At our 2023 Annual Convention, members voted to endorse two Priority Campaigns: a Labor RnF Strategy and a Tax the Rich Campaign.

Membership also voted for a new Steering Committee. The winners are:

• Co-Chairs: Keller S. and Kira M.
• Secretary: Eric CK.
• Treasurer: Emma D.
• Membership Organizer: Jocelyn R.
• Communications Organizer: TJ S.

Resolution and Bylaw Amendment Results

A New Approach to Organizational Structure – Passed (14-1-0)

Co-Signers: Keller S., Amber R., Mac C., Joe B.

Whereas, Syracuse DSA has undergone a change in membership engagement and committee involvement…

Whereas, the demands of Committee leadership are a significant strain on those individuals…

Whereas, several Syracuse DSA committees have dissolved or gone dormant in the last 12 months…

Whereas, there currently exists no formal mechanism for small working groups to engage in chapter work without full recognition as committees… 

Whereas, greater coordination between committees is a tangible and worthwhile goal…

Be it resolved that the Syracuse DSA Bylaws be amended to add the following language:

ADD:  Article IX, Section 5. Organizing Committee and Organizational Structure

1. The Organizing Committee (OC) of Syracuse DSA (composed of Steering Committee members and co-chairs of all chartered committees) may elect, with a simple majority, to organize chapter committees under the structure of the OC. The OC and Steering Committee (SC) will convene regular meetings in which the work of standard committee meetings takes place, for all committees that are organized under this structure. Committee members may share their work and provide updates as necessary to the entire OC in order to facilitate greater connection between committees and reduce the overall burden of scheduling for committee members. 

2. All chapter members in good standing are encouraged and welcome to attend and participate in OC meetings, and all chapter members in good standing in attendance at a given meeting will be considered voting members of the OC. 

3. The chapter Co-Chairs are responsible for convening and facilitating OC meetings but may delegate roles as needed. 

4. Regular minutes should be taken for all OC meetings, as well as for any breakout sessions that may occur. The chapter Secretary is responsible for recording minutes but may delegate responsibilities as needed. 

5. The OC may, by simply majority, empower chapter members to form Working Groups under the guidance of the OC. Working Groups must be composed of at least 2 chapter members in good standing, and may engage in organizing work similar to a full committee. Working Groups will adhere to the same duties and responsibilities of a full committee, except for leadership roles. Working Groups will not have formal or elected leadership positions and must adhere to any guidelines laid out by the OC. Working Groups should be considered temporary structures, with a goal of either disbanding at a given date or event, or converting into a full committee. Working Groups are obligated to regularly report their work and provide updates to the OC. 

Proposal to add a Labor Officer Position to the Steering Committee – Passed (15-0-0)

WHEREAS, labor organizing is fundamental to any socialist strategy to build power;

WHEREAS, because of labor organizing’s importance to all aspects of our work, it is important to institutionalize a labor focus on our Steering Committee, the most central body of our chapter;

WHEREAS, Syracuse DSA needs a purposeful, thought out labor strategy and needs leadership who can prioritize the execution of this strategy;

WHEREAS, Syracuse DSA does not and did not, for most of 2022, have a functioning labor committee;  therefore, be it

RESOLVED, that in Article V Section 1 of our bylaws the list of Steering Committee positions be edited to include a Labor Officer;

RESOLVED, that in Article V Section 5 of our bylaws the list of elected local officers be edited to include a Labor Officer;

RESOLVED, that in Article V of our bylaws a new section will be added after Section 10 which reads:

Section 11. Labor Organizer:

The Labor Organizer will be a voting member of the steering committee who will be responsible for engaging the chapter in deciding and executing a labor strategy.;

RESOLVED, that the first election for Labor Officer will be held immediately should this resolution be passed; and
RESOLVED, should this election fail to result in the election of a Labor Officer then a new election for Labor Officer will be held at the chapter’s April general meeting.

Plan a Conference of the Local Left – Passed (13-0-2)

Endorser: Brian E.

Co-endorsers: Mac C., Marianna P., Jermaine C., Jocelyn R., Emma D.

Be it resolved that the chapter will initiate the planning of a conference of the local Left to be held in the second half of 2023 or early 2024.

