Portland DSA co-chair Brian Denning challenges police intimidation of workers calling for more

On Saturday, November 9, residents of your city rallied outside Revolution Hall to respond to the national and local elections.

I saw school teachers, postal workers, bus drivers, nurses, students, retirees, servers, baristas, city workers, Amazon workers, Intel workers, landscapers, nursing home workers, construction workers, adjunct professors — union members, members of local churches, temples, synagogues, and mosques, three news teams, and at least one recently-elected member of Portland City Council.

There was broad engagement of the working class — the people who make this country function and run. This is how you realize the goal of any enlightened society: democracy. Civic engagement makes our city stronger, and more resilient; two characteristics Portland will require in the months ahead.

We came together under the banner, “Workers Deserve More,” which includes a call for building union membership, a 32-hour work week, and supporting working families with child care costs, among other planks of a platform responding to the needs of working people. The tone of the event expressed a strong consensus against mass deportations, against abortion bans, and for ending the illegal transfer of US arms to Israel.

According to the National Lawyers Guild’s legal observer, the Portland Police Bureau deployed a dozen each of foot police and bicycle cops, two spotter planes, and an armada of marked vehicles around the perimeter.

For a police department with perennial complaints about short-staffing despite its record $295 million budget, it is ludicrous to deploy that level of armed manpower to a rally of 120 people. It is a clear political choice by city leadership to impose budget cuts on most city services while the PPB budget continues to balloon.

Deploying dozens of armed police to this rally was an attempt to intimidate Portland’s residents exercising their right to political speech. Was this level of police action requested by the City Council or the Mayor? Does the out-going City Council or Mayor support Police attempting to intimidate their constituents exercising their rights to political speech?

While we’re on the subject, I’d like to call out the political topics so radical they merited an armed force of 30 riot-ready police and accompanying aircraft:

Protecting abortion rights, protecting workers’ rights, and an opposition to mass deportations —demanding the US government follow the multiple federal acts and laws prohibiting weapons being exported to countries engaged in war crimes and genocide — to stop exporting arms to Israel.

Is it ‘radical’ to ask the federal government to follow the laws of our land? Is demanding that the US not be complicit in an ongoing genocide such an alarming position in our city, that is requires 30 militarised officers with firearms, tasers, pepper spray, and body armor?

If, in the coming months, there’s a demonstration about health care, will the ratio of police to participants be one armed officer for every two Portlanders? How about climate change or LGBTQ rights? Does that merit a 1:3 ratio of demonstrators to cops? Equal rights for women — do you call the National Guard in for that one?

It turns out that many of the people of Portland find interacting with armed officers of the court, who have qualified immunity and a history of inexplicable violence, to be an experience to be avoided, whenever possible. But don’t tell the police that — they might just spend the next four years pretending that they’re being oppressed again. Portland, however, knows better…

Your constituent,

Brian Denning

Portland Democratic Socialists of America Co-Chair

rank-and-file Teamster, Local 162

The post We Reject Portland Police Intimidation appeared first on Portland DSA.

In this episode, Aaron Stauffer (Associate Director, The Wendland-Cook Program in Religion and Justice) joins to discuss faith, the strategies of broad-based community organizing, and the role of sacred values in organizing work. For more on the topic, check out his book: Listening to the Spirit: The Radical Social Gospel, Sacred Value, and Broad-based Community Organizing.

Ohio currently holds a substantial 262.5 million dollars in Israeli Bonds. This is a significant financial tie to a country that is under international scrutiny for its actions in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. On February 14th, Toledo passed a Ceasefire resolution. Lucas county has chosen to not purchase new Israeli bonds for the time being, but Cuyahoga county is struggling to convince their city council otherwise. Attorney general Dave Yost intervened and shut down a resolution proposed in June of this year calling for any additional investments in Israel, citing Ohio law which makes it illegal for businesses which receive state funding to boycott, divest or sanction Israel. This was passed in 2016 and then again amended in 2022 to include universities that are not public.

Pursuant to Ohio state law, state entities cannot divest interests in Israel. Ohio Revised Code Section 9.76 prohibits the university from divesting any interests in Israel and prohibits adopting or adhering to a policy that requires divestment from Israel or with persons or entities associated with it.

