Events & Actions

Events with a are especially new-member-friendly!

Tuesday, October 28 (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM): ICE out of SF courts! (in person at 100 Montgomery St)

Tuesday, October 28 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM): “Stop the Threat of US War on Venezuela!”: A History of US-Venezuela Relations (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Wednesday, October 29 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Tech Reading Group: Empire of AI by Karen Hao (zoom and in person at 518 Valencia St)

Wednesday, October 29 (6:45 PM – 8:30 PM): Tenant Organizing Working Group Meeting (zoom and in at person at Radical Reading Room, 438 Haight St)

Thursday, October 30 (7:30 PM – 9:30 PM): “Housing the City by the Bay: Tenant Activism, Civil Rights, and Class Politics in San Francisco” – TOWG Reading Group (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Friday, October 31 (2:30 PM – 4:00 PM): Keep Market St. Moving! Roundtable with Drivers (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Saturday, November 1 (1:00 PM – 5:00 PM): Growing Community: Urban Food Production at Alemany Farm (in person at Alemany Farm, 700 Alemany Blvd)

Sunday, November 2 (1:00 PM – 2:00 PM): SF EWOC Lead Generation Strategy Session (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, November 2 (5:30 PM – 7:15 PM): HWG Reads  “Capitalism & Disability…” (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, November 3 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board x SF EWOC Local Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Tuesday, November 4 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM): Ecosocialist Bi-Weekly Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Thursday, November 6 (5:30 PM – 6:30 PM): Education Board Open Meeting (zoom)

Thursday, November 6 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Immigrant Justice Court Action Orientation (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Friday, November 7 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM):  Comrade Karaoke (in person at the Roar Shack, 34 7th St)

Sunday, November 9 (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM): Physical Education + Self Defense Training (in person at the William McKinley Monument)

Sunday, November 9 (2:00 PM – 4:00 PM): Palestine Study: There is No Socialist Israel  (in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, November 9 (5:00 PM – 7:00 PM): Capital Reading Group (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, November 10 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Tenderloin Healing Circle (in person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Monday, November 10 (6:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting (zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, November 10 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board Meeting (zoom)

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

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Take Action: Support a Green Public Bank for San Francisco

San Francisco has the chance to make history by creating a green bank: a publicly-owned institution that invests in affordable housing, small businesses, and clean energy instead of Wall Street profits. A Green Bank Resolution was recently introduced by our Socialist in Office Jackie Fielder, and we need to show the Board of Supervisors and Mayor Lurie that San Franciscans support it.

A public bank would keep our money circulating in our communities, fund climate solutions, and help build a city that works for everyone — not just the wealthy.

Take two minutes to send an email to the Mayor and Supervisors using our email tool.

Want to help build the campaign? Join the #public-bank channel in Slack or email ecosocialist@dsasf.org to get plugged into organizing efforts and stay updated on next steps.

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Stop The Threat Of US War On Venezuela!

Wondering how we got here? Want to understand why Trump is attacking Venezuela? Need to deepen your understanding of US-Venezuela relations? And most importantly: want to discuss how we can fight back?

Join the Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialism working group at 1916 McAllister on Tuesday, October 28th, 6:00-7:30PM in an educational forum on the history of Venezuela and the struggle against US imperialism. RSVP HERE!

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ICE Out of SF Courts!

Join neighbors, activists, grassroots organizations in resisting ICE abductions happening at immigration court hearings! ICE is taking anyone indiscriminately in order to meet their daily quotas. Many of those taken include people with no removal proceedings.

We’ll be meeting every Tuesday and Friday from 8:00 AM to 4:30 PM at Immigration Court at 100 Montgomery. We need all hands on deck. The 8:00 AM to 10:00 AM window is when we most need to boost turnout, but if you can’t make that please come whenever works for you. 1 or 2 hours or the entire time! We’re also holding orientation sessions for folks, but that is not required to attend. See the Immigrant Justice Court Action Orientation event for more details.

