Seattle DSA Mourns Aysenur Ezgi Eygi

Contact: info@seattledsa.org 

We were shocked and enraged to hear of the murder of recent University of Washington graduate Aysenur Ezgi Eygi at the hands of the Israeli Defense Forces. On September 6th, Aysenur was in the West Bank standing alongside Palestinians and other demonstrators peacefully protesting illegal Israeli settlements when Israeli forces fired two rounds of gunfire. Aysenur was shot in the head and died shortly after being transported to a hospital in Nablus. She joins the tens of thousands of Palestinians martyred by the Israeli military in the last year, now escalated even further with the brutal invasion of the West Bank. According to the International Solidarity Movement, who she was volunteering with at the time, she is the 18th protester killed in the Palestinian village of Beita since 2020 defending against the illegal settlement expansions.

This is a terrible, horrifying loss. Those of us who knew Aysenur (“Ezgi”, for many who organized with her) knew her to be a genuine, passionate, and determined person –a voice for the oppressed and the working class internationally. And for her, words alone were not enough. Ezgi was the type of socialist who embodied the true spirit of solidarity. From Standing Rock to organizing against Trump’s hateful agenda to the George Floyd uprising, wherever people were struggling for liberation, Ezgi was there at their side. She played an instrumental role in organizing the pro-Palestine student encampment at UW last spring, even participating in negotiations with the administration regarding their ties to Boeing and Israel. 

As we mourn Ezgi’s loss, we remember her words from a 2017 speech during a student walkout she helped lead right after Trump’s inauguration:

“Mass movements of ordinary people have succeeded in blocking right wing bigoted presidents before….we are fighting for socialist change. As long as our future is decided by profit-driven oil corporations and millionaire lobbyists, things will only get worse. For many of us, this movement isn’t just about stopping Trump, it’s about creating a world free from racism, from sexism, from income inequality, and environmental disruption…And ultimately, we call for a political revolution against the billionaire class and a socialist alternative.”

We offer our deepest condolences to all family, friends, and community who are affected by this loss. We grieve alongside the International Solidarity Movement, and support the call for an independent investigation into this unlawful killing of a U.S. citizen.  

As the Biden/Harris administration continues to enable a genocide, we demand an immediate and permanent ceasefire and end to US military aid to Israel. Only when the US government stops funding it will there be an end to the genocide, occupation, and apartheid in Palestine. We can only hope to honor Ezgi’s example of resistance and continue to fight for a world free from genocide, imperialism, capitalism, and for the liberation of Palestine and all oppressed people.

Seattle DSA Local Council

Seattle DSA Palestine Solidarity Working Group

The post Seattle DSA Mourns Aysenur Ezgi Eygi appeared first on Seattle Democratic Socialists of America.

The views expressed in this article are the authors’ own and do not represent the official position of Working Mass. This article is republished with permission from ReformandRevolution.org.

by Marley Daniel

“UFCW International’s system is rigged to keep rank-and-file members’ voices quiet, just as CEOs and corporations rig the workplace to keep workers’ voices quiet,” said Iris Scott to a packed hotel suite during a press conference at this year’s Labor Notes.

Scott is a rank-and-file member of the United Food and Commercial Workers who is a plaintiff in a lawsuit against the union for illegal convention delegate apportionment. The lawsuit brought by Scott alongside fellow UFCW member Kyong Barry is the biggest step so far taken by the nascent UFCW reform movement.

UFCW’s membership is only a fraction of the more than 50 million workers who work in the industries covered by its jurisdiction.

UFCW is the fifth largest labor union in the US, with approximately 1.1 million members with a jurisdiction covering industries including grocery, food production, meatpacking, retail, cannabis, warehousing and chemical industries, and which also organizes some healthcare, pharmacy, and food service workers. These industries are not only some of the most essential to society, representing a huge amount of the commercial sector, but also unjustly considered to be “unskilled” or “low-skill” work. To unionize these jurisdictions would be to unionize some of the lowest paid workers in the US.

