COLUMBUS — The Columbus chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) issues the following recommendations to residents of Columbus.

1. In For Issue 1, YES.
2. In For Columbus School Board, vote MOUNIR LYNCH.
3. In For Columbus City Council, district 7, vote JESSE VOGEL.

A detailed rationale for each recommendation follows.

Disclaimer: No recommendations made here are endorsements. These recommendations are tactical considerations meant to minimize the harm likely to occur to the working class here and abroad as a result of this election.

Do you lament the lack of socialist, abolitionist, anti-ICE and pro-BDS candidates running for office? You can be a part of changing that, whether by running for office yourself or helping us to discover and cultivate future socialists-in-office. To advance the democratic socialist movement in Central Ohio, join DSA today: www.columbusdsa.org/join/.

Endorsement for Columbus School Board

Mounir Lynch

Columbus DSA is proud to endorse Mounir Lynch for Columbus School Board. Lynch sought our chapter’s endorsement and was thereafter endorsed by a democratic vote of the chapter. From our conversations with him, Lynch has demonstrated that he shares our ideals. He will seek to prioritize community voices, students, families, educators, and neighbors in shaping schools with transparent processes and district-wide advisory boards that will meet at convenient times and locations.  He wants to make teachers and staff “partners” with the board and will work to direct resources where they’re most needed. He wants to end the inequality in funding to schools and will work to provide all students with a world-class education. Lynch will fight for better pay, not only for teachers, but for all staff, including school bus drivers, cafeteria workers, aides and other support staff. Furthermore, Lynch has and will continue to speak out against developers who steal from our schools through tax abatements, and against the privatization of education. As he has said, “Our public schools belong to all of us.” We support Lynch’s vision for safe, inclusive schools where all students and workers are valued and respected.

Recommendation for Columbus City Council, district 7

Jesse Vogel

Columbus’s City Council has been bought and paid for by the local Democratic Party for decades. The local party has opposed efforts to make the process of electing councilmembers more democratic and has insisted on appointing or endorsing their own chosen candidates to maintain their hold on power in Columbus. (Our chapter’s Democracy in Columbus Priority Campaign seeks to change this.) Jesse Vogel’s campaign is part of the struggle against the established Democratic Party’s stranglehold on power in this city. Vogel’s vision is positive and certainly superior to the vision offered by the local Democratic Party leaders and his opponent, Tiara Ross. Vogel has not sought our chapter’s endorsement, and we are not granting it. But we do acknowledge that he is far superior to his Democratic Party endorsed opponent, and as a result, we recommend that our members vote for Jesse Vogel for city council. 

Recommend “Yes” vote for Issue 1

We recommend a Yes vote on Issue 1, a .05-mill increase of an existing levy over ten years to fund the Alcohol, Drug and Mental Health (ADAMH) Board. This increase will strengthen key services available to all, with a particular focus on helping the uninsured and underinsured with mental health and addiction crises and recovery services. Key recipients of the levy dollars are the new Franklin County Crises Core Center for adults, Youth Prevention services, Treatment Access, Recovery and Support Services, Housing Programs, Family & Caregiver Support, and other Specialized Services for mental health and addiction issues.

No recommendation for other Issues

We cannot, in good conscience, recommend any other issues, due to lack of specific information from the City as to how funds, coming from the largest request for bond packages ever, will benefit the average citizens of Columbus.

At DSA’s 2025 National Convention, DSA members passed CR-05, the NEC Consensus Resolution, a set of electoral resolutions authored by NEC members. Among those was “Focused National Endorsements,” a resolution establishing new, concrete, specific, and immediately actionable criteria for DSA”s national endorsements. The resolution defines this criteria in aim of focusing national DSA endorsements on electoral campaigns where DSA can make concerted national action to intervene in elections. As explained by the resolution, these endorsement criteria may result in fewer, more selective endorsements by the national organization, but will allow for more meaningful endorsement experiences and interventions.

