Events & Actions

Events with a are especially new-member-friendly!

Tuesday, December 2 (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM): ICE out of SF courts! (In person at 100 Montgomery St)

Tuesday, December 2 (4:00 PM – 6:00 PM): Public Comment: Keep Market Street Car-Free (In person at San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl)

Tuesday, December 2 (6:00 PM – 7:30 PM): Ecosocialist Bi-Weekly Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Wednesday, December 3 (6:30 PM – 9:00 PM):  New Member Happy Hour at Zeitgeist (In person at Zeitgeist, 199 Valencia St )

Wednesday, December 3 (6:45 PM – 8:30 PM): Tenant Organizing Working Group Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Thursday, December 4 (5:30 PM – 6:30 PM): Education Board Open Meeting (Zoom)

Thursday, December 4 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Organizing Immigrant Defense Initiatives (In person at 1916 McAllister St)

Friday, December 5 (8:00 AM – 4:30 PM): ICE out of SF courts! (In person at 100 Montgomery St)

Friday, December 5 (7:00 PM – 9:00 PM): Maker Friday (In person at 1916 McAllister St)

Saturday, December 6 (4:00 PM – 5:00 PM):  Cuba Reportback (In person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, December 7 (10:00 AM – 2:00 PM):   No Appetite for Apartheid Training and Outreach (In person at 522 Valencia St)

Sunday, December 7 (1:00 PM – 2:00 PM):  SF EWOC Lead Generation Strategy Session (In person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, December 7 (3:00 PM – 5:00 PM):  Our Time to Win: Power Mapping Session (In person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, December 7 (5:00 PM – 7:00 PM):  Capital Reading Group (Zoom)

Monday, December 8 (12:00 PM – 1:00 PM):  Muni Forever Rally (In person at San Francisco City Hall, 1 Dr Carlton B Goodlett Pl)

Monday, December 8 (6:30 PM – 8:00 PM): Homelessness Working Group Regular Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, December 8 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board Meeting (Zoom)

Wednesday, December 10 (6:45 PM – 8:00 PM): DSA SF General Meeting (Zoom and in person at Kelly Cullen Community, 220 Golden Gate Ave)

Thursday, December 11 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Immigrant Justice Working Group Meeting (Zoom)

Friday, December 12 (6:30 PM – 9:00 PM): DSA Movie Night: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, presented by EcoSocialists (In person at Roar Shack, 34 7th Street)

Saturday, December 13 (10:00 AM – 11:30 AM): Free Muni Vision Discussion (In person at 1916 McAllister St)

Sunday, December 14 (11:00 AM – 1:00 PM): Physical Education + Self Defense Training (In person at William McKinley Monument)

Monday, December 15 (5:30 PM – 6:30 PM): Social Committee Meeting (In person at 1916 McAllister St)

Monday, December 15 (7:00 PM – 8:00 PM): Labor Board x Divestment Priority Meeting (Zoom and in person at 1916 McAllister St)

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

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Join DSA SF in Demanding Equitable Transit Funding

In response to Mayor Lurie’s office considering a parcel tax to address the Muni funding crisis, we joined Muni Now, Muni Forever, a coalition of community advocates and organizations, in demanding that the measure:

• Generate enough revenue to expand Muni service by 10%
• Be structured fairly, with a variable rate so smaller properties pay less and larger properties pay more
• Protect tenants from additional costs
• Scale with inflation and rising costs to prevent a similar crisis in a few years

Read the full letter here.
Make your voice heard by joining us in these demands: muniforever.org/speak-up

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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 in the calendar for more details.

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Today: Stop the Privatization of Market Street!

We are disappointed to learn MTA staff are recommending to give Waymo, Uber, and Lyft full access to Market Street at the SFMTA Board of Directors hearing.

Join us Today, Tuesday, December 2 at 4:00 PM in Room 400 of City Hall to demand Market Street prioritizes public transportation and sustainable transportation by giving public comment on this issue.

RSVP here! 

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  Maker Friday

Come make with us on Friday, December 5 from 7:00 – 9:00 PM at 1916 McAllister St! We’ll be making buttons and zines. Masks required and provided. All are welcome, no experience necessary, see you there!

