The River Valley Democratic Socialists of America is opposed to the widely-reported rent control compromise legislation being considered by the Massachusetts legislature. Based on positive polling and the power of the tenants movement, we believe we will win rent control on the ballot in November. The compromise proposed by some rental control advocates would raise […]

by Gregory Lebens-Higgins

The rapid mechanization of the world has inspired a wealth of fiction with the theme of machines acting without human impulse and beyond human intention. These depictions speak to the real fears of workers confronting their displacement by machines in an unfamiliar world. With the advance of computational intelligence, the threat of sentient machines overtaking humanity is a common feature of movies, including The Terminator (1984), The Matrix (1999), I, Robot (2004),and most recently, Good Luck, Have Fun, Don’t Die (2025).

Does this fear have grounding in reality? Will sentient machines reprogram themselves without the knowledge of their human creators, pursuing tasks for their own ends and actively interfering in human affairs? Or perhaps decide to eliminate humans entirely? Maybe we should just start worshipping our future overlords now to avoid later retribution?

Like the AI of fiction, capitalism seems to self-replicate, expanding and recreating itself on a global scale and sucking all exchange into commodification. Capitalists are propelled by competition to reach new markets and cheaper inputs or be put out of business. In those regions not yet infected by capital, the tools of economic and physical violence do the work of displacing people from their land and creating a propertyless laboring class that must depend on the capitalist system to survive, by selling its labor and purchasing necessities from the market. The surplus value of these transactions accumulates to a wealthy ruling class, structuring class relations:

“Accumulation of wealth at one pole is, therefore, at the same time, accumulation of misery, agony of toil, slavery, ignorance, brutality, mental degradation, at the opposite pole.’ And to expect any other division of the products from the capitalistic mode of production is the same as expecting the electrodes of a battery not to decompose acidulated water, not to liberate oxygen at the positive, hydrogen at the negative pole, so long as they are connected with the battery,” comments Engels (quoting Marx).

Competition results in winners and losers. Resources and power are centralized in a shrinking ruling class, while precarity metastasizes among a surplus population. “Capital grows in one place to a huge mass in a single hand, because it has in another place been lost by many,” says Marx. Even before AI, the incentive to reduce costs meant the replacement of workers by machinery.

Unlike AI, it is clear that capitalism does not have a mind of its own. The individual decisions that maintain the system are made by humans. Capitalism is not a natural state of affairs, but an economic system established by businessmen and bankers to perpetuate their social status. Capitalism does not exist for its own ends, but to profit and empower these capitalists.Challenges to the system, whether from labor solidarity or corporate regulation, are fended off by capitalists protecting their class interests.

The threat of AI exists not in its self-replication, but from a ruling class empowered with tools to discipline labor and increase surveillance (alongside its environmental impact). Computer programs, like traditional machines, do not have independent motivation but serve the interests of their creators. It is not robots who desire to dominate humanity, but Silicon Valley CEOs.

These CEOs hype up the potential of AI in order to encourage investment. The myth of a coming “Artificial General Intelligence” acts in service of the latest tech bubble. Sci-fi scenarios of AI overtaking humanity reinforce these expectations. Meanwhile, the shift in focus to the machines themselves, rather than their capitalist creators, shields the relationship from class analysis.

Those involved in the Luddite movement (1811 – 1817) are often thought of as irrational actors fighting against the inevitable turn of history. Their tactic of machine-breaking is depicted as opposition to all technological advancement. In fact, direct action only followed the exhaustion of legal attempts at redress against their displacement by machinery. Their fight was not against machines, but for survival.

Our understanding of society’s relationship with machines necessitates a class analysis. Who does the machine benefit? Is it designed to meet actual human needs, or primarily to extract additional surplus value? How can the working class take ownership of machines to repurpose them toward the elimination of drudgery? The confrontation is not one of humanity vs. machines, but of class struggle.

The post On Self-Replication in AI and Capitalism first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

The Class podcast interviews an organizer on the importance of bringing a political vision to the pushback against AI data centers.

The post Portland DSA Organizes Against Data Centers appeared first on Democratic Left.

Ahead of Tuesday's elections Democratic Left has published interview with ten DSA candidates on the ballot in New York City.

The post Meet NYC DSA’s 2026 Slate appeared first on Democratic Left.