The criteria for DSA’s national endorsement applications will ask that candidates:

• Have a demonstrated history of leadership in their chapter, participation in DSA’s internal life, and attending DSA events
• Commit to uphold DSA’s national policy platform, Workers Deserve More, and DSA’s national priorities, campaigns and initiatives
• View themselves as socialist organizers first, and legislators second
• Openly and proudly identify with DSA and Socialism, including by:
  • Expressly encouraging people to join DSA
  • Identifying publicly as a “Socialist” or “Democratic Socialist”
  • Aligning their branding, messaging, and/or color scheme with DSA
• Commit to grow their DSA chapter and develop DSA leaders through their campaign
• Demonstrate interest in receiving a national endorsement
• Commit to caucusing with fellow elected DSA endorsees and socialist-in-office committees, where applicable

The resolution also specifies that national endorsement should also consider:

• How DSA’s national endorsement would significantly impact the odds of success, through national fundraising, publicity, and volunteer support
• Opportunities to build DSA’s public profile and recruit more members through elections with national political significance
• The campaign’s stance on key political issues and strategic questions important to DSA, such as:
  • The Democratic Party, political independence and party-building
  • DSA’s path to power and the transition to a socialist society
  • Palestinian liberation

National endorsements will authorize DSA to provide candidates with the following support:

• DSA communications will prioritize highlighting the candidates social media and sharing their posts
• The NEC will host national phone banks and encourage nearby DSA chapters to journey to canvass for these candidates
• DSA and NEC will prioritize fundraising support, when allowed by compliance, prioritizing national donations from members to the campaigns
• At least one of DSA’s national co-chairs will be encouraged to visit the chapter of the candidate, meet with the chapter and candidate, do public facing communications for the campaign, and engage in chapter and campaign building activities, including canvass for the campaign
• DSA’s NEC will support the campaign through all relevant logistical infrastructure available at the time, including mentorship, electoral academy, and more
• DSA’s national committees will provide logistical and policy support

As a result of this measure, the NEC’s endorsement and educational materials will be adapted to communicate this new endorsement criteria. As your campaign or chapter apply for local endorsement, please consider applying for national endorsement if your campaign meets this criteria and would benefit from strategic national intervention and support.

By Rob Switzer

This article was originally published in the blog for Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC).

Bosses often tell workers, “Unions are fine, but they’re not right for our workplace.” This argument assumes a stereotypical view of unions and the types of workplaces in which they think unions are common. When people think of unions and worker power, they often think of factories, particularly the UAW and the auto industry. We think of electricians and the IBEW. We think of public-sector workers like letter carriers, who are unionized at a much higher rate than other sectors.

But in reality, workers have won unions across a spectrum of different workplaces: different industries, different sizes, even remote workplaces. And they have all seen the benefits of uniting and collectively bargaining with the boss. Bosses say that unions aren’t right for their workplaces, but the reality is that unions are right for every workplace.

Why should restaurant workers unionize?

Many grocery store chains are union shops. For example, the majority of workers at Kroger locations are organized under the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW) union. But a growing number of workers at restaurants and other food service locations are also organizing.

Perhaps the best example of this is Starbucks. Starting with a location in Buffalo, New York, in 2021, workers began a wave of unionization within the coffee-shop chain that has since resulted in over 600 stores following suit, now representing over 14,000 employees. Their union, Starbucks Workers United, is still fighting for contracts, but worker solidarity in these stores — and the legal protections provided by unionizing — have benefitted these workers in various ways.

In many locations, lawsuits and rulings from the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) have forced Starbucks to rehire workers they unjustly fired. At a Brooklyn location, striking workers forced the store to address mold problems and a bedbug infestation, resulting in the company paying for home bedbug inspections. In Boston, striking workers forced the store to address scheduling complaints and to dismiss an abusive manager. In a union location in Michigan, a barista reported that the staff marched on management to complain about an abusive manager, and that the manager was promptly let go.