But UFCW’s membership is only a fraction of the more than 50 million workers who work in the industries covered by its jurisdiction. UFCW’s membership could be much bigger, but decades of bureaucratic, top-down, business friendly, and blatantly anti-worker behavior on the part of UFCW officers and staff has reduced the union’s reputation and influence with its own members and been a brake on making serious investments in new organizing.

Within its own ranks many members have low union consciousness or outright negative opinions of the union, after years of poor contracts with real wages and benefits cut while the union brass receives six-figure checks and bonuses on the members’ dime, and the treasury banks around $50 million annually which could be spent on hiring thousands of additional new organizers.

The last twenty years have brought a string of corruption and embezzlement scandals as well as a steady flow of Unfair Labor Practice allegations. The biggest problem is transparency. In 2002 UFCW brought forward a lawsuit with the intent of establishing their right to keep the union constitution away from members and the public. Though that suit failed and UFCW reluctantly complied to post the constitution online, it pointed to a reticence for accountability that persists in the union today. Still, any member who requests a copy of a local’s bylaws is looked upon with suspicion.

Now many of the new workplaces UFCW takes an interest in organizing have chosen to create independent unions rather than hitch their wagons to UFCW’s horse. But a strong, fighting, democratic UFCW could be a major force in the labor and worker power movement, if it undergoes a revitalisation from the bottom up.

If UFCW were utilizing its full potential as one of the largest labor unions in the US by being a strong power for their members and other workers in their jurisdiction, the US labor movement would be significantly strengthened. Just the grocery sector alone would be a vital reinforcement. Imagine the millions of grocery workers nationwide going on strike simultaneously. How much quicker could the entire capitalist system be shut down than for such a key economic lynchpin to be pulled? Even just a strike among Kroger workers would have a widespread impact, creating massive leverage for the union to win significant improvements for UFCW/Kroger workers. A strong and fighting UFCW could do more than just weakly call against the proposed Kroger/Albertsons merger, they could organize against it. If the merger were to go through, despite the undemocratic mega-monopoly that would be created therein, an energetic UFCW could use the situation to fight for a national contract and bargaining table, not only raising the standards of grocery jobs across the country but coalesce the power of millions of workers into a force that could actually stand against corporations and their CEOs and officers.

A New Approach

Though there have been attempts at reform movements in UFCW in the past, none have gotten very far. Some locals, like 3000 in Seattle, are more progressive and democratic than others, but by and large there is low member engagement within the union. The latest reform push is spearheaded by a non-profit called Essential Workers for Democracy (EW4D). Formed through funds of the sale of former worker housing owned by Retail Clerks local 1001 in Bellevue, WA, EW4D’s mission is to increase rank-and-file democracy throughout all unions. They have a special focus on UFCW now as they play the role of facilitator between reform-minded rank-and-filers in disparate locals, connecting members who want to change their union and workplaces, as well as providing resources and support to those groups. Though some have derided EW4D as an outside force, not a grassroots reform movement, they play an essential role.

The Twitter account “Reform UFCW” is the closest thing to a true member-led movement at the moment. People who look to revitalize their UFCW locals are hampered by the bureaucratic nature of leadership, and are isolated from other workplaces in their local and even more so from other locals, making a robust, nationwide, grassroots reform campaign a non-starter. By creating a network between local reform groups and assisting them with advice, skills training, resources, and peer connection, EW4D is helping lay the foundation of a true reform push in UFCW.

The recent lawsuit against UFCW bears this out. The lawsuit is brought by two UFCW members in different locals, with the funding of EW4D. Iris Scott of UFCW 1459 in Massachusetts and Kyong Barry of UFCW 3000 in Washington State are bringing the suit to challenge UFCW’s current system of appointing convention delegates. The Labor Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), the Federal law which oversees the governance of labor unions, makes it a clear point that every member of a union has an equal right to vote.

UFCW’s current convention delegate appointment system illegally undercuts this by having a range of delegates per thousand whereby locals of one thousand members or less, like Scott’s local 1459, receive 2.0 votes per thousand while locals of 55,000 or more, like Barry’s 3000, only receive 0.5 votes per thousand. Furthermore another provision of the UFCW Constitution automatically awards local top officers delegate and voting status, without any opportunity for the rank-and-file to challenge them with an election, further disenfranchising them.