U.S. Rep. Adriano Espaillat has failed his district as his constituents are priced out. His opponent represents a real challenge to the displacement crisis.

The post Darializa Avila Chevalier Represents the Future of her District appeared first on Democratic Left.

The following remarks were delivered by councilmembers Mary Lupien, Stanley Martin, and Chiara “KeeKee” Smith in explanation of their votes against the proposed budget, which dedicates more than 25% ($160 million) to the Rochester Police Department.

Mary Lupien; East District: I view budgets as moral documents. The staff did a great job putting it together, it’s a lot of work. My not supporting the budget has nothing to do with the amount of work that was put in, it’s the policies and decisions that come from the top. This budget does not go fast enough or far enough, and it does not meet the moment. I recognize that we’re facing a difficult fiscal reality, and that resources are limited, and that hard choices had to be made. But if every department is being asked to tighten its belt, to reduce staffing, and do more more with less, why does that expectation seem to apply to everyone but the Rochester Police Department?

Every year the RPD gets their biggest budget ever. Which, to be honest, doesn’t even matter, because every year they overspend their budget, so they really just get unlimited money. We continue to budget for vacant police positions that have gone unfilled for years, even as other departments that provide direct services to residents are forced to make cuts. We know that nearly half [of] the police department is eligible to retire in the next five years. At some point we have to ask whether budgeting for these positions that we cannot fill, is the best use of our limited dollars.

Meanwhile, we continue to underinvest in violence prevention programs, like Advance Peace, that have already demonstrated success. Pathways to Peace, Advance Peace, and our other non-police interventions, in cooperation with the police department, have helped to significantly reduce violence. Yet we still treat these investments as secondary rather than essential.

And we also continue to underinvest in housing during a housing crisis. Every year that we postpone the investments that would help us repair underlying problems, the challenges grow harder to solve and the costs grow higher.

There are many positive elements in this budget, and I appreciate, again, the work that went into it. But I cannot support a budget that continues to prioritize maintaining the status quo, over making the investments necessary to meet the dire challenges in front of us. 

Stanley Martin, At-Large: So, I’d like to start by saying thank you to the administration, Director Warren, all the different departments that work together to put this budget together. And of course, a huge thank you to our staff, James, Jenn, Dacy, Adrien, Clerk Washington, everyone who helped to this work and who continues to take care of this city.

It’s not surprise what my vote will be tonight. It is going to be a no. As many of my colleagues before me have mentioned, I am deeply concerned with the amount of money we spend on policing. This year, we are spending $190 million on policing. That includes pensions, that includes positions that are vacant with no reasonable expectation to ever fill those positions. To me, it’s hard to understand how in one breath we’re saying we have a budget deficit, we’re struggling to make ends meet; and in the next breath we fund police at the highest amount they have ever been in the history of this city.

My no vote is also because I feel that this budget fails to take care of some of the people who keep us safe. We heard a lot of the issues around safety when it comes to security guards need for certain equipment to feel safe. When I walk into this room and I see security guards around, I feel extremely safe. I see how they de-escalate. And I would like for the folks who are on the front lines to be paid equitably in the same way other departments on the front lines are getting paid.

Finally, it is my deepest hope that within my time on this council, I will see a budget that equitably invests in alternative responses, rent supports, supports for people who simply can’t make ends meet because of inflation and all the other issues we’re seeing in this country. My no vote does not critique, again, any of the important work so many folks in this city are doing. But for me, this budget just fails to meet the majority of the needs of our community. 

Chiara “KeeKee” Smith, At-Large: Like my colleagues, I also want to acknowledge all the great work that everyone in this city does every day to make things run smoothly, especially the work that was done around the budget – Again, Jen, James, Dacy, Adrien, Clerk Washington, and the rest of the staff. Thank you guys so much for being available and for answering questions as needed. Budgets are more than numbers; as Mary said, they are moral documents. And they tell a story of what we value as a city. They show our residents who we invest in, what challenges we are willing to confront, and what kind of future we’re working to build. They are records that will tell stories of what we held important.

I have heard a consistent message from residents across our city. People want safe neighborhoods, but they also want stable housing. They want mental health support for those in crisis. They want opportunities for young people. They want clean neighborhoods. They want violence prevented before it starts. They want us to address the conditions that create crisis, not simply react when someone gets hurt.

