From EWOC to UAW, workers are fighting back and winning. Check out this snapshot of recent worker wins and how you can win at work too.

The post Labor Stacks Up More Wins appeared first on EWOC.

The following is part of a press release from the Small Union, a newly announced union effort associated with the New England Joint Board of UNITE HERE.

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Portland, Maine — On Tuesday, January 30th, the workers of Smalls (a cafe on Portland’s West End) presented a letter to owner Samantha Knopf, informing her of their intent to form a union. The workers called on Knopf and her business partners to voluntarily recognize their union and begin fair negotiations for a contract as soon as possible. 

“Our demands are simple: fair compensation and good treatment for the hard work we do every day,” said Smalls cook Jamie C, 22, “with such overwhelming support from the staff and community, we expect our employer will recognize our efforts and begin bargaining with us in good faith.” 

Smalls has been a popular West End spot since its opening in 2022. Open all day, community members enjoy the environment as a social, leisure, and work space; a genuine third space. It has a history of supporting efforts to better our community, recently launching a raffle to benefit Palestine, all proceeds going to the PCRF (there’s still time to enter if you’re reading this day of), supporting protestors at the Harborview Encampment through supplying protestors and unhoused neighbors with free food during the eviction process, and helping to deliver free meals during the holidays. 

Creating a safe space for the queer community has also been a highlight to workers, owners, and patrons of Smalls, with all workers being queer or vehement allies of the community. Knopf herself is queer and has done the very important work of making sure Smalls is a space where the people can gather and find community with events like queer speed dating.

However, workers at Smalls are genuinely suffering. They are unable to afford the rising costs of housing, healthcare, and basic necessities (utilities, car payments, etc) as the cost of living in Portland rises, and pay stays the same. This begs the question, how queer-friendly is a business if its queer staff can’t afford to live? The workers rightly point out this gap in their employer’s mission statement. Service industry workers, queer and straight alike, deserve to have the financial ability to access healthcare, rest, and recreation.

“We know that Portland’s economy is built on our hard work and the work of thousands of others like us. We’ve built this city, we should be paid enough to afford to live where we work,” said Robyn E, 28, “I love my job, bartending brings me so much joy, but I need to be paid and treated in such a way that makes it sustainable for me and my community.” 

Inspired by the success of local restaurant workers who organized unions at CÔNG TỬ BỘT, Coffee By Design, and the former Starbucks Workers United on Congress Street, the workers at Smalls chose to form a union instead of attempting to address all of their needs individually. 

“I have always loved working in the service industry, but I have never been able to do what I love and afford a quality standard of living”, said Smalls cook Peach C, 26, “Given the massive economic impact that service workers have in Portland, it only makes sense that workers should be able to live in the town where they work and not struggle every day with finances.”

In light of the workers organizing, Katie Schools, a Maine Restaurant Workers organizer said, “Food service has one of the lowest unionization rates in the country, at only 1.4% in 2023. Because of this, things like low pay and unsafe working conditions are the norm in the industry. Portland’s famous food scene is built on the hard work of workers, and their love for their community and customers. These workers deserve a voice in their workplace and a say over their working conditions. Unionizing is a step towards making the food service industry sustainable for everybody, not just businesses.” 

The workers are joining the New England Joint Board UNITE HERE! The worker’s effort is supported by the Maine AFL-CIO’s Southern Maine Labor Council, Restaurant Workers Coalition, and Maine Democratic Socialists of America.

One Small Union NEJB has invited all supporters, friends, comrades, community members, and the press to attend a “Sip-In” event in support of their effort from 8:00 am – 8:00 pm on Thursday, February 1st, at Smalls, 28 Brackett St, Portland. 

We are made up of 8 Baristas, Bartenders, and Cooks. We all have established careers in the service industry and hope to be able to afford a living doing what we love. 

The New England Joint Board UNITE HERE represents workers in the textile, garment, manufacturing, warehousing, laundry, human service, and hospitality industries in New England and New York, including workers at CÔNG TỬ BỘT, Portland’s first independent unionized restaurant. 