As a delegate to the 2023 UFCW convention, Scott spoke of their disappointment as she witnessed a slate of reform proposals get not just voted down, but booed, insulted, and even made fun of by delegates who were UFCW officers and staff. This illustrative moment showed Scott that reform was not going to come to UFCW internally, as long as the current UFCW officers and their undemocratic system persist. Scott, Barry, and EW4D are bringing this suit to challenge and hopefully change the current delegation apportionment system, and though it does not outright ask for one member one vote, that is the ultimate hope of EW4D’s UFCW project.

One Step At A Time

One member one vote (1M1V) is a powerful tool for member-led union reforms. Both the Teamsters and the United Auto Workers (UAW) won 1M1V and took back their unions from the old, corrupt, business-friendly leadership and instead voted in reform-minded leaders often from rank-and-file backgrounds.

UAW is a particularly recent and salient example—Shawn Fain has become something of a labor celebrity in the last year since his election following the passage of 1M1V, authorizing powerful strikes, winning historic contracts, and making waves with his “Eat The Rich” shirt. Such a policy in UFCW would shift the labor movement into a new gear.

For now the lawsuit is only asking for a fair and equal delegate distribution system, but with hope that it would be a crucial step on the way to 1M1V. But EW4D’s program is not limited to this suit. In addition to the quiet, background work of connecting rank-and-file members across the country looking to reform their locals, they have also begun a pressure campaign agitating for “$30+COLA,” meaning a $30/hr starting wage plus cost of living adjustments for essential workers. Long term goals include getting a national contract for large employers like Kroger and, eventually, one single bargaining table for all grocery and retail workers. EW4D understands the potential significance of a fighting, democratic UFCW—millions of workers in solidarity, enough to create the largest strike in US history, should they be properly organized.

Workers Don’t Trust UFCW

The implicit and explicit practices of UFCW’s leadership that prioritize union officials while disempowering rank-and-file members have led the union to develop to a poor reputation among the working class. Its own members often see it, at best, as a “service union” who exist essentially as an outside entity to “help” the workers. At worst, members despise the union, seeing its officers and attorneys as in bed with the officers and attorneys of the companies they bargain with, feeling the pain of years of bad contracts and being let down at the bargaining table. Outside the union their reputation is no better. UFCW is not-so-quietly referred to as “the worst union,” even (or especially) by labor activists.

In many of the nascently unionizing industries such as cannabis, coffee shops, and smaller grocery chains where UFCW has attempted to intervene, workers have rejected unionizing under UFCW and opted instead to create independent unions. Radical workers trying to unionize explain that they are organizing for actual power in their workplaces, and UFCW doesn’t seem to be the kind of union that would fight for them as hard as they are willing to fight for themselves. UFCW fails to grow, and the UFCW reform movement misses out on new, radical rank-and-filers who have a vested interest in seeing a more democratic and fighting union. Less reform wins, less interest in reform. How can UFCW break out of this cycle?

Help Wanted

The last several years’ upswing in labor militancy has heartened many in the working class, but despite some local grocery worker strikes and efforts to unionize smaller grocers like Trader Joe’s, the movement has not yet extended to the largest section of grocery and retail workers, and others in UFCW’s jurisdiction. UFCW is an extremely significant player in the labor movement, and the further success of the movement depends on UFCW. We can’t expect the tiger to spontaneously change his stripes. Nor can we expect an unbidden grassroots movement. We need dedicated people specifically orienting to UFCW reform as a strategic lynchpin in the labor movement.

The UFCW reform movement needs socialists. DSA members and others on the left have been leaders in many other union reform movements, it is now vital to orient to UFCW. Food and retail workers are an essential and huge part of the working class. No labor movement will be able to significantly expand without the organization of the tens of millions of workers in food, grocery and retail industries, and these workers are desperately in need of solidarity.