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DSA SF Tenant Organizing Reading Group – “Housing the City by the Bay: Tenant Activism, Civil Rights, and Class Politics in San Francisco” 

San Francisco has always had an affordable housing shortage, but solutions outside of the private sector have long been neglected or overlooked. Join us as we learn about the history of one proposed solution: public housing.

Our four-part reading group will meet every other Thursday at 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM hybrid in person at 1916 McAllister and Zoom with RSVP to discuss John Baranski’s book “Housing the City by the Bay”. The next meeting will be Thursday, October 30.

If you wish to join please RSVP here!

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Growing Community: Urban Food Production at Alemany Farm

Come join DSA SF’s Ecosocialist working group Saturday, November 1st, 2025 1:00 – 5:00PM  as we get our hands dirty gardening at one of SF’s community gems, Alemany Farm.

First, we will tour the farm and learn about its history as a community gathering place and food source. Next, we will be doing volunteer gardening tasks (planting seedlings, harvesting weeds, flipping compost, building paths, etc.). Midway through our volunteer work, we’ll take a break to discuss the farm’s mission and how it relates to DSA’s values and goals, covering topics including environmentalism, anti-capitalist food production, and shared public space. We’ll finish with a bit more volunteer work and a harvest, where we’ll collect some crops from around the farm and take some home! RSVP here!

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Join SF EWOC to Organize the Unorganized!

The SF local of the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) needs to get more workplace organizing leads so we can increase union density! Our strategy sessions (held at the DSA SF office, 1916 McAllister) will determine what neighborhoods and tactics to use at the next flyering event. You don’t need to be a volunteer or organizer with EWOC to attend! Our next strategy session will be Sunday, November 2nd at 1:00PM at 1916 McAllister. RSVP here!

We will have monthly regular strategizing and flyering events on the first and third Sundays of every month at 1PM. Our next flyering event will be  Sunday, November 16th at 1:00PM – location TBD! RSVP here!

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Organizing Mindset Training

Organizing is at the core of what we do as socialists — and it’s a skill that can be developed and practiced. Come join fellow comrades as we learn and discuss how we can incorporate organizing fundamentals into our day-to-day actions so that we can build stronger, more cohesive, and more active communities that can rally together against the unjust capitalist system. Whether it’s our neighbors, coworkers, friend groups, fellow transit-riders, or any other communities we interact with daily, we will always be stronger when we are organized, aligned on the most critical issues we are facing, and ready to act in unison and put our collective people power behind our demands.

Join us at 1916 McAllister St on Sunday, November 16th from 3:00 – 6:00PM for the first iteration in what we hope will become a recurring, multi-part Organizing Mindset training.   All are invited and encouraged to attend, whether you are new to DSA, new to organizing, or a more seasoned member/organizer. This first session in particular is a great one to attend if you are interested in helping shape future iterations of this training. RSVP here!

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DSA SF Homelessness Working Group Reads: Capitalism & Disability: Selected Writings by Marta Russell

Join DSA SF’s Homelessness Working Group as we read through Capitalism & Disability: Selected Writings by Marta Russell. We’ll be meeting every other Sunday evening starting in September for 4 or 5 sessions at 1916 McAllister. The next session is Sunday, November 2nd. For more info, register here: bit.ly/martacd and check the events calendar for latest details.

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Immigrant Justice Court Action Orientation

Come one, come all to 1916 McAllister St for our court watch orientation! You’ll learn how we are resisting ICE , how you can help, and participate in a biweekly art build. Bring questions and anti-ICE slogans! This event will take place every other week on Thursdays starting at 7:00 PM and the next one is November 6th!

by Elizabeth Henderson

The fall is the time to put your garden to bed for the winter. Global warming has not yet ended the cold months in Rochester, and farmer almanacs predict an especially cold winter. Sadly, too many gardeners believe that the best way for their garden to go into the winter is naked, so they clean off all crop residues and even till the soil one last time. Leaving your garden bare is about as good for your soil as spending the winter sleeping outside on the street naked would be for your health.

