North NJ DSA Calls For Sen. Bob Menendez To Resign

For Immediate Release: September 27th 2023

North NJ DSA calls for Senator Bob Menendez (D-NJ) to resign from the office of U.S. Senate, amid incredible charges of bribery in exchange for political influence. While the Justice Department continues to investigate these charges of bribery the court of public opinion Menendez brushes off is not just one of reaction but one where cases can be made to envision a New Jersey and a United States without warhawks and criminals like Bob Menendez. The Senator’s anti-worker, imperialist, and undemocratic vision for the United States is demonstrated by his conduct as well as his record in Congress; as his vision is one that is reactionary and ruthless, one with allegiances to Big Pharma, Israeli apartheid, and the special interests that have consistently slipped the not-so-proverbial bars of gold into his pockets for too many years. We affirm our call for Menendez to resign is, in fact, politically motivated.This is a moment New Jersey can stand up and demand Menendez step down and in so doing build a better New Jersey, a better nation, and a better world.

But let’s be clear: New Jersey’s corrupt political culture of party bosses that serve for-profit interests is what got us here. Learn about our work to dismantle this relationship right now, on picket lines of auto workers and nurses in our region.

Here is why we’re motivated to build a New Jersey free from Menendez and interests that keep him in power

In a state with over 70% support for Medicare for All, Menendez has long stood in the way of health justice, refusing to support this popular policy because he prioritizes the revenue of his corporate financial backers. Aligned with other reactionary Democrats, Menendez takes in huge amounts of money from the pharmaceutical industry. He has even forced the Democrats to weaken Medicare drug-pricing reforms, ensuring that more people suffer and die so that profits keep flowing.

In 2022, when Roe v. Wade fell to a rogue Supreme Court, we marched on his office in Jersey City to demand he codify Roe and protect abortion access for all. His resistance to stand up for bodily autonomy of Americans may now come to his aid, as members of a rogue Supreme Court also have engaged in similar acts of bribery and may now determine the Senator’s legal outcome. 

Senator Menendez also notably belongs to the pro-war faction of the Democratic Party, and as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee he has supported the build-up to a dangerous new Cold War with China. He opposed President Obama’s Iran nuclear deal in 2015, a rare effort to de-escalate tensions in the Middle East. His avid support for sanctions on Cuba and Venezuela harm ordinary people more than any dictators he claims to target. Menendez’s slavish devotion to Israel’s ongoing genocidal oppression of the Palestinian people knows no limits, as he answers to AIPAC–an organization that supports MAGA Republican fascists–while working with Marco Rubio and Mitch McConnell to suppress the American right to protest with the sweeping “Combating BDS Act,” a shameful throwback to the McCarthy era.

His failure to sign on as co-sponsor for a Green New Deal, the Raise the Wage Act, his vote against stopping weapons to Saudi Arabia, and decades of votes to hand more and more money to the Department of Defense for war abroad make Menendez one of the worst Democrats in championing progressive policy in the Senate.

This is only a partial list of Senator Menendez’s real crimes–his sacrificing of lives in New Jersey and elsewhere for the sake of the powerful interests he has always served and protected. We reject Menendez’s vision for the world and for working people everywhere. We also condemn his installing his son as heir to a seat that belongs to the working class of North Jersey.

North Jersey DSA believes a better New Jersey, U.S. and a better world are possible– one without Bob Menendez in office.

The post North NJ DSA Calls for Senator Bob Menendez’s Resignation first appeared on North NJ DSA.

The historic strike of the United Auto Workers against the Big Three US automakers is inspiring new hope for the labor movement. I sat down with Jane Slaughter, a founder and long-time editor of Labor Notes, to discuss the ongoing strike, what it will take to win, and how the strike was made possible by a small opposition caucus defeating the entrenched UAW bureaucracy to take leadership of the union earlier this year. I then speak with Manya Janowitz, a Seattle DSA member and organizer with UNITE-HERE Local 8, about the strike and contract battle at Homegrown, the Seattle-based sandwich chain. The discussion with Jane Slaughter references her recent article, “No Reform Caucus, No UAW Strike,” published in The Call on September 20th. This podcast is only possible due to the generous monthly contributions of Seattle DSA members and supporters who fund my part-time salary as the chapter’s Communications Organizer alongside vital organizing work. To sustain this podcast, and our wider communications work, please become a monthly contributor at seattledsa.org/podcast.

Thorn West: Issue No. 175

City Politics

• The results are in for DSA-LA’s Phase 1 endorsement cycle! Membership has voted to endorse Councilmember Nithya Raman, who is running for re-election in CD4, and Ysabel Jurado, who is running in CD14. Members in good standing can read more about the election results here.