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Cuba Reportback

Come to hear about the 2025 DSA delegation to Cuba. Our comrades will tell us about what they did and you’ll get to learn a little more about the history and present of Cuba! We’ll be meeting Saturday, December 6 from 4:00 to 5:00 PM at 1916 McAllister St. See you there!

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No Appetite for Apartheid Training and Outreach

No Appetite for Apartheid is a campaign aimed at reducing economic support for Israeli apartheid by canvassing local businesses to boycott Israeli goods. Come and canvass local businesses with the Palestine Solidarity and Anti-Imperialist Working Group!

On Sunday, December 7th from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM, we will be doing a training on how to talk to stores in your neighborhood, then going out and talking with stores together! Meet at 522 Valencia St.
RSVP HERE.

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Rally for Equitable, Sustainable Muni Funding

Join us in support of the “Muni Forever Proposal” on Monday, December 8th at 12:00 PM in front of the City Hall steps. We will be rallying to urge the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor to support our proposal.

The “Muni Forever Proposal” plans to raise enough money to improve transit service while keeping San Francisco affordable for residents.

More details about the proposal here. RSVP here!

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DSA Movie Night: Who Framed Roger Rabbit, presented by EcoSocialists!

Who killed the electric streetcar? Come watch a cartoon classic with DSA SF’s Ecosocialist working group and friends around the Bay Area on Friday, December 12 at 6:30 at the Roar Shack (34 7th St). We’ll be watching Who Framed Roger Rabbit?, highlighting the often forgotten sub plot, and exposing the dark history behind it. Together, we’ll learn about the real transit history behind where Disneyland’s famous streetcar comes from. 

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NYC 2 SF Reportback

On Thursday, November 20th, DSA San Francisco organized an event to celebrate the victory of our DSA comrade and NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani, and to speak about how we can continue to achieve similar victories in SF and in other parts of the Bay Area. The event was held at the Mission Cultural Center For Latino Arts, where the energy was palpable, with nearly 200 attendees (a majority of whom were new DSA members) packing the room.

The event featured a presentation on NYC-DSA and Zohran’s success, how NYC DSA’s electoral program was crucial in building the campaign infrastructure for Zohran to succeed, and a presentation on our own chapter’s electoral successes over the years.

It also featured a candid panel discussing Zohran’s victory and how socialism can win in San Francisco (and the Bay!) featuring our DSA San Francisco electeds Jackie Fielder (District 9 Supervisor) and Dean Preston (District 5 Supervisor) and East Bay DSA member and Richmond City Councilmember Claudia Jimenez. 

This event is the first in DSASF’s series of Our Time To Win events, where we hope to learn from the successes of the NYC-DSA, and train the organizers and build the infrastructure in SF to run and win socialist electoral races in San Francisco to win material outcomes for the working class. The next event is Sunday, December 7, 3:00 – 5:00 PM at 1916 McAllister St, and will involve an interactive session diving deep into the power players and structures of San Francisco. We’ll learn the landscape together so we can mobilize the working class across the city! If you’re interested in winning a socialist SF, please join and RSVP!

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 publishing the weekly newsletter. Members can view current CCC rotations.

Interested in helping with the newsletter or other day-to-day tasks that keep the chapter running? Fill out the CCC help form.

By a Comrade

This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. 

Welcome to Vol. 4 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps significantly with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/

Behind-the-Scenes in a Growing Org

Over the past year, the DSA has had a huge boom in membership nationally, a surge in membership here in Madison, and an increase in name recognition after Zohran Mamdani’s recent high-profile win in NYC (as well as other wins across the nation!). MADSA saw several new work groups form throughout 2025, as well as new projects, book clubs, potential candidate endorsements, and events for members and the community at large. These efforts all remain underway!

As MADSA has scaled up, we’ve also contended with more mundane operational questions– How do we handle marketing and social media posts, now that there are so many more events? How are we feeling about our electoral endorsement process when it’s for re-elections? How can we keep developing comradeship among members? What is a good venue for our monthly meeting?!