I hope coalitions in the area begin to understand we cannot simply gather for rallies or protests without making our demands clear. This has typically come in the form of requesting for an arms embargo and an immediate ceasefire but this past year has explained to us that our officials are genuinely not interested in empathizing with a country under occupation and struggling to survive in a genocide.

Going forward, I would highly recommend that we begin to act as a single entity on this issue and create an actual pressure campaign focused on very specific targets. Ohio unfortunately is one of the largest offenders of using tax dollars to fund Israel but we can also consider this a very strategic location in our approach to our organic boycott target. Instead of focusing our efforts towards Starbucks and Coca Cola we need to be more deliberate in our approach to better chokehold these targets.

The above listed is the current BDS list for the listed targets for their ties to Israel. Until these companies come forward and condemn their funding and connections to Israel, these should be our targets. In a capitalist world under conglomerates and monopolies, all consumption is unethical. While we can debate the companies off this list we need to use our efforts to create a focus.

Cincinnati is home to P&G HQ, an incredible offender in terms of funding the genocidal machine that is Israel. So, while it is not listed above, this should be our organic local target. To be frank, I spent a couple of days trying to create a loose pamphlet cross referencing all the products owned by P&G and recommended alternatives, but their products amassed in the 100s. While I believe this could be a reasonable solution, to reinforce the simplicity and success of execution, I would highly recommend we simply shop store brands. If at Kroger, buy Kroger’s products, at Aldi’s the likewise, etc.

I would like to reach out to local coalitions and request they specifically host their rally in front of P&G HQ just to build public awareness on that front, where we all hold signs of specific brands we will be boycotting. I would love to bring to the attention of the body the idea of recalling city council members who aren’t willing to stand in solidarity as a power move on our behalf and to hopefully establish that trend across the US. Maybe we are best off targeting whoever requires the lowest number of votes.

The Democratic Socialists of America rejects all efforts to greenwash genocide including the hosting of the COP29 conference in Azerbaijan. COP29 is the United Nations Climate Change Conference for all signatories of the Paris Climate Accords. This institution should be an opportunity to create international cooperation to combat climate change. As exposed by the devastating impacts of climate change in Hurricane Milton and Hurricane Helene, it is more important than ever that the world come together to combat climate change. 

This type of collaboration cannot be possible in Azerbaijan, a nation committing ethnic cleansing of the Armenian people and providing Israel with the energy required to commit its genocide of the Palestinian people. 

In September of last year, the Azeri military invaded Artsakh, an ethnically Armenian de facto autonomous region in Azerbaijan, killing and injuring hundreds and displacing thousands after intense shelling. That was the culmination of years of Azerbaijani aggression including its invasion in 2020 and imposition of a blockade in 2022. Since then, with Artsakh lost, Azerbaijan now attacks Armenia itself claiming ownership of Armenian towns. This genocide is enabled by the United States, which provides Azerbaijan with hundreds of millions of dollars in “security assistance.” Further, the US pet state Israel hosts military bases inside of Azerbaijan and provides nearly 70% of Azerbaijan’s weapons. 

As Azerbaijan attempts to complete a second Armenian genocide, they also play a significant role enabling the US and Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people. The aforementioned export of Israeli weapons to Azerbaijan bolsters the Israeli economy and military industry, and Azeri oil represents more than a quarter of Israel’s oil imports. This is not to mention the intense environmental damage committed through Israel’s relentless bombing on the entirety of Gaza and across the region. 

Obviously, this does nothing to combat climate change. The U.S. Military-Industrial complex with tentacles around the world is the greatest contributor to climate change humanity has ever seen. The US, Israel, and Azerbaijan’s use of environmentalism is merely a means to cover up the crimes they commit. For centuries colonial projects have established narratives of environmental emptiness to justify colonial expansion and dispossession of indigenous people from their land. The Zionist project’s century-long claim to “make the desert bloom” exemplifies this simultaneously removing Palestinians from their land, justifying the expansion of a settler colonial project, all while committing enormous environmental destruction. 