The UFCW reform movement needs primarily two things: more leaders and a robust network. An influx of even a few dozen highly motivated, highly energetic activists would greatly increase the capacity of both local and national campaigns. Any additional networking infrastructure to connect locals not only with each other but with other unions and a coalition of community supporters would endow UFCW members with a new confidence that they are not alone in their struggle, creating a more viable reform movement. DSA is uniquely positioned to offer both these things. DSA members should strongly consider getting jobs in UFCW shops and joining the reform movement, and DSA Labor should adopt a national plan for UFCW Reform solidarity. An organized push from DSA can rapidly speed up the development of the reform movement.

Furthermore, the UFCW reform movement needs a Marxist core. It is the purview of Marxists to study the material conditions of past struggles to identify the strongest possible tactics. There is a generational memory of movements to reform other unions such as the Teamsters and UAW. With Marxist leadership, reformers in UFCW could bypass many of the mistakes made by previous campaigns to direct energy into effective strategies. If we avoid the hurdles of other reform movements we can transform UFCW into a key vehicle of class struggle.

Marley Daniel is a grocery worker, UFCW member, and member of DSA and Reform and Revolution.

Photo Credit: Henry De Groot

This month’s Maine Mural podcast presents the first episode in a three part series focused on notable Maine socialist and naturalist, Norman Wallace Lermond. Born in Warren, Maine, Lermond was a member of the Maine People’s Party, and later helped found the Maine Socialist Party in 1900. This episode covers his upbringing and education, as well as early activist work. We hope you enjoy the program!

The post Maine Mural: A Maine Socialist – Norman Wallace Lermond, pt. 1 appeared first on Pine & Roses.

We are happy to announce that we have endorsed Jacob Luallen for Johnson City Commission: jacobluallen.com.

The three incumbent Commissioners running for re-election this cycle – Todd Fowler, Aaron Murphy, and Joe Wise – have spent years letting the JCPD run amok while catering to high-end housing developers, the Ballad Health monopoly, and the Chamber of Commerce. The Commissioners have willfully neglected local housing needs, and now nearly half of Johnson City renters are rent-burdened (putting at least 30% of their monthly income directly into a landlord’s pocket). Over one in five renters gives more than 50% of their earnings to a landlord just to have shelter. The people of Johnson City need a change, and Jacob is the candidate to deliver.

A participant in the recent Protect the People’s Voice Campaign, Jacob’s platform is about meeting the needs of the working people of Johnson City: affordable housing, functional public transportation, and increased transparency and accessibility in city government. He is our neighbor, and we know he is the right choice for the people of Johnson City.

But simply saying he’s the right choice will not make it so. If we want Jacob to win, it is up to us to make it happen. We need to get out to knock doors and convince our neighbors that there is an alternative to the landlord’s paradise created by Fowler, Murphy, and Wise. That’s how we won the Protect the People’s Voice Campaign. That’s how we will win again!

To get involved, check out Jacob’s campaign website or Facebook page and sign up for a canvass (or two!)

Source for our data on JC’s dire housing situation: “Preliminary Housing Needs Assessment” for Johnson City, TN, 2022.

An organized working class has the strength to fight back against the bosses who want to rewrite the laws to their advantage.

The post Corporations Want Profits Without Consequences. Courts Are Giving It to Them. appeared first on EWOC.

At September 2024’s General Body Meeting, Las Vegas DSA passed a Resolution For an Anti-Zionist Las Vegas DSA in both Principle and Practice. The vote passed 90% in favor, 10% opposed.

