Committee for a Communist Labor Party of the United States Code of Conduct
Published: June 28, 2025
Preface:
The Committee for a Communist Labor Party of the United States is committed to facilitating a safe and productive revolutionary environment for all of its members, as well as the workers that we interact with. Our strength as an organization lies not only in our commitment to socialism and revolutionary politics, but also in the way that we relate to one another as comrades, workers, and humans with needs. It therefore follows that we have an ethical obligation to maintain the highest standard of respect, discipline, and mutual solidarity within our ranks.
This Code of Conduct is intended to articulate clear standards of behavior from all of our members to facilitate democratic, accountable, and constructive behavior among our membership. These standards are to apply to all aspects of organizational life, from internal relations, our decision making processes, and how we represent the values of this organization in the public sphere.
While we encourage and even welcome freedom and discussion and constructive criticism. However behaviors which disrupt our democratic process, sow division, encourage hatred and bigotry, or compromise working-class principles of human dignity will not be tolerated within the Committee for a Communist Labor Party.
This Code of Conduct is meant to be a living document that is periodically updated in the course of our struggle. It is designed to provide a framework within which members can work towards our shared goals in a way that strengthens our organization and advances the interests of the working class.
As we move forward together, let us remain resolute in our conviction that our actions and our struggle will be reflected in the world we are working to create.
Section One: Respect and Dignity
Article 1: Members are prohibited from engaging in intimidation, abuse, or harassment.
Article 2: Members are prohibited from engaging in abusive language, bullying, or public shaming towards workers or other members. This includes issues arising from political disagreement.
Article 3: Members are prohibited from engaging in hate speech, discrimination, or bigotry on the basis of race, ethnicity, nationality, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability, or creed.
Section Two: Sexual Harassment and Boundaries
Article 1: Members are prohibited from making unwelcome sexual or advancements, gestures, or comments. An inappropriate advance, gesture, or comment is defined here as an advance which violates explicit or implicit consent.
Article 2: Any form of coercion or manipulation to gain sexual favors is prohibited.
Article 3: Nepotism based on romantic or sexual relationships within the organization is prohibited.
Article 4: Romantic or sexual relationships between members in positions of authority (eg. Delegates, representatives, etc) and those they direct and represent is strongly discouraged. If a member is in an intimate relationship with someone holding a position of authority, or vice versa, they have an obligation to disclose this relationship to the organization.
Article 5: Any form of inappropriate touching that violates personal boundaries is prohibited.
Article 6: Making jokes, remarks, or gestures of a sexual nature that create an uncomfortable environment is prohibited, especially when in the presence of minors. A minor is defined here as an individual under the age of eighteen.
Section Three: Sabotage and Manipulation
Article 1: Members are expected to behave in a reasonable manner and not incite undue paranoia or concern.
Article 2: Attempting to sow divisions between comrades and working class allies is prohibited.
Article 3: Engaging in behavior which directly impedes the functioning of the organization, such as introducing needless bureaucratism and formalism.
Article 4: Partaking in other disruptive behaviors details in the CIA Simple Sabotage Field Manual. Including:
Pushing for proposals to waste time and stall productive work. For instance, repeatedly attempting to revisit decided resolutions without providing new relevant information or arguments warranting re-discussion.
“Insist on doing everything through ‘channels.’ Never permit short-cuts to be taken in order to expedite decisions.”
Speak in an overly-detailed manner about trivial details which are of little meaning to the organization.
“‘Misunderstand’ orders. Ask endless questions or engage in long correspondence about such orders. Quibble over them when you can.”
OrPushing through contentious resolutions within the organization without proper time for free and fair discussion and consensus-building to occur.
Article 5: Creating secretive factions to undermine our democratic unity is strictly prohibited. This refers to attempts to seize control or authority through manipulation, secret cliques, or personal leadership cults that undermine our democratic process.
Section Three: Accountability and Reporting
Article 1: All reports and proposals made which target particular members must be grounded in solid evidence and made accessible to all involved parties.
Article 2: Excessive self-promotion and vanity is not permitted in organizational channels.
Article 3: In the event of accusations of sexual harassment or abuse, the accused member is to be placed on temporary suspension from the organization, and separated from the potential victim, until an internal investigation to determine their guilt or innocence occurs. If found guilty of intentionally or grosely violating consent, members are to be permanently expelled from the organization and blacklisted from all organizational events, activities, projects, publications, etc.
Article 4: All decisions made by delegates or administrators within the organization must be transparent, with clear written reasoning for why the decision was made and how it is consistent with the political line and aims of the organization.
Article 5: Delegates must consult their constituents before making major decisions. Further, Delegates may not decide upon policy independently of the people they represent and are required to facilitate a vote if consensus on an issue cannot be reached after a reasonable discussion period.
Section Four: Conduct Beyond the Organization
Article 1: Members of the Committee for a Communist Labor Party are considered to be representatives of the whole Living Marxism project and must act accordingly in public. This means practicing respect and dignity even outside of the organization.
Article 2: When acting as a representative or on behalf of the CCLP, members are expected to adhere to the established positions of the organization. When a member’s personal views are distinct from that of the broader organization, they are expected to clarify that their views are their own, and not the positions of the organization.
Article 3: Healthy debate and constructive criticism within and outside the organization is encouraged. However members are expected to express differing views in a way that encourages growth, understanding, and mutual development. When engaging with workers, you are expected to meet them at their level and address their concerns in a productive and empathetic manner, not to impose your presuppositions on them or engage in confrontational arguments.
Article 4: When a worker presents you with a new argument or information that shakes your belief in the established positions of the organization, it is acceptable to concede the point or admit what you do not know. However, when this occurs you are encouraged to share that argument or information with the organization for the purpose of improving our official political line, so that our official positions can be investigated, cross-examined, and re-evaluated by the collective of the organization.
Article 5: Cordial, voluntary relations with enemies of the working class (fascists, reactionaries, terrorists, etc.) are not allowed. This does not include those working-class people who are misinformed or misled but can be swayed from those harmful behaviors.
Article 6: Dual-membership within mass organizations (e.g. Democratic Socialists of America, the Green Party, Food Not Bombs, etc.) is allowed and even encouraged. Dual-membership with revisionist parties (e.g. the Communist Party of the U.S.A., the Party for Socialism and Liberation, the Workers World Party, etc.) must be handled and approved on a case-by-case basis.
Section Five: Member Expectations
Article 1: Members of the Committee for a Communist Labor Organization must uphold the frameworks of dialectical and historical materialism, and the centrality of class struggle to historical development in the context of class society, and the transition from capitalism to socialism.
Article 2: All members must be at least 18 years of age and live in the United States.
Article 3: All members must be productive in the organization in some way, including: writing articles for the Living Marxism journal, engaging in the Communist Labor Academy, performing local organizing, etc. Failure to be productive without a valid reason is grounds for expulsion.
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