Sip-In Event

After delivering a letter asking for voluntary recognition of their unanimously-supported union, the workers at Smalls are inviting all to join them in a sip-in to show support for their union recognition campaign. Inspired by similar events organized by Starbucks Workers United to demonstrate community support for the workers, all are invited to come by the cafe, order some food or drink, and offer words of support and encouragement! Attendees are asked to wear their own union attire, if applicable, and bring small signs or cards showing their support. 

What:​ One Small Union Sip-in

When:​ Thursday, February 1st
Where:​ Smalls, 28 Brackett St, Portland, ME‬

The post Smalls Workers Stand Up! Workers at West End cafe announce unanimously supported campaign for union recognition appeared first on Pine & Roses.

2023 was our busiest year yet with some truly extraordinary organizing wins.

The post Our Organizing Wins in 2023 appeared first on EWOC.

Events

Thursday, 2/1 (6:00 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.): Ecosocialist Monthly Meeting (Zoom)

Friday, 2/2 (12:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m.): Office Hours (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 2/3 (2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m.): Trans Rights & Bodily Autonomy Kickoff (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Monday, 2/5 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Mexican Solidarity Project Speaking Tour feat. José Luis Ceja (Acción Latina, 2958 24th Street)

Tuesday, 2/6 (6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.): SHOP Training with the Tenant Organizing Working Group (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Wednesday, 2/7 (6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): Extreme Dean Turnout Wednesday (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Wednesday, 2/7 (6:30 p.m. – 8:00 p.m.): HWG Reading Group: Mean Streets (In person at 1916 McAllister; Zoom)

Saturday, 2/10 (11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m.): Homelessness Working Group (HWG) Office Hours (In person at 1916 McAllister)

Saturday, 2/10 (1:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m.): HWG Sock Distro (Meet in person at 1916 McAllister)

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

Events & Actions

Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy Kickoff Call

Next Saturday, February 3rd from 2:00 p.m. – 3:00 p.m. at 1916 McAllister, Alyssa A will be hosting a watch party for the DSA Trans Rights and Bodily Autonomy kickoff call to celebrate the launch of a nationwide DSA push to fight for trans rights and bodily autonomy across the country.

This a joint event with East Bay DSA so come out, meet, and organize with comrades from all over the Bay! As a leader in the campaign, Alyssa will be available to answer your questions!

Mexico Solidarity Project Speaking Tour with José Luis Ceja

Next Monday, February 5th, from  6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m., DSA SF is hosting the San Francisco stop of a nationwide speaking tour for journalist José Luis Ceja. The event will take place in the Mission at Accíon Latina’s office at 2958 24th Street. The event will be in English with Spanish language translation available for attendees who prefer Spanish.

José Luis is a journalist and expert on immigration, the border, trade, labor, and national sovereignty. The event will be part talk, part Q&A with the audience. Andy M (former DSA SF ISC co-chair and now EBDSA member) will be emceeing the event!

This speaking tour is part of a nationwide tour hosted by the Mexico Solidarity Project & DSA International Committee.

We expect a full house, so please register below!

Join the Tenant Organizing Working Group for SHOP Training!

Come join the DSA Tenant Organizing Working Group for the final session of a three-part training to develop successful socialist tenant organizers.

Part 3 of the Socialist Housing Organizing Program (SHOP) covers the basics  of an organizing conversation to recruit your neighbors to the tenant union.

You can attend upcoming training on Tuesday, February 6th at 6:30 p.m. at 1916 McAllister.

This training will take place at the DSA SF office at 1916 McAllister. Zoom is available upon request. Register today!

Nominate Co-Chairs for the Palestine Solidarity Working Group

The Palestine Solidarity Working Group will be holding elections for the working group’s co-chairs at the February 14th chapter meeting! The new co-chairs’ term will last from February through June. Members can nominate themselves or a comrade by emailing steering@dsasf.org with their nominations before the February chapter meeting.

Show Your Smolidarity at the February Chapter Meeting

The Priority Mutual Aid Working Group will be providing childwatch at the chapter meeting next month on February 14th!

Parents and caregivers can fill out this form before the meeting to help ensure we have enough volunteers and supplies on hand. Volunteers interested in providing childcare can let us know on the #priority-mutual-aid Slack channel or via the form. We hope to see you and your kiddos there!

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.

Questions? Feedback? Something to add?

We welcome your feedback. If you have comments or suggestions, send a message to the #newsletter channel on Slack.