• Weeks after the Los Angeles City Council drew criticism for its unanimous rejection of the city controller’s nominee to the Ethics Commission, the city council will consider Alex Johnson, the nominee put forth by Council President Pro Tem Marqueece Harris-Dawson. The LA Times considers Johnson’s status as a longtime political insider.

• Kevin de León, who has ignored widespread calls to resign since being caught making a variety of racist remarks on the LA Fed tapes, has announced a re-election bid for his city council seat in CD14.

Housing Rights

• Residents of Los Angeles who owe back rent can now apply to an emergency renters assistance program paid for with funds collected by Measure ULA. Applicants must live in Los Angeles and make less than 80% of area median income. The program will cover up to six months of back rent owed to your current landlord. Applications close on October 2. See here for more on eligibility, as well as how to apply.

• Martin v. Boise is a district court ruling that moderately restricts the ability of municipalities to displace unhoused people where there is less than adequate shelter capacity. CalMatters covers the semantic games local government plays with the term “offer of shelter” in order to talk its way past this ruling. The League of California Cities has joined with other entities in petitioning the Supreme Court to narrow the scope of Boise, while, in a mask-off moment, Governor Gavin Newsom expressed his hope that the Supreme Court would act to strip legal protections from unhoused citizens. “And that’s a hell of a statement for a progressive Democrat,” said the governor, unironically.

• LA Public Press gives voice to the frustrations of tenants at Hillside Villa Apartments. Over a year after the city approved a plan to initiate the purchase of their building in order to maintain affordable rents, a series of delays have kept them in limbo, while the building’s current private owner continues to file eviction notices. More from the Tenants’ Association, which held an action at the Mayor’s office today.

Labor

• The WGA and AMPTP issued a joint statement this week that they had begun negotiating again after several weeks apart. Union leaders and advocates have cautioned the public against interpreting this as a sign that a deal is imminent and called for an increased show of attendance at picket lines.
  
• Councilmembers Eunisses Hernandez and Nithya Raman, seconded by Hugo Soto-Martinez, introduced a motion to draft legislation requiring Los Angeles area hotels to inform and offer full refunds to guests whose reservations might be affected by construction or a picket line. This motion comes as UNITE HERE Local 11 nears the end of its third month on strike against dozens of LA-area hotels.

Police Violence and Community Resistance

• In the aftermath of a federal investigation being launched into alleged rampant criminal behavior of the LAPD’s Mission District Gang Unit, LAPD Chief Michel Moore insisted that the practice of officers improperly switching off body cams is not widespread, but this is demonstrably false.

Environmental Justice

• Governor Newsom has until October 12 to veto any of the legislation currently before him, but he has already indicated that he will sign two bills that force large corporations to disclose their carbon footprints.

• As climate change increases the frequency of wildfires, insurers have declined to provide insurance to homeowners in California wildfire zones. This week, Governor Newsom issued an executive order that attempts to address that.

The post Rental Assistance Fund Opens in LA + California Cities Petition Supreme Court To “Clarify” Lower Court Ruling Protecting Unhoused appeared first on The Thorn West.

After Friday’s midnight deadline, the United Auto Workers went on strike against the Big 3 automakers of Ford, GM, and Stellantis, marking the first time in history the UAW has gone on strike against all three auto companies. As of this recording, 12,700 auto workers have walked off the job at three plants: a Ford plant in Wayne, Michigan, a GM plant in Wentzville, Missouri, and a Stellantis plant in Toledo, Ohio, and there are potentially many more plants to follow. While here in New York City, postdoctoral workers with the UAW at Columbia University and Mt. Sinai Hospital are fighting to transform the working conditions for postdocs in Higher Ed. Tonight, we are joined in-studio with Brandon Mancilla, Director of UAW Region 9A, and Chris Voila, an auto worker and UAW member, to hear the latest about this historic auto strike. We will also hear from PJ and Andrea, postdocs with the Columbia Postdoctoral Workers Union and Sinai Postdoctoral Organizing Committee, on their respective contract fights and how postdoc workers are ready, if necessary, to strike. 

Follow SPOC-UAW at @spocuaw (Twitter) and https://sinaipostdocunion.org/

And CPW-UAW at @CPWUAW (Twitter), cpw_uaw (IG), and https://columbiapostdocunion.org/

UPDATE: It’s on! Stand with United Auto Workers (UAW) at the Big 3 auto companies fighting for:

• An end to two-tier wages and benefits
• Cost of living raises
• Secure union jobs in a just transition to electric vehicles!