Here is a small behind-the-scenes look at some changes as we expand:

• The Communication Committee (Comms) is working on appointing “liaisons” within each working group and project, so that Comms can stay better oriented to the chapter’s marketing/posting needs;
• Comms and Executive Committee are also working on increasing direct posting access for various Working Groups so that they are not solely reliant on Comms for posting information about events and actions;
• The Electoral Working Group has been exploring endorsement for several candidates running in state and local races, as well as discussing and reviewing the endorsement processes themselves;
• Various members continue their efforts to revitalize Red Madison for internal and public readership – this has included identifying people who are open to contributing, as well as making calls for submissions at our general meetings;
• The chapter will be publishing a resource to prepare for the 2026 Chapter Convention, where members will continue shaping the direction of MADSA;
• The chapter has been experimenting with a few different venue options for GMMs to accommodate our new numbers and the geographical distribution of our membership.

It is our hope that these changes will support the continued growth of the chapter, both in scope and in activity levels. 

Social Events

Our chapter had two reading groups wrap up in November:

• Skyscraper Jails, discussed in the Abolitionist Working Group meetings;
• Wretched of the Earth, discussed on Sundays, in a hybrid virtual/in-person format.

We continue hosting recurring social events – New Member Orientations, Coffee with Comrades, Crafting with Comrades, MADSA Run Club, and the Rosebuddies program. 

As the year comes to an end, we’ll be reaching out to members and asking about their experiences in MADSA this year, and their socialist resolutions for 2026. We’re also planning a New Year’s party on New Year’s Eve, details forthcoming!

Protest Song of the Month

For a November protest song, I’d like to highlight an artist from an indigenous background and ties to the Midwest – John Trudell. John was a Santee poet, musician, actor, speaker, veteran, and activist, at one point chairing the American Indian Movement (AIM). Here is the Listening / Honor Song, a spoken word piece over traditional music. The lyrics can be found here. 

And that concludes our monthly round-up!

Chapter and Verse: a Summary of Chapter News for November 2025

The post Election Victories Across U.S., Socialist Caucus Coming to Minneapolis and More appeared first on Democratic Left.

Author: Barbie A

Day in and day out, more and more people are disappearing off of the streets of our communities. From migrants going in for routine immigration check ins and being detained, being targeted in traffic stops, being sought out on their way to work, or out right having their paperwork revoked from them and hunted down like animals. All across the United States, including here in Cleveland, people who call this place their home are having their lives destroyed by the racist and inhumane Trump administration. A country that once guaranteed safety and sanctuary is now trapped within a shifting system in which anyone could find themselves entangled with ICE or DHS, including U.S. citizens. 

Living in the most diverse country in the world, with a long history of immigration, racism, colonization, imperialism, and injustice, as democratic socialist, it is our duty to show up for the marginalized groups of our community and stand up against fascism. During Trump’s campaign for presidency there was a lot of talk about expanding ICE operations and abilities to go after criminals, or “the worst of the worst” as he put it. For those of us familiar with the immigration system and the terminology around immigration, we understood clearly that they were going to use this opportunity of power to abuse their authority and go after undocumented migrants, child U.S. citizens, and various documented legal immigrants. A majority of immigrants who are undocumented did not come into the United States without being vetted first. Most immigrants enter the United States with legal status and end up falling out of status because of expiring paperwork, financial barriers, changes in their life situations, or for most it being that they do not have a legal way to obtain permanent residency or citizenship from the status they do have. 

For example, those with temporary protected status (TPS), and people with other statuses of immigration, do not have a pathway to citizenship despite being legal documented migrants who must obey the law, pay taxes, and are excluded from social welfare, unemployment, social security benefits, and other rights afforded to US citizens. In most cases of immigration the only way to obtain citizenship is by being sponsored for a green card by an employer or by marrying a U.S. citizen. TPS holders and others are having their paperwork revoked or denied under the Trump administration. Migrants come to the United States seeking refuge and they have created lives with families, jobs, homes, businesses, and more, and yet they could lose everything they have paid and sacrificed for because this administration would rather punish the innocent than negotiate fair immigration reform. Migrants being deported who have U.S. born children have to decide between figuring out living situations for their kids here in the United States or bringing them to the countries where the parents are from but are of no familiarity to the children. This disenfranchises child U.S. citizens from having access to medical care, education, food, and many more opportunities.