When I was running for office, people were not asking for larger police budgets. They were asking why families were struggling to keep a roof over their heads. They were asking why young people lacked positive opportunities. They were asking why neighbors facing mental health challenges have nowhere to turn. They were asking why the same communities continue to carry the heaviest burdens of the city’s drug crisis, while being ignored when they asked for help.

I support public safety and I respect those who have chosen a career in law enforcement. But public safety is bigger than policing. Public safety is when a child has a safe place to sleep; when a family can afford to stay housed; when someone in crisis receives care and support. It begins when young people have access to hope. Residents have been clear – they want greater investment in prevention. They want stronger support for programs like violence prevention initiatives such as the PIC program, such as the Action Team, and trusted community organizations already doing the work of healing, the escalating conflict and supporting families before emergencies happen.

I am also concerned that this budget does not provide a clear path forward for Peace Village, or another meaningful alternative for our unhoused neighbors. Our communities are strained. Residents are frustrated. The people living there deserve dignity, and the surrounding neighborhoods deserve solutions.

As elected officials, our responsibility is not simply to fund systems. It is to listen to the people we serve, especially those whose voices are often overlooked. When I look at this budget through that lens, I cannot support it. I’m asking us to have a broader vision of public safety. One that includes housing, mental health prevention, intervention, and community. One that recognizes enforcement alone cannot solve challenges rooted in poverty, trauma, disinvestment, and a lack of opportunity. I respect those who may vote differently, and I remain committed to working with my colleagues to move Rochester forward. But my first obligation is to the residents who have trusted me with this role, and those whose needs are the greatest. For this reason I will be voting no on this budget. 

* * *

The DSA difference means prioritizing people’s needs over the maintenance of class order and pursuit of profit. Investments in affordable housing, accessible food, and adequate mental health resources are investments in public safety. A better world is possible.

Make a difference with DSA. Join today: dsausa.us/join

The post Why Did Democratic Socialists Vote ‘No’ On Rochester’s Budget? first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

by Rich J.

In a small municipal park at the corner of South and Alexander, there is a statue of city namesake Nathaniel Rochester. The space itself is more of a neighborhood garden, a place where residents hang out, and the bronze statue of Nathaniel Rochester hangs out with you. He is seated, though his legs are a little too long for his body, resting on his cane, and smiling as if at a private joke. It’s a bronze you could imagine sidling up next to and listening to amusing stories of early, rapidly-growing Rochesterville. 

The built environment is our daily background. Our public spaces are places we pass through or hang out in, not regard with deep contemplation. But that very passivity is what makes public symbols so potent. They provide unassuming legitimation for the official history of a place and its extant structures of authority. Nowhere in Nathaniel Square Park will you find mention that Nathaniel Rochester built his town on land recently conquered from the Seneca, or that he did so with the coerced labor of slaves he brought here from Maryland. 

In the port city of Trieste, Italy, in 2019, citizens unveiled their own bronze statue depiction of a thoughtful-looking man. Gabriele D’Annunzio was a modernist poet, still highly regarded in Italian literary circles, and the statue captures that facet of the man. It shows him cross-legged, deeply concentrating on reading an open book, while leaning on a pile of still more books. It is exactly the kind of commemoration one would expect to see of a respected author. 

For the citizens of Rijeka, Croatia, however, Gabriele D’Annunzio’s legacy is not that of a renowned author. It’s that of a fascist occupier. Or, more accurately, if the citizens of Rijeka remember his name at all, they associate him with a fascist occupation. In the opening scenes of Croatian filmmaker Igor Bezinović’s Fiume o Morte!, which screened at the Little Theater earlier this year, he interviews passersby, and most people on the street don’t recognize the name Gabriele D’Annunzio. Determined to reframe the memory of D’Annunzio, Bezinovic sets out to humorously film a historical recreation of the man and his occupation.

In 1919, D’Annunzio led a few hundred demobilized Italian soldiers in a takeover of the disputed former Habsburg city then known as Fiume. Allied negotiators at Versailles had promised the port to the new Yugoslav state, to the chagrin of the city’s powerful Italian minority. The city’s Italians cheered D’Annunzio’s coup and celebrated him as a man of action who would force the Italian government to take on its nationalist responsibility to annex Fiume. For D’Annunzio and the coterie of young adventurers who gathered around him, however, Fiume was to be the revolutionary center of a utopian society of work and art and generative violence.

