ACP Washington

ACP Washington celebrated Victory Day with the local Russian community in Seattle with the laying of flowers at the Garden of Remembrance. In the evening, chapter members helped set up the main event and joined in the performances of the songs: Katyusha, Smuglianka, and Cossacks in Berlin.

Last week, ACP Washington went north to help an elderly Elwha tribal member needing to move closer to the tribe to be taken care of but not having the resources or ability to rip out and install new a sink or remove old large lawn pieces. Comrades volunteered their time and labor to help and made further ties with other members of the tribe who also need a helping hand around the reservation. We had been told that a small number of activist groups have come to these areas to provide volunteer work in the past only to leave the work unfinished or not started. When Communists volunteer their time, they stick to their word.

On March 23rd, ACP Washington set up a table near the only Lenin statue in United States. Coming with questions and education, members of the chapter spoke to various passing people on the war and who benefits from it, conditions in America, and Communism. Whether people in Fremont stayed and talked or simply walked by, we took their votes on their support for the war. Just as it was in Spokane, American opinions have not changed. They are tired of war, they are tired of the ruling class pulling the country deeper into a quagmire, and they know the duopoly isn't going to fix anything. We presented to the only real alternative: The American Communist Party.

Truckers make America run. Without truckers, nothing we use in everyday life would function or be convenient. Everything we take for granted in America is maintained on the back of truckers and their hard work. At the Port of Houston, and across America, truckers are being misclassified as "independent contractors", both by large companies who actually own all the trucks, as well as by the local operating authority. In reality, they should be paid for all hours worked, with benefits and days off just like any other blue collar worker in this country. By being classified as "owner operators", these large greedy companies can get away with giving hard-working truckers crumbs while they keep all the profits for themselves. ACP has been going to ports across the country for months now, including in Houston, to organize truckers and help them get organized labor power so they finally claim a voice at the table. One way to do this is for truckers to have a co-op they own and run themselves, giving them leverage to negotiate how much they get paid. For this reason, truckers across the country are signing up to build the Intermodal Draymen Association (IDA). If you are a trucker, consider starting a committee in your port, getting organized, joining a union, or signing up for the IDA to own your own work. Learn more at idatruckers.com

Florida ACP members joined REAL and community members on March 28 in Tampa for an Emergency Casualty Care training focused on real-world response. Cadre and recruits learned critical lifesaving skills, including stopping traumatic bleeding, wound packing, tourniquet use, and treating sucking chest gunshot wounds. The training culminated in two high-pressure, instructor-led scenarios where each attendee applied these skills individually in a simulated casualty situation, emphasizing situational awareness and triage under stress.

ACP Michigan met UAW members in Three Rivers last week through our tornado relief work. Now we are standing with them as they prepare to strike at American Axle.

ACP Washington got together and conducted a hike northeast of Mount Vernon where the Pacific Northwest Trail begins to weave through the lower foothills of the North Cascades. Part fitness and part topography exercise, ACP Washington plans to make farther excursions into the North Cascades and the PNT as a means of understanding the terrain and trail environment when crossing from western to eastern Washington.

ACP Ontario cadre went undercover to ask Iranian monarchists in Toronto what they thought of this war. Despite telling us that they'd like to see Canadians die for regime change in Iran, none of those we found were themselves members of the Canadian Armed Forces. Curious 🤔

WAKEFIELD, MA: On March 28, ACP Mass joined Teamsters Local 3 on strike at a Smurfit Westrock corrugated paper plant, bringing Dunkin’ coffee and donuts to the line. These 60 workers are fighting for higher wages, affordable healthcare, and no cuts to retirement. The company has refused to negotiate, and now plans to close the plant in May. Since a 2024 merger, the Ireland-based Smurfit Westrock corporation has laid off over 4,600 plant workers from California to Quebec in the name of “optimization." While the Fed's higher interest rates have made the merger's debt payments more expensive, shareholders still demand higher returns, and the result is dramatic, anti-human cost-cutting. Real economic optimization isn't shutting down productive assets and leaving people without work on a financial whim. It would be giving the workers the right of first refusal, public investment in infrastructure to lower the cost of manufacturing, building resilient, locally-based supply chains, and using automation to create free time for workers rather than unemployment. In the face of this threat, the Teamsters aren’t backing down. They’re ready to strike through to the summer to defend their livelihoods, and the ACP is ready to stand with them.