We are watching the Trump administration abuse their power. The escalation is something we must be prepared for as we know anti-immigrant agencies have been rewarded $170 billion dollars via the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”. It’s imperative that all people in our country and region understand their rights under the constitution and what they’re lawfully protected to exercise. 

So far we have seen Donald Trump use executive orders to try to revoke birthright citizenship (14th amendment) from people. We have seen the attacks on the fifth amendment by blatantly denying people their rights to due process, including denying people their rights to a fair hearing, to challenge deportation, or to their rights to challenge their unlawful detention (habeas corpus). Regardless of any person’s status they’re guaranteed the rights to the first amendment, in which we have seen the invasion of these protections and discriminatory practices used to target people for their rights to freedom of speech, rights to protest, rights to assemble, rights to petition the government, freedom of press, and the freedom to practice whatever religion they choose. Across the country we have also seen an overwhelming amount of evidence showing violations of the fourth amendment, which protects all people from themselves and their personal belongings illegally being searched or seized without a judicial signed warrant that would prove that there is substantial evidence to have this protection breached. 

Recently the Supreme court has ruled (6-3) in favor of Noem (Kristi Noem) v. Vasquez Perdomo, in which it allows for racial profiling and discrimination. This opens the door to allowing immigration, and other enforcement, to violate the rights of all people. Agents are now permitted to bother people based on their appearance and ethnicity, language and accent, location and occupation, and other suspicionless stops. This has led to the arrests of U.S. citizens who are being treated inhumanely and having their rights violated. Cleveland DSA has vowed to commit to helping prepare the community and support immigrants during these turbulent times.

Cleveland DSA’s mission with our immigrant solidarity priority project is to show up for the communities of people who are many times forgotten about. Through preparation of our comrades to take part in our rapid response network, building and participating in extensive coalition efforts in greater Cleveland and surrounding areas, and showing up to support our communities in courtrooms, check ins, their places of employment or business, worship, and social activities; we want to meet people where they’re at and show them our commitment to justice and solidarity. 

First we will start by preparing all comrades through various know your rights (KYR) training so that they can help our community to observe and document people’s interactions with Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), U.S. Customs and Border Patrol (CBP), Department of Homeland Security (DHS), and/or local law enforcement. When our chapter is prepared we will begin canvassing through Greater Cleveland’s businesses and organizations, churches, and public spaces, to prepare them for potential illegal raids. We will support the immigrant community by showing up in solidarity during court proceedings and check ins, time spent in detention centers, rapid response networks, protesting, and various mutual aid efforts. During this period we will build trust within the community and build our reputation to prove that democratic socialists care about the real issues facing the people in our neighborhood. 

No matter anyone’s race, sex, age, language, origin, or status here in the United States, this fight impacts us all. To challenge the structural injustices that divide workers and communities, we must recognize that affirmation of the rights and humanity of immigrants is inseparable from the struggle for socialism and justice, because it confronts the very systems of exploitation, exclusion, and inequality that a society must overcome in order to truly be free. We must fight to dismantle the entrenched structure of the injustices that constrain human possibility, forging a path towards a society rooted in collective ownership, democratic empowerment, and genuine social equality!

The post Immigrant Solidarity Priority Project appeared first on Democratic Socialists of America.

Monthly Newsletter of the Rochester Chapter of Democratic Socialists of America

Welcome to the December issue of Rochester Red Star. This month, you can read statements from candidates for ROC DSA Steering Committee and Hearing Grievance Officers, notes from our outgoing Steering Committee, and a report from our Genesee County branch.

The issue also includes essays on topics including Democratic Party structure and strategies, farmers confronting the elimination of SNAP benefits, American exceptionalism, and more. Our newsletter contains upcoming events and coverage of chapter activities.

Interested in contributing? Send submissions to bit.ly/SubmitRedStar, or get involved with our Communications Committee. Reach out to steering@rocdsa.org and join DSA today!

