The Silicon Valley Democratic Socialists of America Chapter Committee condemns the amendments proposed by SV-DSA member and District 24 State Assemblymember Alex Lee to SB 403, the anti-caste-discrimination bill endorsed by SV-DSA. While Lee’s proposed amendments were not all adopted as such, they added to a chorus of voices that unacceptably weakened the bill as it moved through the legislative process. Groups like the Hindu American Foundation and Vishva Hindu Parishad, which have long opposed anti-caste-discrimination laws, celebrated this result as a victory.

In a June 20 letter (co-authored with AD 26’s Evan Low), Assemblymember Lee:

• Proposed a pause on the legislation for further “study,” when victims of caste discrimination need protection now.
• Echoed the minimizing rhetoric of SB 403 opponents by equating them with supporters and disputing the extent of caste oppression, despite its well-documented status.
• Argued for caste as merely a subset of ancestry. Scholarship from caste-oppressed people and allies has documented the caste system as multifaceted and irreducible to ancestry, in part due to its inextricable links to social stratification and segregation. This “subset of ancestry” line of attack is reflected in the bill’s latest amendments, and will further muddle Californians’ cultural understanding of how casteism occurs in practice.

Caste-oppressed people across California have bravely spoken up to share the ostracism and exclusion they have faced. In an environment that often culturally misunderstands their struggles and offers scant legal recourse, our response as socialists cannot be to academically “re-study” their documented lived experiences, miscategorize their oppression, or disbelieve its degree. We demand clear legal protections against all forms of discrimination that subjugate the international working class.

The Chapter Committee condemns Lee’s failure to uphold chapter priorities and socialist values. We stand in solidarity with caste-oppressed people and look forward to continuing to learn about and support their struggles.

The post Chapter Committee Statement on Assemblymember Alex Lee and SB403 appeared first on Silicon Valley DSA.

The North New Jersey, Central New Jersey, and New York City Chapters of the Democratic Socialists of America stand in solidarity with former Journal Square Jollibee workers who filed a formal complaint to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) after being illegally terminated earlier in 2023. We unequivocally support their demands for reinstatement, back pay, and an apology.

A group of nine workers at Jollibee, a popular Filipino fast food restaurant, were harassed, surveilled, and then terminated after management at the Journal Square store learned they were organizing for fairer working conditions. These workers had organized around a $3 wage increase, holiday pay, and improved working conditions, gaining the support and documented signatures of over 90% of the workers at their location in just a couple of weeks. After filing with the NLRB, the group launched the #Justice4JollibeeWorkersCampaign where they attempted to deliver their written demands to management on National Fried Chicken Day. This is one of the busiest and most demanding days of the year for fast food workers, who experience increasingly dangerous conditions and maltreatment from management during the rush.

As an internationally ubiquitous fast food chain set to open 500 stores in North America in the next five to seven years; Jollibee Food Corporation is valued at over $5B and made $3.2B worldwide in 2022. The workers who make this growth possible haven’t benefited from it. Management uses several tactics to keep their pockets lined, including wage theft, mistreatment, surveillance, chronic understaffing, and intentional misclassification and casualization of workers to deprive them of full-time benefits and pay. The #Justice4JollibeeWorkers campaign demands, at minimum, that Jollibee uphold its workers’ rights to organize at all stores, reinstate fired workers with back pay, and apologize publicly for their retaliation. They have received widespread community support from organized workers in New Jersey, including Pilipinos Organizing for Worker Empowerment and Rights (POWER).

As socialists, we believe that every worker has the right to organize, and that Jollibee’s behavior is unacceptable. We condemn the multinational company’s mistreatment and intimidation of their workforce, disproportionately made up of people of color and members of the Filipino labor diaspora. We applaud the former Journal Square workers for organizing to build power and have their voice heard on the job. The North and Central New Jersey as well as New York City DSA Chapters cover all NJ and NY Jollibee shops in our states’ most populated areas. We support the #Justice4JollibeeWorkers demands and will stand with Jollibee workers as they fight, and until they win.

Sign the #Justice4JollibeeWorkers petition against the Jollibee Foods Corporation here.

The post NNJ, CNJ, and NYC-DSA Stand in Solidarity with Illegally Terminated Jollibee Workers appeared first on Central NJ DSA.

In this episode, we dig into the sharp debates and controversies surrounding DSA’s electoral work. My four guests are candidates for DSA's National Political Committee hoping to be among the 16 elected at the August National Convention of DSA in Chicago. Each represent a different DSA caucus.

There are 41 candidates for the National Political Committee, which is the highest elected body between DSA’s bi-annual National Conventions. The political make-up of the team elected to lead the largest socialist organization in the US is arguably the most important decision the Chicago Convention will take.

Yet even within DSA, too often we default to dominant norms of US political culture, reducing political debate to sound-bites and gotcha moments on social media. In the spirit of a more engaged democratic process, this extended episode features a far more in-depth discussion over how DSA can address one of our central challenges: building a powerful and yet accountable socialist electoral project.

My guests:

Amy Wilhelm is co-chair of Seattle DSA, and a trans Marxist born and raised in Seattle. Amy’s background is in tenant organizing, and they’re a member of the Marxist Unity Group, a DSA caucus.

Philip Locker is a long time socialist organizer and a member of the Seattle Education Association. He helped lead the fight to win the $15 minimum wage in Seattle, the first major city to do so. Philip recently completed a term as Co-chair of Seattle DSA and is a member of the Reform & Revolution caucus.

Alex Pellitteri is a Bread & Roses caucus candidate for NPC. He is from NYC-DSA where he has served as a campaign manager for a DSA-endorsed candidate; he served on the Socialists in Office Committee; and helped start a YDSA chapter.