D’Annunzio was in the orbit of Italy’s fascist movement and, through his Fiume adventure, framed much of fascism’s aesthetics. Photographers thoroughly documented his 15-month occupation, and the imagery they produced was largely of shirtless young men posing heroically and brandishing weapons. This bravado performance of masculinity was an explicit critique of bourgeois liberalism, which they saw as effete and degenerate. Only strong men, willing to use force, could regenerate the insipid culture of the bourgeoisie.

The images of D’Annunzio and his followers are easy to mock. Bezinovic cheekily restages their historical photographs as filmed tableaux with amateur local actors. He casts a series of men to portray D’Annunzio himself mock-heroically in his uniform, giving speeches, throwing orgies, and working on his poetic constitution. The director’s only criteria for casting his seven D’Annunzios is that they be bald and middle-aged.  The effect is to enunciate the buffoonish character of the whole cocaine-fueled occupation. D’Annunzio’s self-conceived heroism dissolves into the ordinary, the boring, the common.

And here the subversive memory-making at the heart of Fiume o Morte succeeds in its goal. The fascists who followed D’Annunzio imagined themselves as supermen bending the world to their will. A few shells from an Italian battleship ended their whole Fiume adventure. Its participants went on to another project to bend the world to their will. A couple of meathooks in a town square ended their Italian fascist project. But, given the continued popularity of D’Annunzio, whose palace is a well-attended tourist attraction in Italy, it is evident that the fascists refuse to remember their failures. In Fiume o Morte!, with its unapologetic lowbrow approach, making art with and by normal Croatian people, Bezinovic makes an antifascist movie about fascist failure. D’Annunzio would have hated it. 

The post Fiume o Morte: Anti-Fascist Memory Making first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

Foreign atrocities and domestic repression share a common racist logic. Movements that recognize the connection may be best positioned to resist both.

The post Trump’s Wars, Foreign and Domestic, Extend a Long Imperial History appeared first on Democratic Left.

The private jets, limousines, and tanned vacationers coursing through Atlantic Aviation’s exclusive lot mask a grim reality. Every Tuesday and Friday, the private company facilitates the transportation of residents detained by Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) in and out of Las Vegas. They sometimes come, and sometimes go, chained at the wrists, waist, and feet, shuffling single file between white caged-windowed buses and unmarked aircraft supplied by major commercial airlines.

The members of Las Vegas Democratic Socialists of America (LVDSA) demand that Atlantic Aviation terminate contracts with DHS and immediately end its participation in these flights. With support from the Habeas Flight Watch Network, LVDSA’s Abolish ICE Campaign is taking steps to ensure they do. LVDSA is conducting habeas flight watches and hosting a National Day of Protest against Atlantic Aviation on June 27th.

Located at Harry Reid International Airport, Atlantic Aviation reserves its runways and hangars for the luxury jet set. No doubt, the private company enjoyed a boost in positive press when Taylor Swift chose to park her private jet at Atlantic upon breezing into town to celebrate Travis Kelce’s Super Bowl LVII victory. Today, the company promises to whisk World Cup spectators to games in style, offering gourmet in-flight dining and wrap-around concierge services. Unsurprisingly, it does not flaunt its frequent flying of ICE victims among its first-class services.

While Atlantic Aviation caters to celebrities and sports pros to rake in profits, they are also fattening their bottom line on the injustices our neighbors suffer. People are rounded up based on their skin color, language, and clothing, exploited by the city’s shady 287(g) agreement, and targeted by Flock AI mass-surveillance technology. Denied due process, they are deliberately displaced in the expanding network of concentration camps and the routes that connect them. We are taking action for the victims, their families, and the attorneys who are unable to secure their clients’ habeas rights.

A team of flight watchers from LVDSA and the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) meets outside Atlantic’s runways with cameras, documenting the arrival and departure of ICE victims. The goal is to capture footage of the individuals getting on and off buses and planes— their faces, clothing, and shoes—so that their families and lawyers might find them. A Habeas Flight Watch Network volunteer flight dispatcher keeps the team notified of the ETAs for Las Vegas-bound ICE flights, and, just like commercial flights, these schedules are subject to frustrating last-minute changes.