The post Rochester Red Star | December 2025 | (Issue 20) first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

I will come to a time in my backwards trip when November eleventh, accidentally my birthday, was a sacred day called Armistice Day.  When I was a boy, and when Dwayne Hoover was a boy, all the people of all the nations which had fought in the First World War were silent during the eleventh minute of the eleventh hour of Armistice Day, which was the eleventh day of the eleventh month. It was during that minute in nineteen hundred and eighteen, that millions upon millions of human beings stopped butchering one another. I have  talked to old men who were on battlefields during that minute. They have told me in one way or another that the sudden silence was the Voice  of God. So we still have among us some men who can remember when God spoke clearly to mankind. Armistice Day has become Veterans’ Day. Armistice Day was sacred. Veterans’ Day is not. So I will throw Veterans’ Day over my shoulder. Armistice Day I will keep. I don’t want to throw away any sacred things. What else is sacred? Oh, Romeo and Juliet, for instance. And all music is.

-Kurt Vonnegut, Breakfast of Champions

Tacoma seemed to bloom on November 11th, 2025. Beautifully painted clouds permitted plenty of sunshine to cast down on city streets. A lively crowd numbering just over one hundred trickled into the plaza bringing flags, or signs, or wearing a reminder of service. They all brought their fears, hopes, gripes, and their ideas about themselves and the land they grew up walking. It was a gorgeous backdrop for the city to recommence the annual observation of Armistice Day. The crowd respectfully encircled a motley group of tattooed, long-haired, sometimes bearded, always opinionated veterans wearing fatigues and patches. No dress uniforms, no military drills. It was about leaving all that behind.

Armistice Day opened with a land welcoming ceremony led by veteran Toby Joseph, Sr. He performed a moving rendition of his father’s love song and reflected on militarism from an indigenous perspective. Veterans spoke to pressing problems such as Veterans Affairs and LGBTQ+ medical care, the right to refuse illegal orders, and the history of active duty resistance. In one of the more memorable moments a physician and current conscientious objector spoke poignantly about his courageous decision to choose peace. Flanked by veterans stoically holding large pictures of Zahid Chaudhry in uniform and with family, Melissa Chaudhry delivered a tour de force keynote about her husband, moving me and many others to tears. Melissa sharply defended Zahid, elucidated the militarism that led to his detainment, and articulated beautifully the meaning of Armistice Day.

Zahid is a disabled veteran and immigrant; he is the President of Veterans for Peace 109 and for years has been an immovable fixture of the peace movement. He didn’t get to see the beautiful sky that day. He has been a comrade of mine for over a decade, going back to when I began organizing against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Zahid is wrongfully detained in the concentration camp known as the Northwest Detention Center on the Tacoma tideflats, two miles and a world away from city hall. As I write this, Zahid is experiencing cruel medical neglect and risks blindness if he is not released for required medical procedures soon. We would agree every person deserves excellent healthcare. It’s just especially cruel that a disabled veteran, with private health insurance in Olympia, risks blindness in the unnecessary custody of the U.S. government.

The day concluded with a memorial ceremony led by Pastor Shalom of First United Methodist Church. It was a wholly dignified ceremony that seemed to me life-affirming, peace-affirming, and inclusive. The enhancement of the remembrance ceremony to include not just our WWI veterans but all victims of militarism was beautiful, and only natural, given the armies can’t seem to keep the wars to themselves. The ceremony honored the original purpose of the day as imagined by folks like Kurt Vonnegut, while maintaining the universality that so many must have felt in the wake of the Great War. It is a high standard that future remembrance ceremonies will be based upon.

The weather was great for Armistice Day. The political climate was another matter; we gathered on stolen Puyallup land against a backdrop of hegemonic struggle, military belligerence, terror campaigns, genocide, and the rise of the authoritarian right across the breadth of the international system. At home we face surveillance, extra-constitutional policing, mass deportations, wanton nuclearisation, and the militarization of our streets. Political assassinations are on the rise. There is a massive military build up off the coast of Venezuela and already western operatives on the mainland. Domestically, our coffers are ransacked and public institutions are seized. Homeland Security has been allocated an unprecedented wartime budget to terrorize immigrants and urban dwellers for the delight of an increasingly openly white nationalist base. Trans rights are being ripped away. Peace is questioned as a value, human rights as a cause, and the worthiness of empathy itself is mocked by our leaders. The U.S. regime foolishly stokes dormant embers in the Caribbean and saber-rattles in the Pacific. The United States has funded, provided intelligence and abundant material support, and suppressed public knowledge of Israel’s genocide. We face a very real and imminent threat of ethnic cleansing and a collapse of LGBTQ+ and women’s rights. We face war.