While division, anger and uncertainty predominate on the political scene, Rochester area soil health enthusiasts came together on September 16 at the FoodLink Community Farm on Lexington Avenue, Rochester, in a joyous and educational celebration that could serve as a model public-private partnership with local gardeners, city, county,  and federal agencies, and not-for-profits cooperating in mutual support and respect, in service of one of the most basic necessities for human resilience. This collaboration has come about through decades of dedicated efforts to change the predominant agricultural mantra that soil is just a medium to hold up plants.

Lori Koenick, CCE Cornell Vegetable Agent, lead organizer of this event, and Frank Keophetlasy, farm manager, welcomed the 65 participants to the field day. Starting with the basics, Michael Glos, New York Soil Health program, and Nicole Kubiczki, Natural Resources Conservation Service, introduced the meaning and significance of healthy soil: healthy soils are living ecosystems teeming with microorganisms, worms, nematodes and countless other companions who feed crops as they feed and eat one another cycling nutrients and moisture. Science and the indigenous knowledge of agroecology come together at last! Kubiczki reaffirmed the NRCS (and agroecological) soil health basics:

• Keep the soil covered in green plants for as many months as possible – Maximize photosynthesis.
• Keep the fungi happy! Fungi go deep with their hyphae for all the best plant food. Tillage disrupts their delicate network of hyphae.
• Keep a diversity of species above ground to enhance species diversity below ground.
• Support microbes, fungi and bacteria, to keep them working – feed them with compost, vermicompost.
• Minimize tillage – bare soil loses carbon – use permanent vegetable bed systems.
• Over the winter plant cover crops or mulch.

For the next two hours, we learned how differently bare soils and soils planted densely with grasses or cover crops respond to heavy rain. The rain runs right through the bare soils taking large amounts of soil with it. Densely planted soils absorb the water and lose very few particles as run-off.

The summer’s extensive reconstruction of the farm allowed farm manager John Miller to plant 24 of the new raised beds in an array of cover crops – grasses (rye, tritcale, oats), legumes (clovers, vetch, winter peas), buckwheat, sunflowers and mixtures. Yours truly, a local organic farmer/gardener pointed to these living examples as I launched the “Cover Crop Guide for Urban Gardens” that Koi Mendez and I just completed and will distribute broadly to help gardeners plant the right cover crops for every season. Miller then demonstrated techniques for terminating the cover crops to derive the most benefit for the soil. Koi Mendez, lead farmer at 490 Farmers, shared the many good practices for growing, underseeding, combining, and timing cover crops that they have learned from Jamaican ancestors and Rochester experience. To conclude the afternoon, Glos and Mallory Hohl, CCE Harvest NY, explained the latest approaches to protecting ourselves from the heavy metals that may contaminate urban garden soils.

And to top off all the learning, no one went home empty-handed. Steph Rawleigh, educator for the Taproot Collective, gave each gardener a generous bag of cover crop seed, a mixture of oats and winter peas, carefully inoculated with microorganisms that enhance their growth.

So if you have a garden, be sure to plant cover crops. Oats and peas will get a decent start as late as mid-October. If you miss planting, mulch with hay, straw or chopped up leaves. While each garden bed may be small, if we cover cropped or mulched all gardens it would make a difference in mitigating climate change.

Just as local soil health folks are coming together, organic farmers from all over the country met at the Real Organic Project (ROP), September 26 – 27, to learn more and share ideas about the closely related topics of anti-trust and keeping the soil in organic. The essence of organic farming is healthy soil. Most of the practices that organic farmers use (cover cropping, rotations, recycling nutrients, avoiding toxic synthetic pesticides, herbicides and synthetic nitrogen fertilizers) aim at making the soil healthier. For the last few years, unbeknownst to shoppers, an increasing share of the certified organic food sold in US groceries is not grown in soil. Hydroponic crops, sold by a small number of highly concentrated companies, are underselling the soil-grown crops from the mid-sized and smaller farms that make up most of the organic farms in the country and around the globe. Organic farmers established ROP to challenge this corporate flimflam that the USDA National Organic Program approves. Nowhere else in the world are hydroponically grown foods certified organic. ROP adds its own certification to the NOP organic. Look for the ROP label! You can find ROP cherry tomatoes at the Abundance Coop!

