That's elitist bullshit. I dont discount the fact that the CP did important things for these unions. But the idea that the CP made the UMWA, for example, is utter nonsense and betrays an elitist point of view (that the workers need a vanguard party to wage struggle). You obviously were not around in West Virginia in the mid to late 70s when the miners were fighting tooth and nail against the mine owners (and even against the UMWA bureaucracy presided by Arnold Miller). They did that without the CPUSA...And had been militantly fighting the bosses for a long time without the CPUSA.
After the 1950s, the CPUSA had virtually no presence in the UMWA. And good riddance. Dont forget that the CP were scabs during WWII when the UMWA decided to strike. Of course they did so under the pretext of the United Front Against Fascism.
In the late 70s some of the groups from the New Communist Movement were involved in the coal strikes. However, they could at best tail the movement.
Thomas
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