So we celebrate peace. But we cannot simply enjoy the peace there is; we are without peace. It is only through resistance that we can create peace. It is only through solidarity that we can resist. And it is through love that we find solidarity. So we celebrate Armistice Day: Peace through Resistance.

by Eric Ard

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¡No Pasarán!: a book about coalitions
Logan W. Cole

Matt Christman’s account of the Spanish Civil War shows that he is one of the great popular historians even if he doesn’t want to be. Though it eschews the conventions of other history texts, like sources, you will understand more about history writ large from Christman’s brief sketch of this short slice of time in Spain, including the fraught Republican left-liberal alliance and fleeting post-war glimpses of a better world, than Yuval Noah Harari’s or Jared Diamond’s entire careers of failed attempts to formulate histories of everything. Christman’s gift is the ability to simultaneously accept what is true about Fisher’s Capitalist Realism while embracing the optimism of the collective.

Crazy Like Us: putting psychology on the couch
Jade Inverarity

In this book, globe-trotting journalist Ethan Watters shows how American (and by extension, imperialist and capitalist) “mental illness” has infected the whole world. He likens four examples of cultural erasure to endangered species: a rift between spiritual possession and schizophrenia in Tanzania; a response to disaster in Sri Lanka that fails to map onto our individualist notions of PTSD; disordered eating in young Hong Kong women; and mass-marketed depression wracking Japan. These stories’ villains are well-intentioned aid workers, researchers failing to examine their “objectivity”, and the naked greed of Big Pharma. All reveal the classist and white supremacist underpinnings of psychology.

An Indigenous Peoples’ History: looking in the mirror
Gregory Lebens-Higgins

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz reframes the settler-colonial takeover of the North American continent. Pushing back against narratives of an industrious people expanding into untamed territories, Dunbar-Ortiz tells the story of existing First Nations—tied together by intricate trade routes and cultural practices, with complex governing structures, cities and villages, and wildlife management techniques—that are carved apart by unrestrained violence. We learn the identities of various tribes: Powhatans, Cherokee, Shawnee, Haudenosaunee, Muskogee, and many more; following them as they are pushed West—sometimes more than once—by European whites greedy for land. The story of genocide unfolds not as an event in the past, but as a continuous and ongoing structure. Yet we are also introduced to movements of resistance and liberation that are reclaiming the future from this legacy of capitalist-driven destruction.

The post Impressions (November 2025) first appeared on Rochester Red Star.

By: Kristin Daniel

[Editor’s note: Detroit and Huron Valley DSAers fanned out across the metro area November 22 to support Starbucks workers — especially those on strike — in our biggest labor solidarity action since picketing with the Marathon Teamsters last year. DSAers picketed and leafleted at Starbucks in Ypsilanti, on 8 Mile, in Royal Oak, and on the East Side, with groups of comrades self-organizing to hold down the lines. The struck store in Ypsilanti has been completely closed since November 20, with management giving up on trying to reopen.

[As the national Starbucks strike continues, check DSA’s Labor Working group Slack for future actions.]

As the Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) unfair labor strike continues into its second week, hundreds more baristas from over 30 additional stores have joined the picket line nationwide. The Carpenter Road location in Ypsilanti is the first location in Michigan to officially join the strike, and more locations in Southeast Michigan are planning to join the strike in waves over the next few weeks.

“We’re going to have a bunch of stores around here also joining the fight,” noted Topanga Hass, a barista, strike captain, and bargaining delegate from Carpenter Road. Topanga has been helping to coordinate strategy.

SBWU is on strike demanding a fair first union contract and protesting more than 700 unresolved unfair labor practice charges. Damien, another strike captain, said at their location, “management has been kind of a nightmare. Lots of really direct as well as subtle ways with the different union-busting tactics, and just straight-up incompetence.”

