Party of Communists USA

Party of Communists USA
File:PCUSA logo.png
Chairperson	Chris B.
General Secretary	Angelo D'Angelo
Founded	2014
Headquarters	Staten Island, New York, United States
Newspaper	The Worker
Youth wing	League of Young Communists USA
Political orientation	Marxism–Leninism
Website
https://partyofcommunistsusa.net/

The Party of Communists USA (PCUSA) is a communist party in the United States of America. The PCUSA claims to be the Marxist–Leninist continuation of the Communist Party USA. The PCUSA defends the Soviet Union and the leadership and legacy of Joseph Stalin. The PCUSA's 1st Congress was held in April 2016. In August 2022, members of the PCUSA split from the party to form the American Council of Bolsheviks.

Program

Labor

The PCUSA supports raising the federal minimum wage to $15/hour and supports building the World Federation of Trade Unions in North America. It advocates repealing the Taft–Hartley Act, which restricts trade union activities.

Education

The PCUSA supports free education from kindergarten through college.

Health

The PCUSA advocates for socialized medicine and a national program for training physicians, nurses, and other medical professionals. It also supports guaranteed pensions for elderly and disabled people.

Women's rights

The PCUSA supports at least four years of paid parental leave, free childcare, and financial assistance for housework..

Housing

The PCUSA demands reducing rent to 15% or less of total income and a moratorium on evictions and foreclosures. It advocates for a construction program to build public housing and retrofit older houses to save energy.

Membership

The PCUSA has three membership levels as well as one non-member status:

• Supporters pay dues to the party but have not officially applied to join the party.
• Associate members are members who pay dues and are non-voting members of mass movements.
• Candidate members are active members who undergo 12 months of training before applying for cadre status.
• Cadres are active members of the party that can hold leadership positions in the party.

Structure

File:PCUSA districts.png

Four districts of PCUSA: Blue (west), red (midwest), orange (east), and green (south).

The PCUSA is organized into four districts: Eastern, Southern, Midwestern, and Pacific. These districts are divided into local units called cells or clubs.

Congress

The national congress of the PCUSA elects a Central Committee, Politburo, and Council of Secretaries to serve between congresses. The Central Committee meets at least twice a year.

Politburo

The Politburo of the PCUSA contains eight officers (including a General Secretary), four district organizers (Eastern, Southern, Midwestern, and Pacific), and three other members. The Politburo meets at least once a week except during the holiday season from late November to early January.

Politburo officers

The General Secretary presides over meeting of the Politburo and Central Committee but cannot make a unilateral action without a majority vote of the Politburo. If the General Secretary is incapacitated, the National Chair acts as General Secretary until the Central Committee elects a new General Secretary.

Party organizations

The PCUSA maintains the organization US Friends of the Soviet People, active in support of the peoples of the former Soviet Union including the Donetsk People's Republic and Lugansk People's Republic.

Publications

The newspaper of the PCUSA is The Worker and its theoretical journal is The Communist. The League of Young Communists USA has a magazine called Red Patriot.

Elections

The PCUSA runs candidates in local, state, and national elections. In the 2020 general election, PCUSA ran Christopher Helali as a candidate for Vermont's at-large congressional district. When not running its own candidates, the PCUSA endorses other anti-racist, anti-war, and pro-worker candidates who are not part of the Democratic or Republican parties.

See also

• Center for Political Innovation