Friday, June 12th, is no exception. At 6:44 am, our Las Vegas flight watch team receives an ETA from the dispatch: today’s flight arrives from Fort Hood via Reno on a Canadair CRJ-200 operated by Air Wisconsin; it’s scheduled to land at 12:22 pm. We set up early in case the plane arrives ahead of schedule, which happens. Stationed outside the Atlantic Aviation fence with cameras and tripods, we learn the flight is delayed until 12:51, then 1:13. It is now over 100 degrees.

Buffy Taylor, a member of PSL, sighs and walks under a tiny tree in the lot’s perimeter for a sliver of shade.  She’d arrived on her bike, a duffel bag containing several ice-cold water bottles and her Canon T7 strapped over her shoulder. “I’ve been tracking and photographing planes for years as a hobby, and I figured I could help people find their family or friends and expose the illegal actions of the government,” she explains. “Put my skills to good use.” By the time the team receives their final status update – ETA 1:21 pm – their phones are overheating, and Taylor’s waters are hot to the touch.

As with other Las Vegas ICE-related activity, the arrival of the ICE plane is quiet and understated. Our team learns it has touched down on Atlantic Aviation’s Runway 19, the same one used to welcome visiting celebrities. Moments later, a dull gray aircraft, serial number N455AW, devoid of any colors or logos except a tiny US flag, rolls toward us before turning slightly to let a taxiing private jet by. We can’t believe our luck– we now have a clear view of the plane’s stairway, the white prison bus, and the stretch of pavement between them.

When its doors open, four men in neon vests spring to action, neatly setting about 20 bright orange bundles in a row on the ground.  “Prison jump suits?” I ask Taylor.

“Nope, their personal belongings.”

Uncertain whether people are held prisoner on the plane, on the bus, or both, and seeing no movement from either, we focus on the four yellow-vested staff bustling about, bounding up and down the airplane stairs. Are they Atlantic ground crew? ICE agents? They eventually form an assembly line between the bus door and the plane’s stairway. Finally, the victims step off the bus, stooped and resigned, shackled at the wrists and feet, a long chain linking them at the waist.

Taylor abandons her tripod and darts around on foot, zooming in on captives, as I dictate a physical description of each man boarding the plane after he is frisked from head to toe. Twenty-two in all, mostly young, 20s and 30s, though one man appears to be old, perhaps in his 70s. Once the last has boarded, a pilot inspects the plane’s exterior as the caged-windowed bus slowly drives off the tarmac. We wonder about the victims, whether they’ve eaten or used the bathroom, and what they must be thinking.

As we spot the white bus exiting Atlantic’s parking lot, Taylor sprints, zigzagging through parked cars, and snaps photos of the bus’s driver and license plate. “It’s astonishing how many people have to be complicit for this to happen,” observes Audrey Hines, a co-steward for LVDSA’s Abolish ICE Campaign.

Not all habeas flight watches are this successful. Some sessions have yielded pictures of the plane or bus—still helpful—but no people. Other times, planes and utility vehicles have arrived unexpectedly, suddenly blocking the view. Organizers leave hot and exhausted, but determined to catch useful images on the next one. “Each new flight watch has the potential to help even one person, help one family be reunited, so it is so worth it,” says Hines.

“Even if we don’t have the best shot, we keep trying— you kind of feel like a spy,” adds 19-year-old Mikey LaFrambois, a lead organizer in UNLV’s Young Democratic Socialists of America.

Hopefully, these ICE flight watches won’t last too long. On Saturday, June 27th, at 6 pm, LVDSA is joining the National Day of Protest against Atlantic Aviation and other airlines abetting ICE activity. We are hosting a protest outside Atlantic Aviation, in a united demand that they cancel their contracts with DHS and the federal government. We stand in solidarity with cities around the country that are speaking up. We salute Dallas, a World Cup host city whose organizers and faith leaders are taking Atlantic Aviation to task for courting wealthy ticket holders while preying on the powerless. As Rev. Neil Thomas, lead pastor of Cathedral of Hope, noted on June 10, 2026:

As people arrive for the World Cup and other major events, we will proudly showcase our city as a place of hospitality and opportunity. Yet, at the very same time, through these very same airports, on these very same streets, within sight of celebrations, immigrant members of our community are being removed from their homes and families. This contradiction forces us to ask difficult but necessary questions about who we are as a city.