After years of concessions to the bosses and skyrocketing executive compensation, autoworkers are standing firm and saying enough is enough. They’ve organized in their shops and communities ahead of the contracts at Ford, Stellantis, and GM expiring. But the companies refused to give them what they deserve. Now that the bosses have refused their demands, they’re doing stand-up strikes at worksites around the country to keep the companies guessing where they’ll be next!This fight is important not only to the 150,000 UAW members who work at the Big 3. Their fight is the fight of the whole working class. Workers need to support each other as we fight for a better world. Pledge to support UAW workers in their fight and join them on the picket line!

Are you a DSA Member and want to stand with UAW? Sign the Strike-Ready pledge!

The strike has begun, DSA is in full solidarity mode, and even members in smaller chapters with no picketing nearby should take the Strike Ready Pledge. Duluth has no UAW plants, but we have heard that many of the auto mechanics at the dealers are members of the UAW. Stay tuned for actions, and meanwhile, take the pledge.

We at The Pika Press are very happy to bring you comprehensive coverage of the 2023 DSA National Convention! Our coverage includes articles, report-backs, and statistics features!

Articles

The Struggle for an Anti-Zionist DSA Continues by Omar — a pointed critique of DSA’s zionist history and the votes of the convention.

Convention from the Staffer’s View by Hayley Banyai-Becker — a reflection on what post-convention DSA looks like from the unique position of a DSA staff organizer.

What is the NPC? by Joe Mayall — a straight-forward explanation of what DSA’s National Political Committee is and what it does.

DSA Doesn’t Know What It Wants by Caoimhín Perkins — a polemic on certain comrade’s aversion to a party-like strategy.

Delegate Report-Backs

Brief summaries of Denver DSA delegates’ experiences and thoughts on convention. Contributing comrades: Alejandra Beatty, Ahmed, Colleen Johnston, Andrew Thompson, Jennifer Dillon, Matthew Rambles, Max Soo, Mitch, Skye O’Toole, and Stephanie Caulk.

Statistical features

Pika’s Index — a list of statistics about convention with plenty of lines to be read in-between.

Colorado DSA Votes @ DSACon2023 — a spreadsheet showing all the votes (resolutions and NPC) taken by delegates from all four of Colorado’s DSA chapters at the 2023 National Convention.

Ads and notes

Want to write for us? Want to make graphics for us? Want to help improve our website? Noticed a typo or inconsistency that makes you want to gauge your eyes out? GREAT! Please contact political.education@denverdsa.org or message Brynn via Slack or on Twitter to speak with the manager!

ISSUE #3

by Omar

On August 4, 2023, the first in-person Convention of the Democratic Socialists of America commenced after the 2020 surge in membership. Several important questions were up for debate: Should DSA expand its National Political Committee? Will DSA work within the Democratic Party, or will it declare independence? Will DSA be an anti-Zionist organization in principle and practice?

Anyone who has read the 2021 statement where DSA took a rhetorical departure from its Zionist history will be given the impression that DSA is “unwavering” in its commitment to Palestinian solidarity and liberation against Zionist settler colonialism. But the 2021 Bowman affair has suggested that the professed “solidarity” with Palestinians is actually implicit Zionisim. And inextricable from the Bowman affair was the NPC’s decision to decharter the BDS & Palestine Solidarity WG, providing yet another example of the solidarity collapsing from “merely professed” to “a total lie.” 

Now the year is 2023. The last-minute recommendation by the NPC to incapacitate Palestine organizing within DSA by absorbing the Palestine Solidarity WG into the International Committee, their refusal to place the anti-Zionist resolution on the agenda, their proposed amendment to the anti-Zionist resolution that renders it useless, as well as the use of tokenism on the debate floor and handing out propaganda flyers outside debate to impel delegates to support the IC absorption are all new examples of a new liberal Zionism within DSA. 

From this tremendous effort it is extremely difficult to conclude that it is perpetuated in good faith by anti-Zionists. It seems exactly what liberal Zionists would do, who begrudgingly resort to implicit Zionism only because of the moral progress within DSA that no longer renders acceptable explicit Zionism. 

Actual solidarity is described no better than by Paulo Freire, who in 1968 famously said that “solidarity requires that one enter into the situation of those with whom one is solidary; it is a radical posture.” To enter into the situation of Palestinians means to support BDS in principle, given that over 80% of Palestinians support BDS. Actual solidarity is militant intolerance to Zionism within DSA. Actual solidarity would completely transform DSA’s reputation away from liberal Zionism, which will improve both the quality and quantity of membership. We would unlock a vibrant and necessary collaboration with grassroots Palestinian organizations such as the Palestinian Youth Movement (PYM) and Students for Justice in Palestine (SJP). 