Read the full resolution below:

Resolution For an Anti-Zionist Las Vegas DSA in both Principle and Practice

Adapted from; Resolution: For an Anti-Zionist DSA San Francisco in both Principle and Practice and Resolution: For an Anti-Zionist Houston DSA in both Principle and Practice

Whereas, and in line with Convention Resolutions #4 and #62 from 2019, the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) is an anti-imperialist organization;

Whereas, and in line with Convention Resolution #50 from 2019, DSA is an anti-colonialist organization committed to advancing decolonization projects;

Whereas, and in line with Convention Resolutions #41 and #45 from 2017 and Resolutions #4 and #31 from 2021, DSA is an anti-racist organization;

Whereas, and in line with Convention Resolutions #7 and #8 from 2017 and Resolution #35 from 2019, DSA National has publicly declared on numerous occasions in recent years that it “unapologetically stands in solidarity with Palestinian people everywhere;”

Whereas, Zionism – as popularized by Theodore Herzl and explicitly described by him as “something colonial,” meant to be “a wall of Europe against Asia… an outpost of [Western] civilization against [Eastern] barbarism” – is and has always been a racist, imperialist, settler-colonial project that has resulted in the ongoing death, displacement, and dehumanization of Palestinians in Palestine and in diaspora around the world;

Whereas, by Zionism, we refer to the philosophy that took hold and stands today and is a settler-colonial movement, establishing an apartheid state where the Jewish people have more rights than others, and which has resulted in Palestinian dispossession and occupation;

Whereas, Zionism transforms the victims of a millennium of European bigotry into a buffer class it scapegoats first for British, and then for American imperialism, while deliberately and ceaselessly working to identify the safety of international capitalism – a system that eighty years ago murdered two-thirds of European Jews – with the safety of Jewish people worldwide;

Whereas, and antithetical to DSA’s contemporary principles and policies, DSA’s founding merger was heavily predicated on ensuring that DSA would uphold DSOC’s (Democratic Socialist Organizing Committee) position of supporting continued American aid for Israel’s Zionist settler-colonial project, as explicitly noted in our organization’s founding merger documents (e.g., Points of Political Unity) and by Michael Harrington himself in his autobiography;

Whereas, and antithetical to DSA’s contemporary principles and policies, a number of DSA endorsed electeds (e.g., Jamaal Bowman & Nithya Raman) have consistently demonstrated a commitment to Zionism through their public opposition to BDS and/or support for legislation that harms Palestinians everywhere (e.g., public support for and votes in favor of U.S. financial aid to Israeli military, which forcefully advances the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Palestine through systematic tactics of abuse, forcible displacement, and murder of Palestinians; governmental adoption of definitions of antisemitism that conflate anti-Zionism and antisemitism, leading to the suppression of speech of Palestinians and those in solidarity with them);

Whereas, DSA’s historic and contemporary association with and enablement of Zionism has jeopardized DSA rank-and-file membership’s confidence in the integrity of DSA’s overall politics, as well as our organization’s working relationships with major Palestinian-led grassroots organizations across North America;

Whereas, DSA membership has overwhelmingly denounced Zionism through its stated principles and convention mandates since 2017 but has struggled to articulate these newfound principles into a more coherent praxis;

Whereas, the resolution “Make DSA an Anti-Zionist Organization in Principle and Praxis” (MSR #12), failed to be heard or deliberated on at the 2023 National Convention, and there is an urgent need to address this on a chapter level;

Therefore, be it resolved, LVDSA denounces the national organization’s Zionist roots and reaffirms its commitment to being an anti-racist, anti-imperialist organization by explicitly committing to being an anti-Zionist chapter– in both principle and praxis;

Be it resolved, LVDSA once again reaffirms our organization’s commitments to Palestinian liberation and the broad, international BDS movement

LVDSA’s endorsed candidates hold true to the following basic commitments:

• Publicly support the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) movement;
• Refrain from any and all affiliation with the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups, such as, but not limited to, AIPAC, J Street, or Democratic Majority for Israel (DMFI), including participating in political junkets or any event sponsored by these entities;
• Pledge to oppose legislation that harms Palestinians, such as…
  • Any official adoption of a redefinition of antisemitism to include opposition to Israel’s policies or legal system, or support for BDS (e.g., IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance) definition of antisemitism);
  • Legislative and executive efforts to penalize individuals, universities and entities that boycott Israel;
  • Legislative and executive efforts to send any military or economic resources to Israel;
• Pledge to support legislation that supports Palestinian liberation, such as…
  • Legislative and executive efforts to end Israeli apartheid and ethnic cleansing against Palestinians and promote Palestinians’ rights to return to and live freely on the land (e.g., H.R. 2590), the right to resistance, the right to self-determination (statehood), and Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine;
  • Condemnation of Israeli apartheid and colonial practices (e.g., H.Res. 751);
  • Attempts to end the spending of U.S. tax dollars on Israel and/or sanction Israel until it ceases its practices of apartheid and colonialism;

