” held that the working class was “the core base for lasting social change,” and committed the group to neutrality in the internal affairs of unions whose members participated in the collective. The group consisted of members from several radical-left political organizations, including the Communist Party USA (CPUSA), the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), the Committees of Correspondence for Democracy and Socialism (CCDS), Freedom Road Socialist Organization (later renamed Liberation Road), and the Solidarity organization. ¹

Activities

The Left Labor Project’s most visible sustained activity was promoting the revival of May Day as a mainstream labor and immigrant-rights rally in New York City. The group partnered with the Labor Council for Latin American Advancement (LCLAA) to convene a coalition of more than 50 organizations for annual May Day events. The coalition secured endorsements and mobilization support from the New York City Central Labor Council (affiliated with AFL-CIO), the Professional Staff Congress, Laborers International Union (LIUNA), Communications Workers of America Local 1180, Transit Workers Union Local 100, SEIU 1199, and SEIU 32BJ, among others. The LLP reported that May Day rallies at their peak drew between 5,000 and 10,000 participants, with a 2011 event tied to the Occupy Wall Street movement drawing an estimated 35,000. ^{1 3}

The LLP acknowledged providing informal support to the Occupy Wall Street movement beginning in 2011, helping to connect the anti-Wall Street encampments with organized labor. The group also acknowledged providing unofficial assistance to Sen. Bernie Sanders’s (I-VT) 2016 presidential primary campaign. ¹

Dissolution and Continued Use of Name

The Left Labor Project’s closing statement, published in October 2021 at left-wing online journal Portside, announced the collective’s dissolution after months of declining activity, citing the aging of its core membership and the loss of at least one active member to COVID-19. The statement acknowledged ongoing member involvement in efforts described as opposing “fascism, neoliberalism, white supremacy, male supremacy, [and] climate destruction.” ¹

Notwithstanding the group’s apparent dissolution, the Left Labor Project logo appeared on a promotional flier for the “ICE Out for Good” rally held in January 2026 at Union Square in New York City. The flier listed LLP alongside dozens of co-endorsing organizations, including the Communist Party USA, the New York City chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America, the Working Families Party, SEIU 32BJ, the United Federation of Teachers, the Communications Workers of America, the United Auto Workers (UAW), Socialist Alternative, the Young Communist League of New York, and the Party for Socialism and Liberation. ²