Atlantic Aviation caters to the indulgences and excesses of billionaires while actively participating in and profiting from the crimes against our neighbors. All professional athletes, celebrities, and customers using Atlantic Aviation’s services are part of the problem. Pilots transporting victims of ICE arrests, ground staff loading cargo —all are agents in perpetuating this nightmare.

In solidarity with local immigrant rights efforts, we urge readers to demand that Atlantic Aviation terminate these inhumane flights. This company will be held accountable for its actions.

 

By Jill Glass, LVDSA Abolish ICE Campaign Co-Steward

Images by Buffy Taylor @buffysphotographs 

 

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References

American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada. (2026, April 8). ACLU of Nevada files notice of appeal to continue challenge of LVMPD 287(g) agreement with ICE. https://www.aclunv.org/press-releases/aclu-of-nevada-files-notice-of-appeal-to-continue-challenge-of-lvmpd-287g-agreement-with-ice/

American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin. (2026, April 2). Racial profiling rampant after Supreme Court ruling. https://www.aclu-wi.org/news/racial-profiling-rampant-after-supreme-court-ruling/

Atlantic Aviation. (2026, June). World Cup. https://www.atlanticaviation.com/world-cup/

Balas, R. (2026, January 17). Inside Taylor Swift’s $54M Dassault Falcon 7X: 2026 Eras Tour & flight tracking controversy. The Flying Engineer. https://theflyingengineer.com/taylor-swifts-private-jet-inside-look/

Immigration Policy Tracking Project. (2025, April 8). Reported: ICE contracts with commercial airlines to facilitate deportation flights. https://immpolicytracking.org/policies/reported-ice-contracts-with-commercial-airlines-to-facilitate-deportation-flights/

Instagram. (2025). Post by @habeasflightwatch [Instagram post]. https://www.instagram.com/p/DYXLGP7AI7E/

Lexington Alarm. (2026). Habeas Flight Watch. https://lexingtonalarm.org/habeas-flight-watch/

Schilken, C. (2024, February 9). Will Taylor Swift be able to park a private jet for Super Bowl? Vegas airports are full. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/sports/story/2024-02-09/super-bowl-private-jets-parking-las-vegas-airports-49ers-chiefs-taylor-swift

Velotta, R. N. (2016, May 18). Jet Suite to offer luxury travel between California and Las Vegas. Las Vegas Review-Journal. https://www.reviewjournal.com/business/jet-suite-to-offer-luxury-travel-between-california-and-las-vegas/

ICE takes 240 from Clark County jail under new pact; ACLU fights deal. (2026, March 11). Las Vegas Review-Journal. https://www.reviewjournal.com/local/local-las-vegas/ice-takes-240-from-clark-county-jail-under-new-pact-aclu-fights-deal-372339

By: Chris Brady

SOMERVILLE – On May 20, Somerville Mayor Jake Wilson joined the Greater Boston Labor Council (GBLC) for their municipal legislative breakfast at the Somerville Armory. There, he gave a speech supporting unions. 

Somerville worker Kate Bossingham testified during a May 28 City Council meeting that after the breakfast, which was presumably paid for with GBLC workers’ union dues, Wilson returned to City Hall to join a layoffs meeting with members of Somerville Workers United (SWU). According to Bossingham, two days later, Wilson notified the City that layoffs had been completed. Thirteen workers were laid off, a majority of which came from the city’s Health and Human Services Department, while sixteen vacant roles were cut.

Two unions stand as both survivor and bulwark of resistance against the mayor’s austerity. Somerville city workers are split in representation between Somerville Municipal Employees Union (SMEU) and recently organized Somerville Workers United (SWU) – AFSCME 93. Both unions are fighting for contracts with SWU fights for management recognition. Even as the mayor cuts union workers, the city has enlisted former Massachusetts AFL-CIO President Steve Tolman to assist with negotiations.

“I cannot say strongly enough that we cut positions, not people,” Wilson said in a statement, citing a $5.4 million budget deficit for the move.

The mayor may cut positions, but it was people with positions who lost their jobs: stability, future, even food on the table.