DSA rejects all attempts at international cooperation against climate change premised on colonialism, disposession, and genocide. We commit ourselves to heed the BDS National Committee and other Palestinian’s call to organize for an energy embargo on Israel and endorse the call to free Armenian political prisoners held by Azerbaijan. Free Palestine. Free Armenia. 

DSA has launched a campaign #StopFuelingGenocide targeting Chevron’s complicity in apartheid and genocide in Palestine. Given Chevron’s status as Israel’s largest natural gas supplier and Azerbaijan’s position as a major oil supplier, this is the most effective way to build the campaign towards an energy embargo on Israel. Use and share these links to sign our petition pledging to boycott Chevron and get involved in the campaign.

The post No Greenwashing Genocide appeared first on DSA International Committee.

by Blair Goodman, MADSA member, co-chair of Equador Working Group on the DSA International Committee and chair of the Training Subcommittee of the DSA Growth and Development Committee

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As we urgently grapple with Trump’s return to the White House, it’s crucial to swiftly understand the economic and political factors that led to this outcome. The Democrats’ failure to promptly address the real economic concerns of working-class Americans has paved the way for Trump’s populist rhetoric to once again resonate with voters.

The Disconnect Between Wall Street and Main Street

Despite the rosy picture painted by macroeconomic indicators – a booming stock market, low unemployment, and steady GDP growth – the reality for average Americans has been starkly different. Under the Biden-Harris administration, we witnessed a shocking 20% increase in consumer prices, the biggest slump in living standards since the 1930s[1]. While the rich got richer, most Americans struggled to keep up with inflation.

The disconnect between official economic data and workers’ lived experiences is staggering. According to a recent poll, 62% of respondents rated the economy as “not so good” or “poor”[2]. This “vibecession” – where public sentiment doesn’t match official economic data – has been a critical factor in the Democrats’ downfall.

The Failure of Bidenomics and Harris’s Neoliberal Approach

Perhaps most damning is the decline in real wages for union workers under Biden. Using the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Employment Cost Index, we see that inflation-adjusted wages and salaries for union workers decreased during Biden’s term while increasing under Trump. No wonder 56% of Americans thought the country was in a recession, with 72% believing inflation was still rising.

Going back to Bill Clinton the Democrats’ embrace of austerity policies has deeply betrayed their working-class base. They’ve continued catering to Wall Street and big business instead of pushing for transformative economic policies that benefit the majority. Harris’s refusal to support a single-payer healthcare system, her backtracking on fracking, and the maintenance of Trump-era tax cuts for the wealthy all demonstrate the party’s shift away from progressive economic policies.

The Shift of Traditional Democratic Voters

One voter’s quote summarizes why sufficient numbers switched from Democrat to Republican: “I’ve been a Democrat my whole life, and I haven’t seen any benefits. Democrats have been sending funds to wars and resources to migrants rather than to Americans who are struggling. I trust Trump to put us first.”[2] This sentiment reflects a broader trend of disillusionment among traditionally Democratic voters, particularly regarding economic issues and the perception that the party wasn’t prioritizing struggling Americans.

The Immigration Paradox

Ironically, much of the US outperformance in economic growth results from a sharp increase in net immigration, twice as fast as in the Eurozone and three times as fast as in Japan. Yet, the Harris campaign failed to capitalize on this economic benefit, instead caving to anti-immigrant sentiment and supporting the continuation of border wall construction, which contradicted the economic benefits of immigration and alienated potential supporters.

The Looming Debt Crisis

Both candidates have ignored the elephant in the room: the ballooning public debt. Currently estimated at $35 trillion, or around 100% of GDP, the debt load is set to soar higher – potentially reaching $50 trillion within the next 10 years. This rising debt will inevitably lead to higher taxes and cuts in government spending, regardless of who is in power, posing a significant economic challenge for the future.

The Need for Socialist Policies is Urgent

Join a socialist organization. I prefer a mass multi-tendency organization like the Democratic Socialists of America, but if you need something more focused, go for it. Learn to be active in your organization and promote outward-facing, mass work.

