A union can democratize your workplace, protecting you against at-will employment, ensuring just cause, and raising standards for all workers.

The post Your boss is lying when he says unions are no longer necessary appeared first on EWOC.

DSA has become an important vehicle for climate politics. A new book uses the campaign for a New York state climate law as a lens for understanding the organization and its approach to the crisis.

The post Feel the Burn appeared first on Democratic Left.

The author of "Let the Record Show: A Political History of ACT UP New York, 1987-1993" discusses how her theory of an “Inside/Outside” strategy applies to the Mamdani era.

The post Let the Record Show: Democratic Left Interviews Sarah Schulman appeared first on Democratic Left.

by Niko J-F

Why You Should Join Us For International Workers’ Day in 2026

May Day Rally Friday, May 1 at Public Square, 4pm

As capitalism developed in the U.S.A, workers were put in grueling industrial conditions, and organized into unions to try to change them. By the late 1800s, workers were organizing to demand an 8 hour work day, facing violent repression from their bosses and the government. In May 1884, at Haymarket Square in Chicago, one particularly violent act of repression shocked the world. The struggle of these workers, and all workers across the world, has since then been celebrated on May 1st as International Workers’ Day.

By the early 1900s, workers across the world were growing in their organization and political consciousness. In the U.S.A., the Socialist Party was the largest political organization advocating for the working class, reaching over 110,000 members at its peak, and drawing over 900,000 votes in the 1912 election. In Cleveland, the Socialist Party grew dramatically throughout the 1910s. They consistently advocated for more worker organization in labor unions and against state repression, war and imperialism.

The Socialist Party in Cleveland regularly celebrated May Day, with the largest such celebration in 1919. Over 30,000 workers marched through the streets, including many in the International Workers of the World, and the American Federation of Labor. Their celebration was met with violent repression. Several workers were killed, over 100 were arrested and injured, and the Socialist Party headquarters were ransacked. In Cleveland and throughout the country, this reaction would become commonplace as the Socialist Party and the working class became increasingly organized, and strongly advocated against the U.S.A’s imperialism and wars abroad.

In 2026, we continue to organize around May Day to honor the histories of those that came before us, and continue their struggle for a better world. Today, we see our government increase its violent repression, including subjugation of immigrants and trans people in the U.S.A, genocide in Palestine, and imperalist aggression from Venezuela to Iran. To stop this oppression, and the everyday exploitation of capitalism, workers must be organized. This May Day is just one action to organize around, demonstrating our unity, calling for ICE out, an end for War, and worker power!

Solidarity, forever!

Link to more May Day Photos: https://clevelandhistorical.org/items/show/28

The post Why May Day? appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

Recommend Joe Gerard for Congress OH-03

In Ohio’s heavily gerrymandered congressional map OH-03 should be a seat that represents the district’s strong leftward tilt but it is instead represented by Joyce Beatty, a donor captured Democrat, funder of Israel, and champion of deregulation. She is being challenged by Joe Gerard. In meeting with Joe our chapter found we are aligned on opposing and abolishing ICE, stopping wars abroad, and championing labor rights. While our chapter is generally skeptical of self funded campaigns, Joe’s challenge to big donor’s power over elections is welcome. Though we tend not to offer full endorsements to non-socialist and non-member candidates, the recommendation here is clear: Joe would be a substantial improvement in representation for Central Ohio’s working class in the US House of Representatives.

Recommend YES on Issue 5

Issue 5 is a move to amend the Columbus City Charter with The Community Crisis Response Amendment. The amendment creates a system to provide non-police based emergency response. This would provide an alternative to frequently violent and potentially escalatory police responses to non-violent crises. Additionally this would be done without adding additional funding for the police. The amendment is supported by a wide range of local organizers, labor, and progressive organizations. A vote of YES would be recommended as any move away from the existing violent and militarized policing status-quo is a good move.

Does DSA have a supporter ceiling? A discussion of how large DSA could grow in the United States.

The post How High is the Sky? appeared first on Democratic Left.

Who wins and who loses when Trump's America goes to war?

The post War, Forever and a Day appeared first on Democratic Left.

By Chris W.

A big advantage that the right and forces of reaction have compared to us on the left is that they are defending a system that already exists. There’s not much for them to disagree over, at least not ideologically. We on the socialist left, on the other hand, are trying to build an entirely different kind of society. There are many different ideas of what socialism means and what a socialist society will look like. Ideally, DSA would be united with a clear vision of the socialist society we want to create and firm tactical and strategic plans to get there. We are not at that level of development yet. How do we get there?