Be it resolved, potential candidates who cannot commit to the aforementioned basic expectations will be disqualified from endorsement by LVDSA at every level;

Be it resolved, endorsed candidates who do not commit to the aforementioned basic expectations will have their LVDSA endorsements swiftly revoked;

Be it resolved, all LVDSA members who are credibly shown to:

1. Be consistently and publicly opposed to BDS, Palestinian liberation, the right to return and land back, the Palestinian right to self-determination, or
2. Be currently affiliated with the Israeli government or any Zionist lobby group(s), or
3. Have knowingly and intentionally provided material aid to the state of Israel’s Zionist colonialist project

will be considered in substantial disagreement with LVDSA’s principles and policies, and thus, the chapter will initiate the expulsion process in line with Article 10, Section 3 of the LVDSA bylaws;

Be it resolved, members expelled on these grounds may be reconsidered for membership reinstatement once per year provided they write a statement to chapter membership that 1) demonstrates a basic understanding of Palestinian issues and Zionism and 2) apologizes for past anti-solidaristic behaviors with a commitment to putting their new anti-Zionist principles into practice.

Are you interested in becoming the best organizer you can be? Do you want to expand socialism here in Milwaukee, but are unsure of where and how to start? Have you been involved but feel like the project did not go anywhere? If you answered yes to any of these questions, the Milwaukee Socialist Organizer Class is for you! 

This nine week program will focus on holistically teaching you to be an unstoppable organizer who builds socialism, changes hearts and minds, and impacts our city.  You will learn direct action organizing, as defined by Organizing for Social Change: Midwest Academy Manual for Activists, in which we organize actions, campaigns, and tactics to “1) win real, immediate, concrete improvement in people’s lives . . . 2) Give people a sense of their own power . . . 3) Alter the relations of power.” 

Interested individuals will apply (Click here, which is due by 11:59 p.m. on Monday September 23, 2024), be interviewed, and enter the program if selected.  DSA membership is not required to participate, but is encouraged. 

This education program will be a combination of in-person events with virtual events if necessary. Each unit will be roughly a week, with a week break in the middle of the program. Each unit will consist of classroom-style instruction in the unit topic (no more than 2 hours, which will be in-person), field work in organizing (which will be at least 3 hours and consist of having conversations, moving people to action, and building infrastructure for a strong socialist movement involving several types of campaigns), and time for personal reflection. Each participant must commit to the entire program and, unless excused, attend every unit instruction, and field work session.  Missing more than two classes and field work sessions may result in removal from the program.  

This is the sixth time this program has been offered, and it is back by popular demand!  The two instructors have updated and revised the course to make you even more prepared to lead in socialism.  

Additionally, there is a strong chance that this class will be taught in a room that is not wheelchair accessible.  

Time commitment per week: 

Unit instruction: 2 hours 

Organizing work: 3 hours 

Miscellaneous tasks: 1 hour 

Total time per week: 6 hour

Weekly Schedule 

Class will be conducted on Thursday evenings from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m. and held in-person at Zao MKE, located at 3219 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, 53211.  

Field work will be held at regular intervals over the week, with options to organize at several points during the week: 

(tentative schedule, subject to change . . .) 

Saturdays, 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.

Sundays 12:00 p.m. until 3:00 p.m. 

Mondays 5:30 until 8:30 p.m. 

Program Timeline: 

September 23 at 11:59 p.m.:

Application deadline – apply here

September 26:

Start of nine week program ( class held, 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.), held at Zao MKE, located at 2319 E Kenwood Blvd, Milwaukee, WI 53211

October 3:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

October 10:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

October 17:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

October 24:

Break Week – No Class

October 31:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

November 7:

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

November 14: 

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

November 21: 

Class will be held from 7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.