Internationally, “smallholder” farmers and peasants from all continents gathered in Kandy, Sri Lanka at the 3rd Nyeleni Global Forum from September 6 – 13, to heighten the collective struggle for systemic transformation. Nyeleni is “the most important gathering of grassroots forces committed to building a world beyond capitalism, colonialism, patriarchy, racism, and fascism.”  The final reports have yet to be written and await approval from regional member assemblies. The Common Political Action Agenda (CPAA) and Final Declaration will be launched at the COP 30, the UN Climate Change Conference in Brazil in November. As reported in the day-by-day postings from Sri Lanka, the Nyeleni “meetings discussed seven proposals for convergence action for next year, which, if accepted, will be integrated into the CPAA:

1.   A global day of mobilisation, with the main banner against imperialism, genocide, war, and the use of hunger as a weapon.

2.   Nyéléní Day, during which we will carry out convergence actions in the territories.

3.   A training school on intersectionality, feminism, care, and their relationship to food sovereignty.

4.   Dialogue sessions with the union movements on food sovereignty, just transition, technological sovereignty, and more.

5.   Assemblies of social movements and Indigenous Peoples at international events like COP30.

6.   Debates on grassroots multilateralism and the need for radical changes to UN institutions.

7.   Developing grassroots communication to disseminate our progress and vision.”

So when you plant cover crops in your community garden (or even in a pot on your windowsill), you take part in the grassroots movement for systemic transformation along with peasants and gardeners around the globe!!

The post Getting Grounded: Soil Health Locally, Nationally, Internationally first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

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

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

A detailed rationale for each recommendation follows.

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

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

Endorsement for Columbus School Board

Mounir Lynch

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

Recommendation for Columbus City Council, district 7

Jesse Vogel

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

Recommend “Yes” vote for Issue 1

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

No recommendation for other Issues

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

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

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

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

The resolution also specifies that national endorsement should also consider:

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

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

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

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

By Rob Switzer

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

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

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

Why should restaurant workers unionize?

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

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

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

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

Can warehouse workers unionize?

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Unions for every workplace

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

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

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

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

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

This opinion piece is part of an ongoing debate in Maine DSA about candidates in 2026. Pine and Roses welcomes contributions. 

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A funny thing happened on the way to Graham Platner’s political funeral. Platner took responsibility for his past views, issued a heartfelt apology for harm done, and explained that he had changed his mind. As he put it to a crowd of 500 in Ogunquit, “I am not proud of what I said, but I am proud of what I am today.” Maine AFL-CIO communications director Andy O’Brien read all 750 pages of Platner’s old threads and concluded, “I won’t give up Graham. I believe in him, the policies he is championing and his values. There is no one else in the race who comes close.” As for the tattoogate, Platner plausibly explained that he didn’t know the skull was linked to the SS when he got it and had it inked over, taking his shirt off on local TV to prove it. He made the same points to 1200 people on a campaign conference call on Sunday. 

I spoke to Platner for fifteen minutes over the weekend in a small huddle of union folks, so I don’t have any special insight into his soul. However, I think Occum’s Razor applies here. That is, what’s the most obvious way to explain the skeletons in Platner’s closet? 

Platner was a soldier. He participated in brutal wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He reveled in it for a time, got a macho tattoo, and joined Reddit. War brutalized his mind and body. He developed PTSD and a profound sense of alienation from the system he was fighting for. As he says, treatment at the VA “saved my life.” He reconsidered his views and came to resent the “stupid wars” he fought in. He looked around and saw how the billionaires are laughing all the way to the bank. He listened to Bernie. He changed. He decided to do something about it. 

[Read next: No Kings speech by Portland city councilor Pelletier]

From what I’ve seen, the vast majority of his supporters appear willing to accept this simple explanation and are ready to move on. Why? First, many of us are sick and tired of social media outrage and political mudslinging. Second, even as Susan Collins has enabled the Trump administration’s attacks, Gov. Mills—despite the credit she earned for standing up to Trump—has burned bridges with large numbers of working-class and progressive voters over her two terms. Third, Platner’s political platform is meeting the moment. In a nutshell, Platner argues that the billionaires have screwed the working class and that both corporate Democrats and Republicans have aided and abetted them. Now that fascism is at the gates, playing centrist DNC games is not only insufficient to turn the tide, it is downright dangerous. Instead, we need to put workers living standards first, fight for Medicare for All and union power, and defend our LGTBQ siblings and immigrant brothers and sisters. As Platner would put it, the time for bullshit is over.