Workers at smaller chains and independent establishments can also benefit from unionization. In 2015, an organizing effort began among workers at Burgerville fast food restaurants, a Pacific Northwest chain with around 40 locations. In 2021, the workers won a contract and signed an agreement. In the union’s celebratory Facebook post, they wrote, “We did it! … Upon ratification we will have ended at-will employment, ended unfair scheduling, won tips for workers … free shift meals, $1 wage increase after our first strike in October 2019, 5 paid holidays and in-store tipping system.”

Can warehouse workers unionize?

One of the fastest growing and most important employers in the United States is Amazon. As of this writing, upwards of 10,000 Amazon workers are unionized, including workers at a Whole Foods location (which is Amazon-owned). Efforts to unionize are underway at more Amazon warehouses and delivery stations across the country.

Amazon has made the argument that “unions aren’t right for our workplace” part of their public relations strategy. In 2021, Mary Kate Paradis, an Amazon spokesperson, said, “As a company, we don’t think unions are the best answer for our employees. Our focus remains on working directly with our team to continue making Amazon a great place to work.” Paradis made this statement in response to a federal judge’s holding that Amazon had broken the law in its battle against organizing workers in New York.

Amazon’s ardent anti-union stance continues, and workers are still struggling to obtain a contract, but they have made some gains despite the pushback. Worker actions have won pay increases in some facilities, improved safety precautions, and more consistent policies on worker breaks and mandatory overtime.

I’m a white-collar worker. Can we have a union?

White-collar workers are also getting in on the action. One of the most surprising sectors in recent years to see a unionization push has been video game studios. Just last year, 461 workers at Microsoft’s ZeniMax Studios announced they were unionizing with the Campaign to Organize Digital Employees-Communications Workers of America (CODE-CWA). Earlier this year they ratified a contract that included a 13.5% across-the-board wage increase, protections against the use of artificial intelligence to replace their work, and general worker protections like formal grievance procedures and an end to at-will employment.

ZeniMax is not alone. There have been union wins at powerhouse gaming studios like Sega of America, Activision, Blizzard, and BioWare. This particular wave of unionization has extended beyond just the U.S. and large studios. Developers at ZA/UM studios, known for the cult PC hit “Disco Elysium,” last month became the first unionized gaming studio in the United Kingdom.

These wins in the gaming industry, which long ago surpassed the film industry in terms of overall revenue, serve as a model to white-collar office workers everywhere. Just because you work hunched over in front of a computer rather than on your feet doesn’t mean collective action won’t benefit your workplace.

Unions for every workplace

Remote workers also benefit from unions. These workers face the unique challenge of having to build their union despite not being physically present with each other every day. For example, telehealth workers at University of California-San Diego — organized under University Professional and Technical Employees-Communication Workers of America (UPTE-CWA) — won some major concessions this year, including agreements on the right to remain remote and not be forced to commute, consistent scheduling, and formal grievance procedures.

All kinds of workplaces have seen some level of increased labor activity in recent years, followed typically by improved conditions for its workers. Recent labor wins include:

• Museum workers: Staff at the Philadelphia Museum of Art recently unionized.
• Grad students: Private schools like Columbia and Harvard and public schools like Wayne State University have recently seen graduate students at the bargaining table to improve their wages and conditions.
• Budtenders: Workers at many cannabis dispensaries are getting in on the labor movement, including Exclusive in Ann Arbor, Michigan, which is organized under UFCW.
• Climbing gym workers: Workers at DYNO Detroit Climbing and VITAL Climbing Gyms in New York recently formed unions.
• Veterinarians and veterinary technicians: Veterinary Specialists and Emergency Services in Rochester, New York recently formed a union.

Workplaces of all different sizes in all different industries have embraced collective bargaining and are seeing the benefits. So when your boss or your anti-union co-worker says “unions are fine, but they’re not right for our workplace,” ask yourself: what’s so different about your workplace? If a union can work for burger joints, video game studios, and remote jobs alike, why wouldn’t it work for yours?