I was impressed with the conduct of the chapter at convention. Considering the endless Slack arguments in the weeks leading up to it, I and other comrades I talked to were anticipating an extremely contentious Saturday. Even though there were raised voices at times, all of the arguments were political. I didn’t hear anyone’s character impugned or socialist bona fides questioned. It was even more impressive considering how few times I’ve seen real substantive debates, the kind that draw out the political fault lines within the chapter, happen in my time in DSA (just one time since I joined last June, when there was an amendment on the resolution to endorse the Michigan for the Many campaign).

The lack of debate at General Meetings might have appeared to newer members to show that there was a great deal of ideological unity in the chapter, and the disappearance of that illusion might have come with some shock. If you follow the goings-on at the national conventions, you know that there are a very wide array of tendencies, represented by an even wider array of caucuses. We got a short, though probably not exhaustive, list of the caucuses represented in the chapter at convention after a point-of-information from a comrade. To the newer member, it may seem like they’ve joined an organization of organizations rather than an organization of organizers.

Perhaps even more alarming to them, was the clear divide between Groundwork and the Democracy Coalition. If you were to look at both of their respective voting guides again (don’t worry, I looked so you don’t have to), neither side won everything they wanted. If one side had, I suppose that would be a type of unity, though it would be a shame if the winner would assume they had total control of the direction of the chapter, disregarding the margins they actually won. In the “big tent” of the DSA, the “big tent” meaning that DSA contains any and all tendencies of the anti-capitalist left, there isn’t going to be ideological unity.

The most unified way to move forward is to deliberate and decide our course democratically, so that all sides can make their case to the body they’re in front of, so that both the winning and losing sides will respect the decision that’s made. The way we get to a more unified chapter is through having these types of deliberative assemblies more often.

I think a big reason for the tensions on Slack leading up to the convention is the lack of a public forum for these various views to be heard. Importantly: these need to be in-person forums. It’s much easier to be short with someone or misinterpret tone when things are being hashed out online rather than in person, and having an audience adds additional social pressure to make sure everyone is on their best behavior. While I agree with comrade Ian A.M. that one-on-ones are great and necessary for our organization and rebuilding a sense of camaraderie between the different factions, the best way to build unity is to continue these debates on the floor of the new General Meeting.

It’s my hope now, as it was when I was writing the amendment to R8 to create the new General Meeting structure, that the half hour of time dedicated to debate in the new General Meeting format will be a place where we can regularly exercise our deliberative muscles and collectively develop politically while we try to steer MDDSA. All the amendments, motions and counter-motions that can occur on the debate floor under Robert’s Rules may seem onerous, and there was a point during the afternoon session of the convention where I was feeling ready to get the whole thing over with, but continued practice will help to smooth out our processes.

These debates aren’t just rhetorical exercises, though. The point is to collectively decide on a plan of action, implement it out in the real world, and then evaluate its efficacy. Then the process starts over; we deliberate over a new course of action, vote on it, implement it, and evaluate it. This is how we achieve unity, by respect for democratic decision-making.

Coming out of convention, I actually see a lot of unity in our chapter. We’re unified behind two new campaigns: No Appetite for Apartheid and Organizing Amazon. We have a new Mobilization Working Group. All three of these will carry our work out into the world after spending a bit too much time concerned with internal organization.

Democracy may look like chaos, but it’s actually the source of our strength. Democracy and organizing create our unity, not bylaws amendments or an omerta on discussing factional differences. I look forward to continuing our deliberations and organizing in the next year with all my comrades.

Chris W. is a law student and an uncaucused member of the Democracy Coalition.

How to Live in a Big Tent was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

The post Coulee DSA ENDORSES Fran Hong for Governor! first appeared on Coulee DSA.

Nine things to do before Friday May 1, and one thing to do on that day

1. Plan to take the day off work, either by going on strike at your workplace (probably not that many of you have that option), or by taking a personal or sick day.

2. Find a demonstration near you statewide here and here. Bay Area here (scroll down).

3. Reach out to your union, affinity group, pod, friends, co-workers, family members, parishioners and/or comrades, and invite them along.

4. Make signs. Here are four slogans to start you off: 

• Tax the rich for schools and health care

• Fund communities, not war

• Yes to socialism, No to fascism

• Abolish ICE! Immigrant rights = everyone’s rights

5. Read about the history of May Day.

6. Grab some popcorn and set up a group screening of the thirty-minute documentary video, We Mean To Make Things Over: A History of May Day, streaming for free here.

7. Join DSA, the largest socialist organization in the United States since the 1940s. If you’re already a member, recruit a friend.

8. Spend some time thinking about the best, most sustainable activity you can involve yourself in  to fight fascism.

9. Grocery shop on April 30 so you don’t have to on May 1.

10. Join millions of workers around the country and the globe on May Day, International Workers Day, in demonstrating for a better world. Workers over billionaires! No Work, No School, No Shopping!