The runoff election April 4 is a pivotal time for workers in Chicago to choose the direction of the city. The Chicago chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America urges voters to reject Paul Vallas, a former Republican whose political record is one of destroying public assets and promoting corporate profit, not serving the people.

Paul Vallas has a long history of turning public goods into private profits for friends and donors, at people of color’s expense. His tenure running school districts is one of privatization, charter schools, and union-busting. He wrote the playbook for school privatization in Chicago, replacing neighborhood schools with those run privately for profit. In Philadelphia, he carried out a Republican agenda, marrying his privatization efforts with efforts to favor churches over other groups in seeking community partnerships, encouraging after-school prayer groups. In New Orleans, he took advantage of Hurricane Katrina to implement a for-profit education model with equally disastrous outcomes: New Orleans public schools have an average math proficiency of 17%, and an average reading proficiency of 30%. In Bridgeport, Connecticut, he continued his stock standard project of privatization until a judge removed him from the job for his lack of legal qualification for the job.

His actions as a politician, both during this mayoral campaign and before, is no departure from his pro-capitalist, anti-working family career as a school district destroyer. For instance:

• Vallas sides with the wealthy and would not increase taxes on big corporations to reduce inequality or homelessness. 
• Vallas would abandon the guaranteed income pilot program that, while inadequate, did offer relief to a number of poor Chicagoans.
• Even as neighboring states eliminate the right to an abortion, Vallas would not guarantee funds to defend that right. He has openly stated that he opposes abortion.
• Vallas opposed mask mandates and spoke at a rally to reopen schools in March 2021, when over a thousand people were dying every day in the U.S. 
• Vallas has appeared at multiple events for Awake Illinois, a right-wing homophobic and transphobic organization funded by GOP megadonor Richard Uihlein. At the March 2021 rally, Vallas said that Shannon Adcock, the hard right Republican founder of Awake Illinois, should run for governor and unseat J.B. Pritzker.
• A year after endorsing Republican Darren Bailey for governor, the Chicago FOP endorsed and donated thousands to Vallas, who wants to return to failed “tough-on-crime” policies.

Vallas’s campaign, and the administration he hopes to run, would see the unholy marriage of the capitalist class that supported Bruce Rauner and Rahm Emanuel with the white reactionary Chicago machine structures that kept both Daleys in power for so long. They are unified in their goal to shift money away from public goods like schools, health care, and transportation, and into greater incarceration and privatization.

Vallas will spend the next five weeks trying to reassure working class Chicagoans that he’s the common sense, safe choice, and that his record is being mischaracterized. We, as a working-class organization, will hold him accountable for the harm he has caused working people, especially people of color. Chicago DSA urges our members and all working class people to talk to friends, families, and coworkers about the dangers of Paul Vallas. As we canvass for our endorsees in the runoffs, we will also be talking to our neighbors about the unique threat Vallas poses to the working class. We also urge our members, coalition partners, and every left, progressive, and working-class-based organization in the City of Chicago to escalate tactics against Vallas and his allies, including bird-dogging as many campaign events as possible before April 4th and making Paul Vallas and his allies answer for their political record. 

The post <strong>Paul Vallas Will Privatize Chicago</strong> appeared first on Midwest Socialist.

 The contract covering over 30,000 workers through the Professional Staff Congress of CUNY expired late last month, and members of the union are joining with CUNY students, alumni, and the NYC community to fight for a new contract that will not only improve working conditions for CUNY’s faculty and staff but also move toward a more equitable, just, and vibrant public university system in the largest city in the country. On tonight’s show, we speak with rank and file organizers Zoe and Evan on how PSC members are organizing for raises, justice, and community in a contract that reflects The People’s CUNY.
 

View upcoming actions and ways to support PSC-CUNY in their contract struggle at https://linktr.ee/psc.cuny.

Black Lives Matter Houston, Community Voices for Public Education, Houston DSA and allied grassroots groups are calling on all people of conscience in our city to protest Ron DeSantis’ speaking […]

The post Let Ron DeSantis Know He’s Not Welcome In Houston appeared first on Houston DSA.

Atlanta DSA and YDSA GT Call on Norfolk Southern to Fully Fund East Palestine Cleanup, Compensate Residents and Meet Railroad Workers’ Demands!

For centuries, railroad companies like Norfolk Southern have prioritized profits for the capitalist class over the health and safety of their workers and the general public. Railroad workers endure notoriously brutal workplace conditions, are often expected to work on-call around the clock, and frequently suffer fatal accidents due to overwork and exhaustion. Meanwhile, as profits for billionaire shareholders rise, companies like Norfolk Southern continue to lobby in favor of industry deregulation and cutting corners – resulting in the slashing of maintenance, staffing, and equipment inspections as average train sizes increase – proving they see railroad workers as expendable.

In response to this exploitation, a majority of railroad workers nationwide rose up this past fall to reject an inadequate union contract which excluded crucial demands like sick leave and an end to Precision Scheduled Railroading. While workers prepared to strike, U.S. government officials invoked the antiquated Railroad Labor Act (RLA) to deny over 100,000 railroad workers the right to strike and tyrannically impose the unacceptable contract. Atlanta DSA and YDSA GT stand in full solidarity with the railroad workers, who continue to fight for better working conditions and reject Congress’s blatant labor rights violations.

Decades of deregulation have culminated in the derailment of multiple trains over the last month – including the horrendous incident on February 3rd during which a Northfolk Southern 32N train carrying toxic chemicals derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, leading to a fire and subsequent evacuation of thousands of residents. This derailment was neither an “accident” nor “unavoidable”, as the Northfolk Southern executives would have you believe. On the contrary, this violent wreck – which endangered working people, contaminated drinking water, and even led to mass death of local wildlife – was the direct result of capitalist deregulation, attacks on workers’ rights, and the valuation of profits over the environment and human life. 

Atlanta DSA and YDSA GT join Railroad Workers United in calling for the immediate action of regulatory agencies and Congress to rein in Class One railroad corporations and pass legislation to place railroads under public ownership.

Additionally, we demand the following of Norfolk Southern, which is headquartered in Atlanta: 

1. Fund a massive clean up effort in the area around East Palestine to ensure no further damage is done to human health and the surrounding environment and watershed. 
2. Fully compensate every resident of the East Palestine area harmed by the derailment.
3. End the harmful business model known as Precision Scheduled Railroading, and ensure sufficient staffing in all crafts, with all trains operating crews of two people minimum.
4. Implement adequate maintenance and inspections of locomotives and rail cars, tracks and signals, wayside detectors, and cap train length and weight at a reasonable level.
5. Concede to the demands of railroad workers – guaranteeing them training, sick leave, adequate time off work, and an end to draconian attendance policies.
6. Terminate all lobbying practices aimed at abolishing or blocking safety rules and regulations that will help make the railroad safer.
7. Divest from the Atlanta Police Foundation and withdraw all support from the Atlanta police facility known as Cop City.

Further, we call on the Georgia Institute of Technology to cut ties with Norfolk Southern and its Board of Directors until it meets the above demands and ceases its attack on workers’ rights, destruction of the environment, and violence towards working people.