$96 MILLION FOR CEO

This strike is in part attempting to address the fact that Starbucks has a higher CEO-to-worker pay gap than any other business in the S&P 500; baristas are demanding higher take-home pay. The median Starbucks worker makes $14,674 a year, while Starbucks CEO Brian Niccol was granted a $96 million pay package for 2024.

SBWU’s demands could be met with just the cost of a single day’s sales, but Starbucks claims that workers are adequately compensated when benefits are included. However, many baristas are scheduled just under the number of hours required to qualify for benefits. “I can’t save money. I’m not paying bills properly. It’s really hard,” said Angie, one of the striking baristas.

Besides unfair labor practices and low wages, the baristas at Carpenter Road are fighting for fairer scheduling. Isabella, a barista and shift supervisor, said, “We tend to have the issue of getting either less hours than what we want or more hours than we want.” This, paired with the fact that “a lot of [the baristas] are definitely overworked, and this store specifically has been really understaffed,” has led to high turnover.

Angie explained that many baristas have multiple jobs or are also students, and the inconsistent and unfair scheduling makes it unsustainable to stay at Starbucks: “They’ll hire people, have them put in their availability, and then schedule them outside their availability, so those people quit.” These scheduling issues have also led to constant short-staffing, where the baristas are “expected to have one person do the work of five people for very low pay…the newer people get overwhelmed by how much is going on and they quit.” When baristas have tried to resolve these issues directly with management, they are typically swept under the rug and ignored.

Many baristas want to draw attention to how many of their concerns also impact customers. Understaffing leads to longer wait times, but some problems could be even more dire. Angie said she has seen many baristas “being threatened for calling out sick, which happens a lot, which is a massive problem because by health regulations you can’t come in when you’re throwing up, when you have the flu. Some people were pressured to come in when they had Covid.”

Similarly, disabilities are not being handled appropriately, according to workers. Damien said, “At our store specifically, our previous manager, who just left, was making a lot of moves against individuals who were using their disability support and various accommodations. She was being incredibly harsh or downright demeaning regarding how those were implemented and made a point to absolutely put on blast the individuals who needed those accommodations, for no reason. It was very cruel.”

SCORCHED EARTH UNION BUSTER

The union has filed over 125 unfair labor practice charges, leading the National Labor Relations Board to declare that Starbucks “engaged in a scorched earth campaign and pattern of misconduct in response to union organizing at its stores across the United States.”

Still, the baristas at Carpenter Road and across Southeast Michigan are ready for the fight. The experience has led to a palpable feeling of solidarity. “Working with the union has been awesome. It’s been great to be a part of this and learn more about community building and being able to gather around with my fellow workers and being able to support them,” Damien said.

When asked what she wants the public to take away from the strike, Angie said she wanted everyone to realize that “the working class deserves better. Baristas deserve better. Everyone deserves to be paid better, better working conditions, and the union should be supported, always.”

To support the union and the baristas on strike, consider some of the following action items proposed by the baristas:

• Do not cross the picket line. Do not purchase coffee, gift cards, or any other product from Starbucks during the duration of the strike. Spread the message to friends and family; use social media to advertise your stand.
• Sign the No Contract, No Coffee pledge so that the baristas can demonstrate public support while in negotiations.
• Financially support SBWU baristas striking in Ypsilanti via GoFundMe.
• Join local actions, including pickets, sit-ins, and rallies. Stay tuned for Detroit DSA’s next support action.
• Stay up to date through social media (@sbworkersunited on social media and @carpenterroadswu on instagram for the Ypsilanti location).

Kristin Daniel is a member of Metro Detroit Democratic Socialists of America.

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Brewed for Solidarity: DSA Starbucks Strike Support Gains Steam was originally published in The Detroit Socialist on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.

by Elizabeth Henderson

Even with predictions of a colder winter than usual, the creative efforts of local farmers will make it possible for us to buy locally grown fresh and stored food. The Public Market and the Brighton Farmers Market stay open year-round.  In November the Brighton market moves from the parking lot at the high school (1150 Winton Road) to an indoor space (1435 Westfall Road). A few exceptionally skilled farmers, like Schenk Homestead in Naples, have figured out how to grow greens year-round using hoop houses.

