INDEPENDENT LABOR CLUB COLUMBIA RIVER
Who We Are
The Columbia River Independent Labor Club (CR-ILC) aims to support the interests of and create social activities with working-class people in our community. We hope to create a context where people can meet, engage in community, explore and expand skill sets and eventually embark on projects together. There are no political requirements aside from engaging with the principles of liberty, equality, and solidarity. We expect common decency and respect between participants.
This is not an organization dedicated to activism. We won’t be engaging in electoral politics, while recognizing that political activity is not limited to electoral politics. We think such work is important, it’s just not our focus. The aim is to establish social activities that build connections that support a working class coalition.
CR-ILC is a leftist project. We believe in egalitarian human freedom and self-determination. The CR-ILC see leftist history as one of many failures, and intends to engage with that history with honesty and humility. We hope to turn this past into a strength and insist on humility in our approach.
The ILC is a class project. We are informed by the knowledge and experience within the working-class. There are many divisions within the working class and they cannot be merely ignored in the name of class unity. Building working class solidarity requires understanding that we can respect each other as individuals who have their own history, and are not simply abstracted social categories. We learn from each other, even when we disagree.
The CR-ILC is part of a larger labor club project with participants primarily in the United States. Local clubs enjoy a reasonable amount of autonomy, and the nature of the organization is still in development. Current members have tried to achieve some consensus over the nature and direction of the local chapter, and relate to the national grouping in a variety of ways. We are actively looking for participation and most of our activities will be open to nonmembers. If you are interested in membership, please reach out.