The first session for 2025 of the Harry Bridges School of Labor covers the Plumb Plan, which proposed public ownership of the railroads after World War I. To follow up on our class on The Case For Public Rail, we will look at the history of public rail in the United States. We will discuss the conditions in the railroads in the early 1900s and the nationalization during World War I, as well as the Plumb Plan and its evolution into an attempt at Independent Political Action in the labor movement.
The Harry Bridges School of Labor aims to educate the workers of America on the strength of unions and to foster a class-conscious workforce through Labor United Educational League. We aim to connect the struggles of the past with the struggles of today to empower the labor movement to transform from their present hopeless defensive fight into an aggressive attack upon Capital. We plan to empower workers with knowledge regardless of industry or type of work, bringing all workers to a class-oriented trade union movement.