Platner may or may not be the perfect messenger, but the message is getting through. 

Which brings me to Troy Jackson, Democratic candidate for governor. Like Platner, Jackson has changed his tune over the years. Born into a hardscrabble logging family from northern Maine, he began his political career as a Republican before registering as an independent and then a Democrat. He served as a state legislator, eventually rising to be president of the Maine Senate. Along the way, he became a champion of unions, walking more picket lines and protests than any politician you could name and sticking his neck out for Bernie to boot. It’s hard to overstate Troy’s support among the union movement in Maine. He is not only for the labor movement, he is family. He’s the kind of guy who doesn’t leave town until workers arrested for picketing are released from jail. He gets choked up in sorrow and anger when recounting fellow workers lost along the way. Eugene V. Debs’ words fit Jackson, “When I rise it will be with the ranks, not from the ranks.” 

There is an eight-month-long road to travel for either of them to win the primary in June and they both face formidable opponents. If you’re looking for a place in the country where there will be a fair fight between competent and accomplished liberal politicians on the one hand and left-wing, working-class populists on the other, Maine is the place to be. Neither Platner nor Jackson’s primary opponents are creatures of Wall Street. In many ways, they are the best the mainstream Democratic Party has to offer. They are scandal free and are, by all accounts, intelligent and honorable people. So what we are going to see—inevitable dirty tricks and tens of millions in campaign ads aside—is a real contest of ideas. And for Platner and Jackson’s ideas to win, they are going to need to turn their campaigns into movements. That is what is at stake in Maine in 2026. 

For many, that is enough and they are ready to fight. 

There are objections to this line of thinking. Of course, from the center, Chuck Schumer and his ilk raise the electability flag. For a number of reasons, that won’t fly so high this time. 

But there are also a surprising number of objections from those standing to Platner and Jackson’s left. These arguments may not hold sway with large numbers of people, but they are important to address for two reasons. First, speaking only for myself as a member of Maine Democratic Socialists of America, we are a very small organization, but we have proven that we can lend a hand. And both these campaigns will need all the help they can get. Second, the best political alliances are mutually beneficial. And if we want socialist ideas to become more influential, then we must learn to work beside people who are animated by solidarity and the desire to fight the bosses and billionaires. And a very large portion of those people will be volunteering for Platner and Jackson between now and June. 

So what are the objections on the left? 

1. We should focus on patient, local organizing. Maine DSA has accomplished a lot for a relatively new organization. We’ve raised the minimum wage and won protection for renters in Portland. We’ve spoken out alongside allies to defeat anti-trans bills in the legislature, protested against genocide in Gaza, and helped organized the biggest May Day march in memory. Much of this work has taken root in local contexts. On the other hand, the biggest statewide campaign we helped lead—Pine Tree Power—went down to defeat despite our best efforts. Naturally, this contrast has raised questions. These are worth thinking through carefully. But the dynamic is different here, rather than being relatively isolated and exhausted as we were during Pine Tree Power, we will be embraced and lifted up by the Platner and Jackson campaigns. We must analyze each new situation based on our own experience, a knowledge of history, and the best guess we can muster. That is the art of politics.

[Read next: Harness street power: Endorse No Kings!]

2. Support, but don’t endorse. This argument stems from two sources. First, there are people who believe that Platner and Jackson will be damaged by any association with Maine DSA. I doubt that very much, but even if it were true (or some staffers believe it), Platner and Jackson spoke to 7000 people in the Cross Insurance Arena last month alongside the world’s best-known democratic socialist, Bernie Sanders. If the centrists and rightwing are going to attack either of them for this association, then they already have all the ammunition they need. Second, some say that the complexity of federal election law is simply too burdensome when it comes to an endorsement to make it worth our while. The law really is absurd—billionaires can buy and sell candidates legally, while we are highly regulated—but with good legal advice and some significant effort, we can both obey the law and do the right thing politically. There is an associated view that Maine DSA members should simply volunteer for the campaign as individuals but not take a stand as an organization. I find this misguided. If Maine DSA is to become a significant force in politics, it won’t be because of what we do on our own, it will be what we do together. 