For information on how to add content, check out the Newsletter Q&A thread on the forum.

Since October, Turkey has ramped up its attacks on North-East Syria. Increasingly, they are targeting civilians and their infrastructure, especially with the striking of power plants, hospitals, grain silos and water stations. These attacks are blatant violations of the Geneva Conventions and signify a total disregard for human life. The damage has been so devastating that half of all civilian infrastructure there is now destroyed. 

Rojava is the Democratic Autonomous Administration of North-East Syria (DAANES), a society which adheres to the libertarian socialist principles emphasized in Abdullah Öcalan’s ideology of democratic confederalism. They have enshrined women’s equality through active female participation in all scores of democratic and organizational life. Rojava is a movement fighting for self-determination, cooperative economy, social ecology and against the ultranationalist, far-right government of Turkey and Islamic State forces in the region. 

We demand that our DSA-member United States Representatives, especially Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Rashida Tlaib respect the will of the people of Rojava and vote to keep U.S. troops on the ground in North-East Syria, which are vital in maintaining suppression of IS forces and preventing further Turkish advancements. This is not a call for U.S. occupation of North-East Syria, or indefinite deployment of U.S. troops there; we desire that the U.S. retain existing support for the Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) until Turkey and its militia affiliates withdraw from the Afrin region and commit to no further aggression to Rojava and its people. Moreover, we ask of our public officials that the U.S place Economic and Political Sanctions on the far-right leadership of Turkey, put an end to the sale and delivery of weapons to Turkey which is being used in a genocide against the Kurdish people and insist upon Rojava being given a seat at the Syrian peace negotiations.

Further, we demand the U.S. back out of the $20 billion F-16s deal with Turkey. We urgently call on DSA and YDSA chapters across the U.S. to combine their support for this petition and stand in solidarity with the revolution in Rojava. Solidarity forever!

#RiseUp4Rojava #WomenDefendRojava #SmashTurkishFascism 

Signed,

Young Democratic Socialists of America at Lawrence University

Young Democratic Socialists of America at UW-Madison

Young Democratic Socialists of America at Marquette University

Young Democratic Socialists of America at Princeton University

Libertarian Socialist Caucus of the Democratic Socialists of America

Young Democratic Socialists of America at UC-Merced

Democratic Socialists of America Metro Detroit

(this petition will be updated when more YDSA/DSA chapters sign on using this form)

by Sara G.

Our chapter is kicking off the year with new campaigns that will get us out on the streets in February, talking to our neighbors about how, together, we can change Austin. We’ll be canvassing for local political candidates, talking to workers in local businesses about how they can support Palestinian liberation, and escalating our labor support.

In the past month…

• Our chapter proudly endorsed District Attorney José Garza for his re-election campaign. José has shown a commitment to empowering sexual assault victims, holding police officers accountable, and creating community-driven solutions for public safety. We began going door-to-door to make sure that our neighbors get to the polls in March to vote for the candidate who is working to support the working class in Texas.

• On the 18th, we joined with others from the Austin for Palestine coalition for a rally in front of City Hall. Members have been calling city council, pleading with them to pass a ceasefire resolution, following in the footsteps of many other cities like San Francisco, Atlanta, and Detroit. Gumbo, a member of the chapter Leadership Committee, testified before the council, and our co-chair Garrigan published an op-ed in the Austin Chronicle. City council did not join their peers around the nation in passing a resolution.

• Our Membership Engagement Committee kicked off the chapter’s Rose Buddy Mentorship program. After attending orientation, new members will have the option to be paired with a more experienced member to help them understand all the ongoing campaigns and events while building deeper relationships within the chapter. 

• Also from Membership Engagement, Socialist Sprouts volunteers will provide child watching for parents attending our General Body Meetings.

• The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee has been helping workers at a Fedex Office here in Austin organize their workplace. The Fedex workers describe the unsafe conditions that led them to taking action.

• As part of our political education series, member Andrew Hairston spoke with the chapter about his trip to Cuba as part of DSA’s delegation in October. Our organizational commitment to international solidarity means learning from movements in other countries and showing support for comrades everywhere. Read more in this interview with Andrew.

• As part of our Schools for All campaign, we started talking to families in South Austin about the community school model, where public schools provide wraparound services based on the specific needs of their neighborhood, and invite community members to engage in shared decision-making.