Rob Switzer is a UFCW butcher and shop steward in Detroit, Michigan. He is a member of Metro Detroit’s chapter of Democratic Socialists of America and co-editor of their publication “The Detroit Socialist.”

Mayor-President Sid Edwards and the Metro-Council are currently debating how to proportion the parish's budget. You know that the Baton Rouge police have a history of abuse and violence, and you know that the best way to prevent crime is to fund communities through social programs, homelessness support, good jobs, parks, transportation, schools and other people-centered approaches. The police can only respond to crime, but we can have a safer city by tackling the root causes. Hiring more police officers or paying them more will not address these problems, and they could make them worse.

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By: Frederick Reiber

Boston, MA – Kickstarter Union (OPEIU Local 153) workers rallied on Thursday outside the 100 Oliver Street offices of Littler Mendelson, America’s largest union-busting firm, to launch their fourth week on strike. Employees from across the country, from Boston to New York City to Seattle, gathered to protest management’s choice to retain Littler Mendelson and press for an “honest, come to the table” negotiation.

Throughout the hour-long rally, workers from across the company spoke on the importance of the strike with reasons ranging from “all workers deserve a living wage” to their children’s futures.  

The Kickstarter Union have been on strike since October 2 to defend their 4-day, 32-hour workweek (4DWW) and raise the compensation for the lowest-paid employees of the company. On September 26, 85% of workers voted to authorize the strike after management continued to “block real progress” since bargaining for Kickstarter’s second contract began in April 2025.

A Wall to Wall Union

Consistent in workers’ speeches at the rally targeting Littler Mendelson was the importance of a wall-to-wall union. 

A wall-to-wall is a union that includes all workers at a given shop-floor. Unlike other unions, all workers, regardless of role, are covered by Kickstarter United, with bargaining not centered around a specific trade. 

As one Kickstarter worker, Dannel Jurado, stated:

It was [our] intention from the very get-go for our union to be a wall to wall union… part of what our contract fight here is about is us recognizing we value your work a lot more.

Another rank-and-file worker argued that the strike wasn’t just about those with the large engineer salaries, but also for the workers who “make the platform run… the outreach, customer support, and trust and safety teams.”

Tech platforms and companies often rely heavily on hidden workers, those who manage and moderate the platforms. These jobs, despite being under some of the wealthiest companies in the world, often come with horrible working conditions and third-party independent contracts. Workers are required to filter through violent and explicit material at incredibly fast speeds, while receiving low pay and little mental health assistance. 

One of Kickstarter United’s main demands is to secure a livable wage for these frontline workers. Estimates from the union put the cost of doing so at less than $100,000 per year, something the company can almost certainly afford given the high cost of anti-union lawyers.

Tech Organizing in the United States

This is the second American tech strike, following the New York Times Tech Guild strike in late 2024. The NYTimes strike and Kickstarter’s choice to unionize represent current shifts within American tech. What was once an industry dominated by high-paying jobs and good working conditions has seen continuous backslide as billionaires continue to squeeze workforces for more, with increasingly undesirable work conditions.  

Organizing so early in tech means that much of the playbook is still being written. As Jurado put it:

It’s scary, […] it’s a lot of unknown stuff, but at the same time, I think it’s important. We wouldn’t be doing this work, we wouldn’t be out here at this rally if we didn’t think it was important.

One of the significant challenges is figuring out how to organize and strike digitally. Kickstarter is a fully remote workforce, meaning workers do not have an office, instead working from home.

Increasingly, tech workers are finding ways to overcome this barrier.

To some extent, Kickstarter Union workers are not new. It’s been fivr years since Kickstarter buried its fluffy reputation as a startup “public benefit corporation” prioritizing creativity over profits under petty managerial tyranny and vicious union-busting. Littler Mendelson is only the top of the iceberg; in 2019, when workers organized the shop intially, general counsel yelled at rank-and-file workers and then punished them for using company-provided feedback channels. Workers were brought into hostile meetings disguised as feedback meetings during the union “incident.” Workers started Googling how to start a union after discussing their shared fury through digital channels.