3. Platner and Jackson are not radical enough. I am sympathetic to this point of view. Genocide in Gaza, climate catastrophe, all out assaults on abortion and trans rights, ICE rampaging through our streets. All these point to the need for a revolutionary change right now. There are many thousands of people in Maine who are, rightfully, in no mood to compromise. This is a sign that a real political movement is being born. But it also means that this new movement must learn strategy and tactics. It is not enough to be convinced ourselves, we must convince others. And most people are not convinced by reading, for instance, an article like this. They are convinced by joining a struggle.

This is one of the mistakes that Bluebird makes in an article in Pine and Roses titled, “Support, but don’t endorse Platner.” Since, Bluebird argues, Graham has not adopted a socialist program, we would damage the socialist cause by endorsing him. Without getting into the weeds here, while some socialists have held this view, it has come under fire from most of the movement’s big guns over the years. As a wise man once said, “ Propaganda and agitation alone are not enough for an entire class, the broad masses of the working people, those oppressed by capital, to take up such a stand. For that, the masses must have their own political experience.”

Bluebird’s second mistake is to radically overestimate our own forces, writing that Maine DSA is the “vanguard of the working class struggle.” If wishes were horses… The reality is that Maine DSA is “very, very weak” compared to what we’re up against—as our wise man said of an early generation of small socialist organizations. That problem has never been solved by holding the “correct” [Bluebird’s emphasis] position in order to “advance a socialist agenda.” Rather, it has been by putting the fight for workers’ power at the center of everything we do while finding creative ways to forge united fronts through compromise and dialogue with other political forces who want to fight back against oppression and exploitation. 

Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to reach such an agreement. Today it is. The question is, will Maine DSA—in addition to all the other important work it does on a daily basis—join the campaigns that will define Maine politics for the coming eight months and more. 

To paraphrase an old song: which side are we on? 

The post Platner and Jackson are standing up for Maine workers appeared first on Pine & Roses.

Silicon Valley DSA (SV DSA) adopted a resolution in support of Proposition 50, also known as the “Election Rigging Response Act.” This state constitutional amendment will appear on the November 4 special election and would allow the California legislature to sidestep the bipartisan commission currently in place and draw a congressional district map for election years through 2030, in response to the Republican Party’s aggressive efforts to gerrymander congressional districts. 

SV DSA recognizes this “redistricting arms race” is a predictable outcome of a broken political system and winner-take-all voting methods that stifle political pluralism and prevent the emergence of new working-class parties. 

DSA actively opposes movements that entrench minoritarian rule at the national level in advance of a far-right agenda. SV DSA believes that, should California fail to respond to these actions, the Trump administration and its allies become further empowered to continue violent and extremist policies that disproportionately harm working-class communities, immigrants, and people of color. 

Concerns were raised by members prior to the resolution vote that alignment with Proposition 50 conflicted with the organization’s movement of championing a free democratic and socialist world. However, as DSA is committed to a framework for ballot measure endorsement of campaigns that would build class consciousness, root socialists in the multiracial working class, and have winnable and transformative objectives, it was ultimately decided endorsing this amendment was an imperative, preventative measure necessary toward the organization’s ongoing efforts to thwart a rogue administration imposing authoritarian rule.

The socialist movement recognizes the evil entrenched in the political system, with both Democrats and Republicans complicit. SV DSA recognizes the passing of Proposition 50 is integral to furthering our advocacy and organization toward measures that align with the democratic socialist movement of restoring power to the working class. Endorsement of this proposition specifically strengthens the foundation of a left-labor coalition in the Bay Area and statewide by creating a specific opportunity for SV DSA to support campaigning initiatives of local organized labor and allied organizations. Silicon Valley DSA has been working actively alongside South Bay Labor Council and other organizations for the purpose of supporting Proposition 50, creating and distributing educational materials that articulate how the current political system is rigged and how a socialist vision offers a democratic alternative. Through canvassing, phonebanking, and tabling, members have been active in the community to frame the redistricting issue with a clear socialist analysis. 