The post

Austin DSA in Action

January 2024

first appeared on Red Fault.

The DSA National Political Committee made substantial cuts to YDSA’s budget in the midst of a broader response to the organization’s budget crisis. The YDSA National Coordinating Committee and other YDSA leaders have protested these decisions. The author spoke to leaders across Y/DSA as they prepared their responses and planned for future organizing. DSA’s National…

The post “Personally Devastating”: YDSA Budget Slashed in Deficit Crisis Cuts appeared first on YDSA.

The following remarks were made in front of Batavia City Hall at Genesee County DSA’s Rally for Palestine on January 27, 2024.

Palestine and the Thought-Terminating Cliché.

by Logan W. Cole

So much of the discussion surrounding the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza is designed to derail conversation about atrocities being committed against Palestinians or prevent one from being sympathetic to those in Gaza. One of the rhetorical devices that has been frequently employed in the propaganda and conversation surrounding Palestine is the thought-terminating cliché.

A thought-terminating cliché is an overused piece of language that is intended to stop an argument or conversation, rather than give it the attention it deserves. For example, the word “terrorist” and the concept of terrorism are often used to try to halt discussion of Palestinian losses so people do not become sympathetic to them.

At times, the Israeli media would take the figures of Palestinian casualties provided by the Gaza Health Ministry and say that all of them were terrorists — for example, Israeli news sources would say instead of 9,000 Palestinians killed (many of which were literally children), “9,000 terrorists eliminated.” As far as I’m concerned, the word “terrorist” has no place in the discourse about Palestine.

Sometimes, an important problem is marginalized because it is cynically deployed as a thought-terminating cliché. Bigotry against Jewish people has been a huge problem, as we recently saw at the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville and the synagogue shootings in Pittsburgh and Jersey City. Lately, speaking out against the atrocities committed against Palestinians and the Zionist (right-wing, nationalist) ideas that underpin them by groups like Jewish Voice for Peace and initiatives like BDS (Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions), has been deemed by some, including the Anti-Defamation League (the ADL), as “antisemitic.”

Zionism is not Judaism — indeed there are more Zionist Christians in the United States than there are Jewish people in the world. Declaring an anti-Zionist statement is antisemitic solely on that basis is itself a form of anti-Jewish bigotry because it associates the entirety of Jewish people with the modern form of Zionism, which takes much of its inspiration from atrocious ideologies like Manifest Destiny and eugenics, which themselves were used to justify other genocides. Conflating anti-Zionism and anti-Jewish bigotry through the use of the term “antisemitism” takes attention from the real acts of hate and violence being committed against Jewish people every day. The use of antisemitism as a thought-terminating cliché hurts both Jewish and Palestinian people.

Ironically, perhaps the most commonly used thought-terminating cliché is the idea that the subject is complicated, complex, or that it requires nuance. Nothing ends a conversation or stops someone from asking questions faster than saying a situation is complicated.

The fact that there is a genocide in Gaza is not complicated:

• More than 25,000 dead (more than 10,000 of them children);
• More than 60,000 wounded;
• More than 7,000 trapped under rubble;
• More than 100 times as many children die everyday in Gaza than in the Ukrainian conflict zone;
• More than 1.9 million people have been displaced in Gaza — that’s more than 85% of the population;
• Only 5 doctors remain in Gaza;
• 83 out of ~1,000 journalists in Gaza have been killed (more than 8%);
• More than 7,000 Palestinian political prisoners detained;
• More than 70% of homes have been destroyed in Gaza; and
• 95% of those facing starvation in the world are in Gaza right now.

It’s not complicated. We can’t stop thinking about Gaza. There needs to a ceasefire, a halt to all US support for the military exploits against Palestine, no further Israeli settlements on Palestinian land, and a free Palestine from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea.

* * *

We’re Watching it Live on Social Media.

by Lauren Berger

Good afternoon, my name is Lauren Berger and I am a member of the Livingston County Democratic Socialists of America.

Last time I spoke at a rally for Palestine it was holiday time so I talked about Bethlehem, where Jesus was born, in today’s occupied West Bank. I talked about the military checkpoint in Bethlehem, where an apartheid system of law would separate Jesus’ civil rights from those of his parents because of where he was born, were he not born Jewish – this is what it means to live in an ethnostate.