“We don’t disappear on people” – until we do

Emily Mayernik, a licensed mental health counselor for the city, was in one of those positions cut by the mayor’s decree. In that role, Mayernik indicated to Working Mass, she provided support and community programming to children and families in the social services team. 

“I worked with immigrant families. I worked with people experiencing major mental health concerns,” said Mayernik. “I worked with vulnerable people.”

Mayernik was a SMEU member. The process for layoffs, as she understood, was that the city must notify the union before a layoff of a bargaining unit member. A negotiation process would follow; staffing cuts generally adhere to processes outlined in the collective bargaining agreement (CBA).

According to Mayernik, normal procedure was not followed. The city laid off an SMEU colleague on May 20 and notified SMEU only on May 21, the day after, while at the same time informing the union that Mayernik would be laid off the next day. Mayernik reports that SMEU sent a cease and desist letter to the city – which was ignored. 

Mayernik was informed on Thursday morning to report to HR that afternoon, where she was dismissed. Despite her requests for time to close out her work, Mayernik said she was forced to go home immediately after that meeting, even though she still had active cases and patients relying on her.

“This is really unethical,” Mayernik said, arguing that the goodbye process is essential given the vulnerable populations that she served. 

“We don’t disappear on people. That’s not acceptable behavior.”

She clarified that she did not object to the layoff itself, but specifically the rushed process and norm-breaking ‘ghosting’ that is tantamount to malpractice in her profession. Mayernik believes this endangered some of Somerville’s most vulnerable people.

 “I just disappeared.”

Equity professionals were also caught in the mayor’s crosshairs. Luis Q, previously a Strategic Planning and Equity Manager with the city and a worker-organizer with SWU hired during the administration of Ballantyne, was among the laid off. It is unclear if his occupation, with DEI initiatives entering the culture war, or work with SWU contributed to his layoff.

SWU not yet recognized

Back at the breakfast of the Greater Boston Labor Council, according to Somerville sustainability planner Josh Eckert-Lee, the mayor told a SWU organizer he was “excited to meet with [them].”

Wilson had ignored the previous two requests to meet with SWU, effectively dodging requests for voluntary recognition of the nascent union. Later that same day, Wilson initiated layoffs, which included three organizing committee or core organizers of SWU. 

Eckert-Lee argued that “a fair amount of these layoffs could absolutely be seen as retaliatory.” 

Somerville City Council voted unanimously to recommend endorsing voluntary recognition of SWU at the May 28 meeting.

Eckert-Lee believes that Wilson enjoys the clout associated with speaking highly of labor, but “when it comes time to walk the walk,” the mayor found it easier to cut people, particularly those with more ‘controversial’ roles like Luis’s. 

In a statement to Working Mass, Wilson said he met with SWU in late May. The mayor cited competing union petitions filed with the Massachusetts Department of Labor Relations (DLR) as the reason he has not yet granted voluntary recognition:

There are currently open petitions filed with the DLR by two unions claiming the right to represent some of the positions involved here. In this situation, we’re required by law to remain neutral as to which union should ultimately represent these employees.

Wilson added that once the DLR resolves the representation questions, meaning SMEU and SWU, the city will engage with workers and their designated representative. Eckert-Lee indicated, regarding the DLR decision, that “this is all new and being actively sorted.”

But the request for the Mayor to meet with workers remains.

The mayor’s comments neglect that his administration has agency outside of deferring to legal bureaucratic institutions, or that it is fairly common for workers to dual-card across multiple unions, meaning a focus on this distinction is avoidance of actual action – like voluntary recognition.

Eckert-Lee said:

We’re organizing because we want to serve the city well. It becomes much harder to do that when we have no agency in advocating for ourselves.

There will be more layoffs in three months, workers believe. In the coming weeks of budget management, and coming days of negotiations with SWU, the mayor has a choice. Will Jake Wilson continue to smile at one labor crowd while cutting the other? Will Jake Wilson actually support the workers he champions to the GBLC or continue his anti-labor austerity till held accountable? 

Chris Brady is a member of Boston DSA and an editor of Working Mass.

The post The Wilson Cuts: Somerville Mayor Lays Off Union Organizers, ‘Disappears’ Mental Health Counselors appeared first on Working Mass.