I moved to Colorado in 2021, soon after the Israeli Occupation Forces conducted widespread terrorism in Palestine: Invading the al-Aqsa compound, unloading airstrikes on Gaza, and expediting colonialism in the West Bank and al-Quds. 

In light of this, I sought Palestine organizing, looking primarily towards political education and campaigns such as the BDS movement. Without a local PYM or SJP chapter, I reluctantly joined Denver DSA with full awareness of DSA’s historic ties to Zionism. 

I was pleasantly surprised to find that substantial internal work was being done to make DSA a truly anti-Zionist organization, with like-minded folks in Denver and the National BDS & Palestine Solidarity WG, who proposed a resolution to enforce the actual anti-Zionism that DSA needs. What’s more, anti-Zionists in DSA have been met with great internal hostility and sometimes even violence, but that does not deter us from nurturing our organization.

It remains unclear whether the new NPC, after being handed the responsibility of deliberating whether to make DSA an anti-Zionist organization in principle and praxis, will be in solidarity with Palestinians. In my view, weakness on anti-Zionism has no place in leftist organizations and cannot sustain the types of enduring structures we are trying to build.

~~

Omar is a member of the Denver Democratic Socialists of America and an organizer with the Colorado Palestine Coalition.

ISSUE #3

by Hayley Banyai-Becker

Hi comrades! My name is Hayley Banyai-Becker (she/her) and I am a Field Organizer with the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) aka I am a national staff organizer! At the beginning of August, I attended my first ever in person DSA convention (as a staff member) joining 1,200 socialists from around the country in Chicago, and wow do I have such a renewed sense of enthusiasm for the organizing project that is DSA. 

My work broadly consists of supporting DSA chapters in 12 states across the western United States with their internal work like member recruitment and development and external organizing efforts such as campaigns and solidarity work. I absolutely love what I do and firmly believe that I have one of the greatest jobs in the world – if it is possible for a socialist to love their work, lol. Before joining DSA, I worked for a Colorado progressive nonprofit, where a coworker and I started a union to improve our working conditions. Prior to that, I worked on a variety of campaigns, including two of Denver DSA’s own endorsees, Lorena Garcia for US Senate and Paid Family and Medical Leave for Coloradans (Proposition 118). I’ve been a member of DSA since late 2019 and I served as Denver’s Electoral Committee Chair in 2021. DSA has been my political home since I joined and I deeply believe we have the power to bring about socialism in our lifetime. 

All of this work led me to the DSA convention, where I had so much excitement to see  chapters across the country commit to implementing stronger, more comprehensive and truly intentional recruitment efforts. This year’s convention made clear the importance and necessity of extensive recruitment practices in order to succeed in (and pay for) our goals. Chapters earnestly heard this call: in real time, I am witnessing a remarkable sense of desire and commitment to grow our organization’s membership, and therefore fundraising, in order to build the DSA we want to see going forward. The energy around this is palpable for me, because one of my primary goals as a DSA organizer is to help chapters understand that strong recruitment skills are vital to the longevity and success of our movement! 

A lot of my work revolves around supporting chapters in educating their members on the importance of the ideological framework that is mass movement building. We are working to build a movement of the majority, which means organizing everyone in the working class into our movement is the only way we will win. It is essential to DSA’s theory of change: as working class people, we all face some very similar issues (we can’t afford rent, we have student or medical debt, etc), but we are the agents of change when we come together to fight back on these issues. Put even more simply: we must directly and intentionally ask people to join DSA in order to win the world we want. If you are interested in supporting Denver’s recruitment and internal organizing efforts, contact Caoimhin Perkins and/or join the #WG-Internal-Organizing channel on Slack.  

Another take away from convention that I am seeing across my entire turf is the inclination for chapters to work together across their states and regions. Being in person at the convention gave us all the ability to meet and create more honest and sincere connections with organizers from other chapters in neighboring towns and cities in a way that has not been possible since the last in person convention in 2019. Organizing is impossible without deep relationships and the pandemic has kept us from building the trust and intimacy needed to create relationships that can endure over time and trauma. Chapters have been seeking out regional connections consistently throughout the pandemic, but with this added in person aspect, I am seeing these relationships come to fruition now in a way that was not entirely possible before. This is tremendous for the strength of our organization and gives chapters the ability to more easily organize statewide efforts (or anything that impacts working class members outside of their jurisdiction) moving forward. If you want to connect more with me on these topics, reach out any time at hayley@dsausa.org. 

~~

Hayley Banyai-Becker is the DSA regional organizer for the western United States. Prior to her time as a DSA employee, she chaired Denver DSA’s Electoral Committee. She also worked for Representative Lorena Garcia’s 2018 campaign for U.S. Senate and the Yes On 118 campaign.