Not only is the Israeli military relentlessly bombing hospitals, universities and refugee camps, but refusing the access of crucial supplies into Gaza. There is no clean water and no medical supplies. There is no food. The Palestinian people who have managed to survive this far are now facing deliberate starvation.

For more than 100 days, bombs from the USA have rained down on Palestine. The total of those killed, wounded and missing is over ninety thousand people – including more than ten thousand dead children – in 112 days. The speed at which the Israeli military has murdered men, women and children of all ages in Gaza has never been seen before in recorded human history. Not only is this recorded, but we’re watching it live on social media.

I’ve seen it, you’ve seen it. It’s constant. The coverage is everywhere – videos of screaming toddlers next to their dead parents; hospitals in crowded disarray, as medical staff scramble to provide care to maimed patients laid on a dirty, blood-soaked floor; devastated mothers and fathers holding their bloody, motionless children, rocking back and forth, screaming; teenagers and elderly and babies in every state of horrific injury, their faces gaunt with hunger. It breaks your heart, and fractures your mind when this absolute devastation is met with silence, excuses or even applause.

And yet that is what we are witnessing. Mainstream news media, for the most part, continues to take their cues directly from the Israeli military. Coverage of the onslaught reads like a dystopian George Carlin thought exercise (Israeli hostages are “women and children,” Palestinians hostages are “females and those under 18;” Israelis are “killed by airstrikes,” Palestinians “die as a result of explosions.”

And then there are the statements themselves. Footage of speeches by Israeli officials show disturbingly genocidal quotes, including the Israeli President claiming “there are no innocent civilians in Gaza.” They are saying the quiet part out loud. The families of the Israeli hostages have been ignored by their own government. It becomes clearer and clearer every single day that Israeli officials care nothing for the lives of even their own citizens, including the hostages they claim to be fighting for.

The US government has been vocal in its support of Israel, no matter what. Claudia Tenney, our congress member, has sent me five copies of a largely unchanged statement applauding the billions of our dollars she wants to send Israel for them to keep doing what they’re doing. She would prefer we see Democrats and Republicans as opposites, but in truth they are quite similar. In fact, Tenney is in lockstep with Joe Biden on this issue. Disregard for Palestinian lives receives high bipartisan support.

So the question is…what do we do about it?

We can continue to learn about Palestine and bear witness to those reporting from the ground. We can share and uplift information to help others learn and we can continue to show up at events like this. When people come together like this, we are organizing a network to support each other through activism long after we leave here today.

We can follow the Boycott, Divestment and Sanction campaign, and boycott the Big Three if we can – McDonald’s, Starbucks and Disney.

We can call our representatives, sure. And we should – every day. But understand the reality. Sending Israel endless money and guns and bombs is probably the most bipartisan thing they do. Even though 61% of all likely voters support a cease-fire, only 15% of Congress does (67 congress members and five senators, not ours). Joe Biden sidestepped Congressional authority—twice—to send more than $250 million to Israel in December. Typically, an abuse of power like that would earn disdain – and if it came from Trump, it would have. Where are the democrats who told us Trump would catapult us into war?

The campaign for your vote in November has already started and we all know that green talks louder than red or blue. So we can be shrewd and politic just like the rest of them – and we can say the lesser of two evils is no longer good enough. We can withhold our votes, we can threaten to withhold our votes even if we probably will vote for them in the end, and we can support organizing the networks that work for the people, not weapons contractors.

We can also keep talking about Palestine and learning the history, and all the ways in which Zionism is not Judaism – and how anti-Zionism is not antisemitism. We must keep talking, and keep learning, so can know the truth about what decolonization is and is not – so we can explain that it is not a call for anti-Jewish violence but instead a call for liberation and freedom, when we say “from the river to the sea, Palestine will be free!”

* * *

The post Never Again For Anyone: Comments from the Rally for Palestine at Batavia City Hall first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America Little Red Letter #122 TCDSA Moves In, Gaza Ceasefire Call In Minneapolis, Camp Nenookaasi Lives On, and More! At long last, the search for a new home for TCDSA is over and we have signed a lease on an office space! Due to the tireless work of our office […]