Marxism is a good ideology if you want to stay in power and radically transform a society and economy. That kind of revolutionary transformative power also means huge mistakes are in store as well. Sure the workers remained fed by taking away the food from the peasants and causing famines. See the Holodomor and cultural revolution for examples.
Some of the socialist planned economies made big progress initially industrializing, providing education, and health care. They hit a wall at some point though.
Have you looked at the newly independent countries from decolonization in Africa and elsewhere? How did they fare compared to others?
You act as if unions and labor movements are unheard of in liberal capitalist countries. Their activities and the higher overall economic prosperity lead to workers in the west being overall better off than in the socialist block.