While the passing of Prop 50 would restore voice taken from fellow Americans under the redistricting in Texas, it’s not ideal. Prop 50 merely holds back the tide while organizations like SV DSA continue efforts to combat the far-right agenda and work towards a world where everyone’s basic shelter, food, and healthcare needs are met. While SV DSA efforts include the exercising of mutual aid through our Free Store, organizing for and defending immigrant rights, and pushing back against dictatorial gatekeeping systems through education and de-programming, a chapter priority is organizing for Ranked Choice Voting (RCV), which would disrupt the current electoral duopoly, expanding voter voice and creating a system precluding the “tit-for-tat” nature of amendments like Prop 50 altogether. 

Already in use statewide in Alaska and Maine and in cities like New York City, San Francisco, and Santa Fe, RCV is a proven electoral reform that strengthens democracy by ensuring majority support, reducing negative campaigning, and empowering voters with greater choice. With RCV, if a voter’s first choice candidate is eliminated, their vote would transfer to their second choice, a process that continues until a candidate earns majority support. This eliminates the concept of a “wasted vote” and increases support for independent and “third party” candidates, encouraging a focus on issues rather than party affiliation. Candidates are more likely to campaign to all voters and even build collaboration among themselves to build rapport rather than tearing each other down, as they rely on each other to advocate to their supporters. 

DSA believes a better world is possible: one where we democratically decide on how society is structured for the common good rather than the profit of a few. Join us at https://siliconvalleydsa.org/join/

The post SVDSA Supports Prop 50 appeared first on Silicon Valley DSA.

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

By: Frederick Reiber

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

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

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

A Wall to Wall Union

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

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

As one Kickstarter worker, Dannel Jurado, stated:

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

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

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

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

Tech Organizing in the United States

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Reflecting on Organizing and Community

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

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

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

Readers can tell management to meet the Kickstarter United”s demands here.

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

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

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

Seattle DSA was proud to march alongside an estimated 90,000 protestors in the streets of Seattle and 7 million across the nation during the recent No Kings Protest. The immense scale of this mobilization sent a clear message – millions of working people are demanding change. This massive turnout is a clear indicator of a deep-seated anger and a collective refusal to accept Trump’s authoritarian attacks on workers. 

The frustration is a direct response to the relentless, multi-front war being waged against the entire working class. From illegal, vicious attacks on our immigrant neighbors to the unacceptable cuts to healthcare and the ongoing government shutdown, which threatens to plunge millions into food insecurity, the ruling class continues to make clear that they are perfectly comfortable sacrificing the well-being of the vast majority in order to further consolidate their power and wealth. The No Kings March was a collective refusal to accept the divide and rule tactics used to protect a capitalist system in crisis.

As socialists, we recognize that protests such as No Kings, can be a crucial entry to organizing for many, but it cannot be the final destination. As organizers, Democratic Socialists of America recognizes that to defeat the Trump administration, we must defeat the entire capitalist, imperialist system. We cannot wait until midterms next year or rely on the Democratic party to save us.To truly fight back and win, we must build an independent working class party and be prepared to escalate our tactics by building toward our most powerful leverage: a mass general strike. History has shown that our most significant victories are won through the collective power of working people withholding their labor. We need look no further than 2018, when air traffic controllers’ coordinated sickouts, which grounded flights and forced the government to restore funding. This is the kind of organized power we must build to provide the most effective fight back to win reforms that benefit working people.

The path forward is clear: We must channel the incredible energy from the streets into our workplaces and communities. Talk to your coworkers about organizing your workplace. Join Seattle DSA to become part of an organized socialist movement. Together, we can transform this collective anger into a lasting, powerful political movement that can shake the very foundations of capitalism and usher in a world that puts the needs of working people over corporate greed. 

The post “No Kings”, Now What? appeared first on Seattle Democratic Socialists of America.