November 22: 

End of class party (tentative) 

November 25:

Completion of program

Units

Each unit helps to answer the question: what is organizing? 

Welcome: what is organizing?

• Get to know participants and instructor
• Define scope of class and intentions 
• Determine goals and desired outcomes 

Organizing is one-on-one Conversations

• Learn the 7 point organizing conversation 
• Practice the conversation and its elements 

Organizing is building the committee and the campaign 

• The importance (or not) of the committee
• Power Mapping the campaign 
• Strategy Chart 

Organizing is holistic productivity 

• Traction versus distraction 
• Time management and its importance
• The Reverse Calendar 
• Overcoming blocks to action

Organizing is a mindset 

• Acknowledging hurdles and setbacks 
• Failure is a great option
• Develop a practice to keep you going

Organizing is raising money and managing it

• Why money is OK 
• How to bring energy and money to your campaign 
• The basics of campaign budgeting and finance 

Organizing is communications

• What does “messaging” mean? 
• The power of media 
• Writing workshop

Organizing is bringing it all together

• You’ve got momentum – now what? 
• Recap of unit themes

Reviews

Here is what previous students have to say about the Milwaukee Socialist Organizer Class: 

“[Before the class] I had no idea about the actual work of organizing.  Now I feel confident that I would be able to become a leader in a campaign setting . . .” 

“I loved the practical application of socialism . . . [and] I loved the far-reaching application of some of the class content.” 

“This is a great way to move into the world of socialism. . . thank you so much for offering this course” 

“This [class] is a great first step for anyone looking to start organizing . . .” 

“I radically grew in my comfort around being upfront and simply being able to approach a complete stranger with a potentially controversial topic.” 

“New organizers and experienced organizers can benefit from this class.” 

“Generally speaking my confidence level just interacting with people about socialism has gone through the roof.  I have been given a phenomenal overview of how to organize and I feel confident that I can find out what works best for me in the future.”  

“It was great to grow as an organizer within the confines of a welcoming community/instructor.” 

“I feel more confident organizing outside of an electoral context.”  

Meet your instructors: 

Alex Brower

Alex Brower is a labor leader, socialist organizer, and the chapter co-chair of the Milwaukee Democratic Socialists of America. Professionally, Alex is the Executive Director of the Wisconsin Alliance for Retired Americans, which organizes union retirees.  In his organizing work, Alex has saved jobs from privatization, helped workers win a union voice on the job, defeated a temp agency, organized against a proposed iron-ore mine, helped bring comprehensive sex education to Beloit Public Schools, and won workplace healthcare for many uninsured MPS Substitute Teachers. As an MPS substitute teacher and former Milwaukee Rec. Department instructor, Alex brings a host of experience teaching others. Alex has also been a candidate for Milwaukee City Comptroller and School Board, running both times as a socialist. 

Autumn Pickett

Autumn Pickett is a union organizer and Communications Director for American Federation of Teachers – Wisconsin. She helped win back voting rights for 20,000 students while attending college in Indiana, protect 100’s of custodial and grounds crew jobs from privatization across Wisconsin, sunk Billionaire Howard Schultz’s 2016 presidential run, use organizing tactics that garnered national headlines, and mentor dozens of YDSA chapters across the country that continue to make real wins for working people. She has served on the National Coordinating Committee for YDSA, as Milwaukee DSA’s Education Officer, and currently represents Milwaukee DSA on the statewide Socialists in Office committee. Autumn is excited to bring her years of experience mentoring new socialist organizers over to the Milwaukee Organizer Class for the first time and help build a people powered movement in Cream City alongside each of you.

Any questions? 

Contact Alex Brower at 414-949-8756 or milwaukeedsa@gmail.com 

Apply now!