At the Public Market, you need to look sharp to find the local food. Though resale vendors predominate with produce from wherever, there are many area farms like Mason’s in Williamson, a major supplier of organic greens for Wegman’s with hundreds of acres of IPM fruit, Lagoner Farms in Williamson, Moss Family Farm, one of the few African-American-owned farms in our area, and Small World Foods that sells fermented foods made from local ingredients and also carries vegetables and mushrooms from other farms. Bolton Farms sells hydroponic produce, not as tasty as soil-grown, but fresh in the dead of winter. For meat eaters, there are some small local meat producers – Clearview sells beef and some produce, Heiden Valley Farm and Fisher Hill Farm have chicken and eggs, Seven Bridges sells beef, pork and chicken. I always stop to see what Alexander, a lone African-American homesteader, has to offer – unusual greens he grows himself and wild-crafted foods like ramps or sassafras that never make it to stores.

If you arrive towards the closing of the Public Market, you can get bargains as some vendors sell off what is left at lower prices. The Flower City Pickers collect the leftovers, sort through them to give some to Food Not Bombs to cook and give away, and some to food pantries. They welcome volunteers.

Or maybe you have purchased a freezer or built your own root cellar to store food you grow or purchase!

On-going farming crisis

For Thanksgiving each year, the National Farmers Union publishes a chart with photos of various foods showing what percentage of the final price shoppers pay for food at a store or restaurant is received by the farmers or ranchers who grew the ingredients.  The percentage goes down every year – in 2025 it is 15.9%.

Local farms that sell directly to you get the full price. That is why cutting out the middleman has been so important to keep smaller farms going.  During Covid, financial support for food-growing farms (as distinct from livestock feed or ethanol farms) increased.  This spring, the feds cut over $1 billions from programs that were purchasing locally grown food for food banks and schools. That has been a hard blow for many NY farms.  Cuts to SNAP payments will hit the farms too with some area farms selling as much as 20% of their production to people who pay with SNAP.

The current administration’s unhinged tariff games are devastating the soy and corn farms that occupy so much of US farmland.  These farms depend on export, especially to China. Half of the soy beans are exported.  Only a small percentage of either corn or soy ends up as human food – most goes for livestock feed and ethanol.  The tariffs are raising the price of things these farmers have to buy – fertilizer, equipment, while overproduction has brought market prices down.  A painful squeeze that will put farms out of business. Corn farmers, if they can sell their corn, are losing money with every bushel. The Republican plan to make up for loss of sales with special subsidies will keep some of these farms in business.  In NY, only 20% of the farms qualify for them since they do not extend to fruit, vegetable or most livestock farms.

Here is a quote from a soybean farmer writing in early October:

A reporter called last month about China not buying US soybeans. At the time, US soybeans were $2 below Brazil soybeans at the ports, which covered China’s 20% retaliation to Trump’s fentanyl & April 2nd tariffs.

Brazil soybeans $12 + 0% tariffs = $12  US soybeans $10 + 20% tariffs = $12

Not buying despite the same after tariff price as South America sure looks like a boycott, except, just months ago, that tariff almost became 145%.

US soybeans $10 + 145% tariffs = $24.50

About 1/2 of every US soybean crop has to be exported, and a $2 discount to non-US soybeans may not be enough to get that done, even with the EU delaying their own 25% soybean tariff over April 2nd.

A friend asked how all of this affects a farm.

Like all trade wars, the rest of the world’s tariffs subtract from farm income, and our tariffs add to farm expenses.

$2 X 50 Bushel per acre = $100 less farm income.

Add up to 55% chemical tariffs, fertilize tariffs, 50% steel tariffs, and uncertainty on tariff rates, and if we’re not winning, we may be tied at $100 per acres in added farm expenses.

Add $100 less income and $100 more expenses and that’s a $200 per acre per year hit at a time farmers are already in the hard years of the normal grain market cycle.

Next month, I will write about farmer resistance and solutions!

The post November 2025 Getting Grounded: Local Sources Amidst Farming Crisis first appeared on Rochester Red Star.