As recorded in the Engelberg Center at NYU Law’s Kickstarter Union Oral History Project, during the 2019 campaign for the Kickstarter Union,

This idea of worker feedback as a kind of punishable insubordination would come up again and again as a key tactic in management’s anti-union strategy.

The 2025 fight by the Kickstarter Union shows this has not changed.

Remote work may be a perk of the job, but it also means that the process of winning power in the workplace through the strike looks fundamentally different.

Kickstarter workers run digital community events that build the union’s bonds. For example, Kickstarter workers have recruited individuals to sign creator petitions and encouraged them to put pressure on management at events. Workers have also brought in pro-labor academic, political, and journalistic leaders to speak, including Eric Blanc, Brad Lander, and Kat Abughazaleh, to maintain momentum and deepen solidarity as organizers build the campaign.

Other approaches to remote union-building include workers using more recreational venues such as live streaming on Twitch, running Dungeons and Dragons with Kickstarter creators, and, finally, in-person pressure rallies where workers meet for actions in places like Boston.

Reflecting on Organizing and Community

The October 24 rally may have been targeted, but it also embodies the growing desire and need for unions and community across the board. As the workers at Kickstarter were quick to point out, resisting oppressive work conditions doesn’t happen when we withdraw – it happens when we talk to each other. Jurado stressed:

We need to be more in community with our coworkers, with our own communities, with our neighborhoods.

What the Kickstarter workers made clear is that community is not a side effect of unionization; it’s the goal. In a moment defined by alienation, surveillance, and political fear, the simple act of standing together is itself an act of resistance. That’s what organizing looks like: not grand gestures, but everyday commitments to one another.

Readers can tell management to meet the Kickstarter Union’s demands here.

Readers can also donate to the union’s solidarity fund here.

Frederick Reiber is a PhD student at Boston University researching collective action and technology. He is a member of SEIU 509, Boston DSA, and covers tech, labor, and education for Working Mass.

The post Kickstarter Workers Rally in Boston to Launch Fourth Strike Week appeared first on Working Mass.

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In this bonus episode, we keep the mics rolling with Kelly Latimore as we discuss icons, Bonhoeffer, and subversive religious practices.

Reflections from a first-time delegate to DSA National Convention.

The post Thinking of Going to DSA National Convention? Here’s Why You Should Consider It! appeared first on Democratic Left.

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NOLSW Forward Leads Union to Declare Support for BDS and Opposition to U.S. Imperialism

By: Siobhan M.

The views expressed in this article are the author’s own and do not represent the official position of Working Mass.

BOSTON, MA – The National Organization of Legal Services Workers (NOLSW, UAW 2320) emerged from our 2025 National Joint Council (NJC) and National Executive Board (NEB) elections energized to fight for the rights of our members, as well as for the working-class and oppressed people across the world. The NOLSW Forward slate swept the union’s 13-member NEB, including seven DSA members, with a vision rooted in social, economic, and racial justice. The slate—elected as the new NEB by acclamation after our strong NJC showing—aims to transform NOLSW into a militant organization capable of challenging capitalism, imperialism, and state repression.

The NJC is our 7,000-member union’s highest delegated body and included over 120 delegates from across the country. 

The core programming of the NJC spanned three days. On Monday, July 21, delegates participated in workshops on topics like labor history, sectoral bargaining, and solidarity with Palestine. On Tuesday, the delegation traveled to the Capitol to advocate for healthcare and homes for all before, on Wednesday, holding our business meeting to deliberate and chart our course for the coming year. Delegates voted overwhelmingly to adopt plans to build sectoral bargaining campaigns in several cities, support immigrants, transgender people, and Palestinians, and amend bylaws to improve our internal democracy and transparency, among other decisions. 

Much of the initiative behind these resolutions came from the NOLSW Forward slate.

