Workers' power: An interview with Neel of the Labor Party
Ethan Cole
Platypus Review 179 | September 2025
On June 11, 2025, Platypus Affiliated Society member Ethan Cole interviewed Neel, the National Mobilizing Secretary and the South Carolina Party Chair of the Labor Party, which was founded in the United States in 2024.1 An edited transcript follows.
Ethan Cole: What radicalized you?
Neel: I was a Trump supporter in 2016. I voted for him and supported him vehemently. I was a kid at the Citadel Military College of South Carolina at the time, so it was kind of expected that if you were born and raised in the South and went to the Citadel, you were Republican. It was rare not to be. After not long with his presidency, I thought I had made a mistake, and I started to read political theory. I went on the libertarian and small-government train for a little while. The more educated I got, the more Left I became.
EC: What turned you away from small-government libertarianism?
N: The main shift came when I read a brief summary of Capital (1867). Someone told me I couldn’t read Capital — it’s too much to read — but there are good YouTube videos that do a deep dive. I wouldn’t say someone radicalized me, but that, along with some adjacent works. I was an economics major; I was looking at the market and how free-market capitalism has failed at this point — we are fully in late-stage capitalism — and I had to grapple with that and realize the market was not doing what it should be doing according to conservative economics. It’s not doing what it’s supposed to do in terms of small government. Understanding that these two things were wrong was the first big hurdle. Then I started thinking about the social side. Libertarians are good at letting people live and exist as they want, but they’re generally opposed to government protections. That was an issue for me. You can say everyone should live how they want, but are you going to protect their right to live as they want? They didn’t have an answer for that. Also, a massive deconstruction of my faith was a big factor; I was raised a fundamental Baptist. All of that came together in a large climax. I thought, “Bernie’s kind of cool; what’s he talking about?” But Bernie is socialism-lite; I wouldn’t even call him a socialist.
EC: When and why was the Labor Party founded? How did you get involved?
N: It was founded in October 2024 by three members focused on citizen referendums originating in Colorado, with the goal of making citizen-led ballot initiatives a national standard. In South Carolina, you can’t petition to say, “This is something to be on the ballot.” They don’t care. That’s how it started — getting the voice of the average citizen more involved in politics, specifically at the state level. It grew as unions bought into the idea, because unions have no buying power right now, compared to corporations, which, through Citizens United, have most of the buying power in politics. Our founder looked into the former iteration of the Labor Party from 1996, saw that we tried this before, and wondered what it would look like to try again today. I jumped on board and built the Discord from the ground up. That was where things started because it was the easiest way to funnel people into channels for conversation, debate, and discussion. From there, we brought in good folks who stumbled upon the Party. Now we have policy writers, and we are producing articles and videos on our YouTube channel.2 In February, we formally filed documents to be recognized as a 527 organization. We’re pursuing ballot access in all 50 states — our big initiative right now — and we have it in a few states.
EC: Could you say more about what you learned from the earlier Labor Party, with which Adolph Reed, Jr. was involved?
N: There was a big schism within the former party shortly before its demise. Part of that schism involved willingness to work with the Democratic Party. We don’t want to be a party that shows up every four years, runs a candidate, and then walks away. One thing we learned from Moms for Liberty3 and the Tea Party (2007) was the importance of targeting school boards and county councils — local races where real political change begins. I’m in Dorchester County, South Carolina. When I voted in the 2024 election, I saw that most of the races involved unopposed Republicans, who literally showed up, paid the $100 fee, and were handed a seat. Even if we’re in a red state and Republicans are guaranteed to win, I want them to at least have to defend their views on a debate stage and be present. We also learned that federal elections are great, but we have to caucus with Democrats to have any chance. There’s no way that we can run a candidate who wins in 2028. So we caucus with the Democrats and endorse some of their candidates. We have a strict endorsement process: candidates must be endorsed by a recognized union before we consider them. We help candidates get in contact with and get endorsed by local unions.
EC: You mentioned caucusing and endorsing Democrats. This strategy dates back to the 1960s with Michael Harrington and the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which still upholds it today. What’s the Labor Party’s relationship with the DSA? What lessons have you learned?
N: We have an amicable and strong working relationship with the DSA. The DSA is not an electoral body; they cannot put a candidate on the ballot but can endorse candidates. Often, we have approached the DSA to offer electoral support by giving them access to the ballot through our endorsement process. So it’s more of a local strategy that differs, but almost all our state party chairs work closely with their local DSA organizations. We frame it as not setting up a new table and tell everybody to pull up chairs. We ask for a chair at various tables. I meet people interested in our politics, support them however I can, and when election time comes around, they endorse our candidates.
EC: Is the Labor Party a socialist organization?
N: We have many socialists, but we are not a socialist organization. Socialism cannot exist within the current American political framework. As a political party, we can’t be socialist. We have to make concessions somewhere. We’re a progressive party — that’s the best way to put it. Our 12-point platform borrows language from socialist movements, liberal movements, and the UK Labour Party. We’re progressive. We’re not anti-socialist; I’d say we’re pro-socialist, but we have moderates. It’s a big tent.
EC: Your 12-point program references workers’ power, language borrowed from socialist movements. Politically and economically, what is workers’ power and what does it look like?
N: Workers’ power is the bedrock of most of what we do. Our platform is interim; a full platform will take a year of committee work, debate, and National Executive Committee voting. We don’t expect much to change — more to be added, less taken away. Some issues are tabled for further discussion. Gun ownership is a big one, and it’s very regional. Views in the Southeast differ from those on the West Coast. We’ve had conversations with the New Black Panther Party, who are pro-gun ownership, just like the former Black Panther Party was. We want to ensure all voices are heard. This isn’t an immediate focus. The 12 points are our big non-negotiables and the party’s foundation.
Economically, workers’ power means ensuring the average American worker — the person who labors for a wage — is represented politically. That means giving unions voting power within our organization. Our National Executive Committee is divided into thirds: one-third is the labor-representative caucus, consisting of elected officials from county council to Congress and hopefully the Presidency; one-third is general party members (where I am), including secretaries and committee chairs; the final third is the Labor Inclusion Organization, which requires union membership or leadership. Giving unions a third of the vote on endorsements and policy decisions is step one — the bare minimum. Beyond that, candidates must be union-endorsed before the Party touches them. In South Carolina, a non-union state, things look different regionally. But the big goal is union representation — not just union presidents giving speeches at conventions but actual union members having voting power and discussions.
A major platform goal is overturning Citizens United. Currently, CEOs and upper management have power — not the workers who make the widgets and profits.
EC: Are there other long-term goals besides electoral?
N: The Labor Party is a 527 organization. Long-term, we aim to run federal candidates. We have a member running for Congress, but we won’t run a Presidential candidate in 2028. We may make endorsements. We don’t want to show up every four years. The bigger goal is expanding union and cooperative access. The pipe dream is unionizing every workplace — but that’s unlikely. Even with a pro-union President, it won’t happen everywhere.
Another goal is shifting the political needle Leftward. The Democrats, our Left party, remain Center-moderate — arguably conservative globally. Shifting that needle Left by any means is our political goal. If we endorse a candidate in 2028 who commits to our platform policies, that’s a win — even if the Labor Party isn’t on the ballot or mentioned. If they enact our policies and uphold our vision of a successful society, we consider that a win. So shifting the political needle Left is our political goal, and unionizing is our economic goal. |P
1 See their website at <https://www.votelabor.org/>.
2 See <https://www.youtube.com/@LaborPartyYoutube>; see also their TikTok account at <https://www.tiktok.com/@laborpartytiktok>.
3 Moms for Liberty was founded in 2021.