Sam Heft-Luthy is a former co-chair of DSA San Francisco, the current Secretary of California DSA, and a member of the Red Star caucus. He served on DSA SF's electoral strategy commission in 2021 and was a staff organizer for the chapter's People First San Francisco ballot measure campaign. He grew up in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.

Last Friday, July 14, the Screen Actors Guild – American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA) launched a strike, representing over 150,000 workers. This is the first time that SAG-AFTRA and the Writers Guild of America (WGA) have been on strike at the same time since 1960. Both of these unions are up against the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers (AMPTP).

The AMPTP is an alliance of major studio capitalists, including the “Big Five” –  Walt Disney Studios, Warner Bros., Universal Pictures, Columbia Pictures (Sony), and Paramount Pictures – which currently dominate over 80% of the media market. The “Big Five” have a significant presence in Atlanta, a city that has seen its film industry rapidly grow into a multi-billion dollar sector in recent years, employing over ten thousand workers.

On Monday, SAG-AFTRA held a kickoff rally at the local IATSE 479 Hall in Atlanta to mark the launch of the nationwide strike. Hundreds of members and supporters gathered to hear from speakers regarding the upcoming fight and the unions’ demands, including increased pay, stable employment, and measures to address the increasing use of AI to replace human labor.

Just as with WGA, the era of streaming and inflation has caused a considerable financial hit for actors, and a significant decrease in compensation. Additionally, workers are asking for more reasonable timelines to avoid long periods of unemployment between filming. Media bosses benefit from keeping employees captive and precarious between shoots, as a way to protect their bottom line and maximizing profits.

Finally, as if in a dystopian science-fiction, some major companies are attempting to claim actors’ “likeness” as property for their own profit. Using advanced AI tools, producers can scan an actor’s image and incorporate it digitally into any media production. Studios can even edit actors’ dialogue or appearance in movies without the actor even showing up for production. SAG-AFTRA is pushing back on these developments, demanding protections for workers, informed consent, and more adequate compensation for the use of their likeness. 

The wealthy investors that the AMPTP represents are a powerful force which shapes public opinion, and political and social movements through its control of media production. But with both WGA and SAG-AFTRA on strike, the absence of new media is bound to expose who’s actually doing the work to create the film and television content which makes these studios so profitable. The recently announced SAG-AFTRA strike not only coincides with the WGA contract fight, but also falls just two weeks before the UPS Teamsters plan to launch the largest private-sector strike the country has seen in decades. With worker militancy on the rise, it’s clear that workers from logistics to the film industry are growing increasingly conscious of their position in society and ability to win transformative change through collective action. 

This historic moment demands not only cross-union solidarity, but backing from the entire working class, and DSA is ready to support workers every step of the way! While most SAG-AFTRA pickets are currently concentrated in LA and New York, keep your eyes peeled for updates on Metro-Atlanta pickets and actions at https://www.sagaftrastrike.org/ and get involved in DSA to join our labor solidarity work.

Photos by Brandon Mishawn

The post Labor Militancy on the Rise: SAG-AFTRA Strikes! appeared first on Red Clay Comrade.

UPS Teamsters are fighting for better pay, hours, and treatment on the job! If UPS doesn’t respond to workers’ demands before their contract expires on July 31, over 340,000 UPS workers are prepared to launch the largest strike in decades.

Show your support for UPS workers!

1. Do you know your UPS worker that brings packages to your work or to your home? Display this beautiful poster in your window to show your UPS worker and the community that you support their fight for a fair contract.

2. Join us next Friday, July 28 for our Strike Ready Fundraiser at the Gallatin Labor Temple! It will be an exciting night of live music to raise money for local UPS workers.

Featuring performances by:
STiLGONE
ART & FUNK COLLECTIVE
THREE PENNY RIOT

Suggested Donation $10

Donations will go to the DSA Labor Solidarity Fund, which is a national fund that supports local labor activity. Donations will support striking workers in Bozeman on this or future picket lines.

Representing around 1.1 million workers in the US and Canada in the fields of retail, grocery, healthcare, cannabis, and more, United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW)  is a major union with the potential to win big gains for workers. But some of its own members say the union is too top-down, lacks worker engagement and democracy, and isn't investing enough in organizing new workers in a time of increasing economic inequality and pressure on the working class. Tonight we're joined live by Enrique and Iris, two grocery worker-organizers and members of Essential Workers for Democracy, to discuss their efforts to reform their international union and "raise the floor" for workers everywhere.

Learn more about EW4D and get involved here: https://ew4d.org/

Happy red hot summer!

UPS Teamsters have voted to go on strike August 1 if the bosses do not agree to a fair contract. Join us Sunday, July 9, 2:00-3:30 PM at the Gallatin Labor Temple (422 E Mendenhall) for a discussion about why workers go on strike and how to support UPS workers.

Suggested materials to review:

• The Chicago Teachers Strike Is a Fight for the Common Good (Article)
• Create Havoc Around our System (CHAOS) method (Video)
• Teamsters Deliver The Goods 2  (Podcast)

Other upcoming dates:

• Thursday July 13, 6:30 PM, Housing Working Group (1820 W Lincoln)
• Sunday July 16, 2:00 PM, Labor Working Group (422 E Mendenhall)
• Thursday July 20, 6:30 PM, Housing Working Group (1820 W Lincoln)
• Sunday July 23, 2:00 PM, Labor Working Group (422 E Mendenhall)
• Friday, July 28, Strike Ready Fundraiser at the Gallatin Labor Temple to raise money for a strike fund to support UPS workers if they need to strike
• Sunday, August 13, 2:00 PM, New DSA Member Orientation

Solidarity Forever