To rebuild and move forward, we must embrace truly socialist policies that unite the working class:

• Implement a wealth tax on the ultra-rich to fund social programs and infrastructure investments.
• Establish a single-payer healthcare system to eliminate medical debt and ensure universal coverage.
• Enact a Green New Deal that creates millions of good-paying union jobs while addressing climate change.
• Raise the minimum wage to a living wage and strengthen workers’ rights to organize.
• Invest in affordable housing and public transportation to improve the quality of life for all.

The Road Ahead

While the Democratic Party has failed us, we must strategically consider whether it can still be a vehicle for progressive change. Our immediate focus should be building grassroots solid movements and labor organizations that can exert pressure on political institutions from the outside. Of course, we should use the Democratic line where it is strategically convenient and pursue reform that transfers power from the owning classes to the working classes. 

We must also concentrate our defenses against the coming onslaught of right-wing policies. Concentrating our defenses means making choices about where we can protect voting rights, defend reproductive freedom, and safeguard the rights of marginalized communities. We must recognize that unions will likely face a much more hostile environment under a Trump administration, forcing labor into a defensive position. We will need to find a strategy to resume the offensive. 

As we move forward, we must remember that the underlying forces of capitalist production, investment, and profit are much more powerful than any particular policy adopted and implemented by a government. However, this doesn’t mean we should give up on political action. Instead, we must work tirelessly to build a movement that can challenge the foundations of a system that continues to fail most Americans.

The road ahead is challenging, but we must channel our anger and sadness into organizing and action. Only by uniting the working class around a truly progressive economic agenda can we hope to reverse the tide of right-wing populism and build a more just and equitable society for all.

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Sources: 

Kamala Harris Is Not Doing Well With Union Voters

How Bad Would a Trump Presidency Be for Labor? 

The US presidential election: part one – the economy – Michael Roberts Blog

The US election part two: Trump v Harris:  

November 9, 2024

This coming Wednesday 11/13, Common Council will be voting on the City's budget. Conservative Common Council members are introducing amendments that would defund and eliminate essential city services like youth programming and critical infrastructure. We're calling for Common Council to reject these cuts and pass the budget.

These cuts would completely paralyze the city’s ability to do its basic functions: repairing streets and sidewalks, promoting affordable housing and supportive services, and providing childcare for young children and working families. Not to mention, they would reverse so many of the progressive initiatives we have fought for these past few years. Here are some examples:

• Defunding of a city attorney position would disrupt the city's ability to enforce regulations that serve residents' interests, like stopping apartments from being turned into AirBNBs.

• Defunding the city's health insurance would make it even harder for working class people to run for local office

• Defunding the city's contribution to dozens of nonprofits who provide essential services which include food banks, childcare, support for senior residents, and legal aid.

We are calling on members of Ithaca DSA to join us this Wednesday at 5:30 PM at City Hall (108 E Green St, Ithaca) and tell Common Council to reject austerity amendments and pass a People-First Budget. The people first budget implements:

• Substantial funding to address homelessness

• Planning how to implement reparations for Black Ithacans

• Low-cost improvements to winter sidewalk maintenance

These amendments are capitalizing on the legitimate concern Ithacans are feeling about higher taxes, but they're false solutions and the costs will be borne in working people's lives. Our DSA-endorsed council members have identified and proposed cost-saving cuts of half a million dollars for unfilled staffing positions in the police department. Right now, the City is planning to unnecessarily tax residents for positions that have been unfilled for years.

We're petitioning council to keep funding for community, youth, and infrastructure, but cut the excess from the police department — and most importantly, pass this people-first budget.

In Solidarity,

Ithaca DSA

October 21, 2024

Cornell University targeting anti-genocide protestors with suspension, as well as the threat of expulsion and deportation

Ithaca, NY  — On October 17th, four Cornell students, including the former Co-Chair of Cornell YDSA and the President of Cornell Jewish Voices For Peace were suddenly notified of their suspension from the university for participating in anti-genocide protests on campus before promptly being arrested by Cornell University Police and taken away in handcuffs. 

"Cornell's recent suspension of four students for their involvement with a protest was a harsh, unaccountable, and repressive act of administrative violence," said DSA-endorsed Tompkins County Legislator Veronica Pillar. "Rather than protecting students, Cornell's actions further endanger the community. I urge Cornell administrators to reverse their decision, and I stand in solidarity with the multitude of students, faculty, staff, and alumni calling for due process, human rights, and an end to investments in genocide. Free Palestine."