What does it look like to actually clean up your neighborhood? We started by clearing trash from the busy bus stops, and a few young people passing by stepped in to help. We also spoke with a local Army veteran who now works at Amazon, briefly talking about current events and how they affect people here at home. Then we moved to a recently cleared homeless encampment that had been left in unsafe conditions. We removed buckets of human waste, collected used needles, and hauled away a massive amount of trash.

ACP Washington conducted a safety and training workshop for the chapter to hone skills and safely learn to use new or unfamiliar firearms with calibers ranging from 9mm, .45 ACP, and .223. As Washington State continues its bipartisan assault on the Second Amendment and Washingtonians ability to exercise it, we believe now is no better time to responsibly train and understand why 2A rights are foundational to American rights and liberties.

On February 2, our comrade Joe Herosy attended a meeting of the Quincy city council and spoke out in the interests of renters and longtime city residents against rising housing costs. This was the first city council meeting in years with an open forum for residents to speak. Last year, a slate of liberal candidates swept the city council elections on an anti-corruption platform critical of seven-term mayor Tom Koch and his cronies on the council, who voted to raise his and their own salaries by 79% in 2024. 20 years ago, the average two-bedroom apartment in Quincy went for $1,250 a month. Today, that same apartment would cost a couple over $2,600 a month. Home prices have more than doubled. Meanwhile, median income has increased just 14% since 2010. During the same time, Quincy city government has given tax breaks and subsidies to developers and holding companies that displace longtime residents with highly-paid professionals and turn homes into expensive financial assets. We Communists say that houses are for people to live in, not for landlords and conglomerates to get rich off of. Comrade Joe proposed the formation of a tribune of the people, a citizens’ commission made up of working-class residents themselves, to collect resident grievances and develop solutions. If the new city council is interested in a government that defends the people of Quincy from corrupt, private interests, it’s up to them to listen to the people’s needs and deliver for them.

On MLK Day, ACP Washington went back to the town of Hamilton and helped clean and pick up much of the large debris and unsalvageable items that still remained piled around the area. Hamilton is doing its best to rebuild after the historic floods and the toll is noticeable, but ACP Washington will keep stepping up to help where we can.

On Saturday, ACP Washington joined the anti-war protests in Seattle to stand in solidarity with those who categorically condemn the imperialist aggression against the Bolivarian republic of Venezuela, its people, and its leader Nicolás Maduro.

While families in Prince George’s, Frederick, Montgomery, and across the state are already squeezed by rising electricity costs, billion-dollar companies want new transmission lines and power capacity built around their profits—not our communities.

Recently, cadre of the Florida chapter of the American Communist Party organized a skills-building camping trip in the Everglades. The purpose was to strengthen comrades' resilience and foster collective problem-solving by learning to adapt to Florida's demanding subtropical environment, navigating humidity, and rugged terrain. This hands-on practice in discomfort builds the practical fortitude for sustained political organizing. We must be strong in both mind and body. If you are ready to strengthen yourself and fight for Americas future JOIN NOW at acp.us/join

Washington Chapter launched an initial investigation across the Skagit floodplain a week prior before the weather soured and waters rose again. Members visited the flooded areas of Mt. Vernon, Burlington, Sedro-Woolly, Lyman, Clearwater, and Hamilton to determine a best course of action, where best to use our resources and labor, and which towns were likely going to be left behind as cleanup began.

After conducting an investigation in the areas most afflicted by the Skagit river, ACP Washington mobilized for clean up efforts in Hamilton, WA in the wake of historic flooding across the western side of the state. Homes, transport, livelihoods, and more had been washed away or damaged as the water rose high enough to touch roofs. As the bigger towns and cities received almost all of the aid and help, small towns like Hamilton are often forgotten about in the wake of devastating natural disasters. As Chapter members cleaned away debris from people's properties, we saw and experienced firsthand the determination of the people of Hamilton to rebuild their lives after such a destructive event. They are an inspiration to us in the spirit resilience and perseverance.

ACP Washington recognizes the tragedy of Hurricane Melissa and its devastating impacts on the neighboring people of Jamaica. We are proud to help our local Jamaican community in their humanitarian aid drive to ship clothes, medical supplies, food, and more to Jamaica. The Jamaican people and the American people share a common ethos and spirit: "Out of many, One People". We salute the Jamaican people in their efforts to rebuild their country in the aftermath of Melissa and will lend a helping hand where needed.