Affirming Our Solidarity

As the UAW’s only nationally-amalgamated local, NOLSW has over 150 bargaining units spread out across dozens of states. Practically, this makes it difficult for our members to meet and organize with each other across units. By UAW’s rules, each of our units also has autonomy to decide their own contracts. However, our union is taking steps to amplify our power, recognizing that the working class is strongest when it is united. 

Taking inspiration from the NYC-based Association of Legal Aid Attorneys (ALAA, UAW 2325), NJC delegates voted to create a Sectoral Bargaining Committee tasked with coordinating bargaining campaigns in 2028 and beyond. This past summer, 2,000 ALAA workers from 11 shops who had aligned their contract expirations all went on strike with some common goals, including a $70,000 wage floor for all workers. Legal aid workers make the U.S. legal system run, so this collective strike was immensely disruptive. Each unit negotiated with their own management, and each made their own contract decisions, so strike lengths varied—Bronx  Defenders Union reached a tentative agreement almost immediately while other units were striking for weeks. The resulting contracts did not meet all of workers’ demands, but they featured some significant wins, including wages of at least $70,000 per year for all workers at the Office of the Appellate Defender.

NOLSW wants to learn from and build on ALAA’s 2025 campaign. While focused on areas where we have density—including Massachusetts, New York, Chicago, Texas, and the Bay Area—we’re committed to “do everything in [our] power to assist and support any shop that chooses to participate in sectoral bargaining.” One element of these contract fights will be protecting our transgender and nonbinary members from the Trump administration’s attacks on our healthcare and public existence. Per another 2025 NJC resolution, our members will be equipped with model contract language to fight for gender-affirming care and workplace nondiscrimination protections,

Our solidarity doesn’t stop with our union siblings. As legal aid and human services workers who spend our lives helping some of U.S. society’s most vulnerable people, NOLSW members understand the need to merge our workplace struggles with those of working and oppressed people in our neighborhoods and around the world. Our members are among those on the front lines against the Trump administration’s deportations, both in immigration courtrooms and on the streets. Our NJC delegates voted to become a Sanctuary Local, with commitments like a refusal to cooperate with federal agents, “Know Your Rights” trainings for immigrants and protestors, legal observation and mutual aid for those targeted by police, and political advocacy for pro-immigrant policies at all levels of government.

Delegates also reaffirmed our solidarity with the Palestinian people and opposed U.S. military intervention across the world. Building on 2024’s Resolution for the Liberation of Palestine, the 2025 iteration urged units to divest their retirement plans, endorsed the Mask Off Maersk campaign against arms shipments, and pledged to defend members facing discipline for standing with Palestine. It also demanded “the U.S. government immediately stop engaging in and supporting foreign wars and otherwise taking and supporting military actions abroad” and called on the UAW, AFL-CIO, and all other bodies to which we send delegates to refuse support to any politician out of step with these values. This gives our representatives on these bodies a mandate from membership to stand with Palestine.

Democratizing National Leadership

NOLSW Forward’s goals also included some internal reforms to improve union democracy and transparency. We passed bylaw amendments to have more frequent national meetings and improve a system of collective leadership among the NEB. We will invite our members in to organize with us, proactively sharing Zoom links and notes for NEB meetings with membership. Our union knows we’re strongest when we are united, and we hope to build a working-class movement for peace, justice, and liberation across the world.

Siobhan M. is a Trustee on the NOLSW National Executive Board, elected by acclamation as part of the NOLSW Forward slate. The views expressed herein are her own.

The post OPINION: UAW 2320 Legal Workers Elect National Slate of DSA Leaders and Allies to Lead the Union appeared first on Working Mass.

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DSA’s big tent makes it unique on the U.S. Left. Protecting it will help us weather and even grow during the second Trump administration.

The post Keep DSA Together appeared first on Democratic Left.

Boston DSA has finalized our Voter Guide for the 2025 general elections in Boston, Somerville, and Cambridge! The guide can be found at this link.