"Cornell University claims to uphold values like free inquiry, expression, and community, yet its retaliatory actions against these students—suspending, arresting, and banning them for participating in a peaceful protest—directly contradict these principles," said DSA-endorsed Alderperson Kayla Matos of the Ithaca Common Council. "Cornell can practice these principles by reversing these suspensions and respecting students' right to free speech and assembly.

This comes after Cornell's suspension of Graduate Student Momodou Taal, who the university had threatened with deportation before public backlash caused his suspension to be walked back. After Taal's initial suspension, Joel Malina, Cornell's VP of University Relations, in a private meeting with students and parents, affirmed that Cornell University is comfortable with inviting the Ku Klux Klan to university campus. Cornell University's willingness to deport a Black immigrant student for exercising his right to free speech while simultaneously welcoming white supremacists onto campus is blatant white supremacy and we condemn it unequivocally.   

“As of late Cornell University appears more concerned with surveilling and policing its students than with educating them,” said Jorge DeFendini, Chair of Ithaca DSA. "I urge the university to adhere to its mission of 'Any Person, Any Study,' and allow all students to exercise their right to free speech without vindictive retaliation from the administration." 

Ithaca DSA condemns Cornell University's retaliation against its students and stands in total solidarity with these brave protestors in their principled stance against the genocide of Palestine. We call on the university to reverse these suspensions, drop arrest charges, and adhere to the student body's resounding call to divest from companies complicit in Israel's genocide in Gaza. 

Solidarity Forever & Free Palestine.

Steering Committee of Ithaca Democratic Socialists of America

May 29, 2024

Over 48,000 members of UAW 4811, higher ed workers in the University of California system, are standing up and striking back against unfair and illegal repression by their universities. These workers make the university system run with their labor, by instructing classes and bringing in grant money with their research. The wealth they create is then invested in weapons manufacturers and other companies that supply, support, and enable the genocide in Gaza, the illegal settlement of the West Bank, and the day to day violence of Israel’s apartheid regime. This Monday, May 19, they began their strike. 

These workers heeded the call put out by their fellow students, joining the movement for a ceasefire in Gaza and Palestinian liberation. Union members were tear-gassed, beaten, and intimidated – first by counter protesters and then by police called by the University of California.

The response to students and workers exercising their right to free speech was repression and violence. But these academic workers are unionized, and have legal protections from unfair labor practices like this. And they have a tool to protect their rights: the strike.  

With this strike, UAW 4811 makes the following demands:

1. Amnesty for all academic employees, students, student groups, faculty, and staff who face disciplinary action or arrest due to protest.

2. Right to free speech and political expression on campus.  

3. Divestment from UC’s known investments in weapons manufacturers, military contractors, and companies profiting from Israel’s war on Gaza. 

4. Disclosure of all funding sources and investments, including contracts, grants, gifts, and investments, through a publicly available, publicly accessible, and up-to-date database.

5. Empower researchers to opt out from funding sources tied to the military or oppression of Palestinians. The UC must provide centralized transitional funding to workers whose funding is tied to the military or foundations that support Palestinian oppression. 

UC academic workers are fighting against repression on behalf of students and workers everywhere, from California to Palestine! Their fight is our fight, and we stand with them!

As DSA members, we know that the workers at the University of California are fighting not just for their own safety and right to peacefully protest, but for workers all across the world, especially in Palestine. Workers at UC are taking a bold step, striking not only for better working conditions, but to defend their fundamental political rights and freedoms. After all, it is our collective power to withhold our labor by which these very rights are guaranteed. We know that the struggle for a better future begins on the shop floor, and as democratic socialists, we stand loudly and proudly alongside all workers who demand political freedom and an end to the genocide in Palestine.

Therefore, as Ithaca DSA members we commit to:

• Amplify the demands of the rank-and-file through public statements of support

• Hold UC accountable to meet the just demands of their workers

• (IF APPLICABLE: We will join striking workers on the picket line and provide material support to help them stay strong)

When workers, students, and social movements stand together demanding an end to US complicity in Israel’s genocide, we will win!