Apply here, or copy and paste this URL into your web browser: https://forms.gle/7eja5qqaJtxoVqta8 

Upcoming Events

Wednesday, September 4 (5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Phonebank for Extreme Dean (In person at 1630 Haight St)

Wednesday, September 4 (6:30 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.): New Member Happy Hour (In person at Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia)

Thursday, September 5 (5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Team Jackie Weekday Mobilization (In person at 3389 26th St)

Thursday, September 5 (5:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Phonebank for Extreme Dean (In person at 1630 Haight St)

Thursday, September 5 (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.): Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialist Working Group (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)

Friday, September 6 (12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.): Office Hours (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Friday, September 6 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.): Unpacking the Political Climate in SF: What the ****? (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, September 7 (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.): Jackie Fielder For D9 Supervisor Mobilization (Meet at Mission Pool)

Saturday, September 7 (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.): Homelessness Working Group Outreach Training (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Sunday, September 8 (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.): Extreme Dean Door Knock Mobilization (Meet at the Panhandle at Fell and Baker)

Monday, September 9 (6:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m.): Ecosocialist Monthly Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)

Monday, September 9 (7:00 p.m. – 9:00 p.m.): Maker Monday (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Monday, September 9 (7:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Labor Board Meeting (Zoom)

Saturday, September 14 (10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.): Homelessness Working Group Food Service (The Castro, exact location TBA)

Sunday, September 15 (1:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.): No Appetite for Apartheid Work Session (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister)

Check out https://dsasf.org/events for more events and updates.

Events & Actions

Come Knock Doors with the Jackie Fielder Campaign This Week!

Join the Jackie Fielder for Supervisor campaign this week and help us reach District 9 voters! We have two mobilizations happening this week:

• Our weekday mobilization this Thursday, September 5 from 5:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (meet at Jackie’s campaign office at 3389 26th St.)
• Our weekend mobilization this Saturday, September 7th from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. (meet at Mission Pool)

We can’t wait to see you there!

Unpacking the Political Climate in SF: A Socialist Political Discussion

With a major election approaching, how do socialists make sense of the political moment in our city?

Join us for a discussion of the local political climate, and hour our work fits into it, this Friday (9/6) from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the DSA SF office at 1916 McAllister!

Volunteer with the Extreme Dean Team This Week!

We have several volunteer opportunities coming up this week for the Extreme Dean campaign!

• Turnout Tuesday (9/3 – tonight!) from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at the DSA SF office at 1916 McAllister
• Phonebanking (Wednesday, 9/4 and Thursday, 9/5) from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at Dean HQ (1630 Haight)
• Fundraising Friday (9/6) from 5:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. at 1630 Haight
• Panhandle Mobilization (Saturday, 9/8) from 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m (Meet at the Panhandle at Fell and Baker)

Join Us for Maker Monday on 9/9!

Join the Tenderloin Healing Circle and Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialist Working Group on Monday, September 9th from 7:00 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. in an art make at the office at 1916 McAllister! We’ll be crafting buttons and flyers with lino prints, markers, and more.

No Appetite for Apartheid in SF!

Inspired by long-standing Palestinian boycott tactics and the BDS call, the Palestine Solidarity Anti-Imperialist Working Group are canvassing local stores and asking them to pledge to become Apartheid-Free by dropping products from companies complicit in the genocide of Palestinians and colonization of Palestine. It’s time to turn up the heat on this apartheid regime and take apartheid off our plates!

Want to show your support? Sign our Apartheid-Free Pledge so business owners know how popular this movement is with their local customers. After signing the pledge, we would love to see you at any of our upcoming campaign strategy sessions and canvassing days. Check dsasf.org/events for updates.

Behind the Scenes

The Chapter Coordination Committee (CCC) regularly rotates duties among chapter members. This allows us to train new members in key duties that help keep the chapter running like organizing chapter meetings, keeping records updated, office cleanup, updating the DSA SF website and newsletter, etc. Members can view current CCC rotations.

To help with the day-to-day tasks that keep the chapter running, fill out the CCC help form.

A “march on the boss” is a direct action tactic in which workers collectively and publicly confront their boss to make one or more demands.

The post What is a March on the Boss, and How Do We Do It? appeared first on EWOC.