Be it resolved that we will initiate conversations with other local Left organizations, with an encompassing definition of the Left, including all long-term coalition partners in addition to others we might like to be in coalition with and including a variety of kinds of organizations. Conversations will determine the level of interest of each organization reached out to and solicit initial thoughts about its goals, scope, timing, length, structure and content.

Be it resolved that interested organizations will be asked about the level of involvement they will commit to, with clear expectations for each level: a) planning and coordinating, b) promoting, or c) attending.

Be it resolved that organizations that join the planning will jointly determine the overall plan for the conference and will determine what kind of content should be prioritized.

Be it resolved that Syracuse DSA will seek to strengthen mutual understanding and relationships with other conference participants, that we will foster conversations about topics that inform our work but that do not naturally arise in the course of campaigns or other current coalition work. We will seek mutual recognition of points of agreement with other Left organizations and will seek comradely understanding of points of disagreement.

Be it resolved that Syracuse DSA will seek to foster greater cooperation among local Left organizations and unorganized Leftists.

Be it resolved that all parts of Syracuse DSA, be they committees or other projects, will participate in the planning and coordination of the conference and support its success.

Resolution for An Alternative Housing Model – Passes (14-0-1)

Author: Eric CK

Co-Sponsors: Max L., TJ S.

Whereas the American housing system is built upon structures of racism and inequality, which are exacerbated by capitalism; and

Whereas our current housing system will never be able to properly address concerns of tenants and at the very best provides limited and criminally unenforced protections to said tenants; and

Whereas Syracuse’s housing stock and quality are controlled by slumlords who have no intention to properly care for or maintain property conditions; and

Whereas Syracuse has one of the highest rates of childhood lead poisoning and poverty in the United States; and 

Whereas Syracuse DSA has been an active member of the Syracuse Tenants Organizing for Power (STOP!) alongside the Syracuse Tenants Union, Party for Socialism and Liberation and members of the Communist Party and;

Now, therefore, be it resolved that Syracuse DSA recommits itself to the STOP! Coalition and building tenant power across Central New York; and

Be it further resolved that Syracuse DSA will emphasize tenant organizing by sharing STOP! trainings and events regularly with DSA membership; and 

Be it further resolved that Syracuse DSA will encourage its members to work as part of STOP! and further the coalition’s capacity for form tenant associations and further the work of the Syracuse Tenants Union (STU); and

Be it further resolved that Syracuse DSA members who are actively engaged or become actively engaged with STOP! will commit to further discussion and creation of an alternative housing model; and

Be it finally resolved that members engaged with STOP! will continue to build upon established projects, such as creating a land trust, and will work in collaboration with the other coalition members to create a sustainable and long-lasting tenant movement across Syracuse. 

Proposal to Revitalize the Labor Committee – Fails (6-6-3)

Author: Eric CK

Co-Sponsors: Emma D., TJ S., Max L., Andrew B.

Whereas labor organizing and activism have been the heartbeat of DSA and other socialist organizations; and

Whereas Syracuse is one of the most union-dense areas in the United States, having three unionized hospitals and a dozen unionized grocery stores, and strong union representation in logistics, education, and other industries; and

Whereas there has been a wave of class-struggle from the Sysco Strike, and unionization of Communication Service for the Deaf, Syracuse University Graduate Students, TCGplayer Authentication Center workers, Hamilton College student admission workers, and Starbucks baristas in Liverpool; and

Whereas several important contracts are expiring in 2023 and workers may go on strike, from UPS workers with the Teamsters and 13,000 workers at Tops Friendly Markets across Upstate NY and Northern PA  with the United Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW); and

Whereas Syracuse DSA’s Labor Committee has been inactive since March 2022; and

Whereas we must organize on the shop floor to transform our unions into democratic organizations capable of self organizing in conflict with the capitalist class; and

Whereas Syracuse DSA needs to create a space for union members in our chapter to come together to stand in solidarity and advance their own struggles against the boss and to transform their unions; and

Now, therefore, be it resolved, that Syracuse DSA commits to reactivating our Labor Committee to serve as the basis for supporting our labor work and recruiting individuals into ongoing labor campaigns; and forming a base for our socialist organization in the working class of Syracuse 

Be it further resolved that the Labor Committee will meet monthly in a union-business, a business or location that is unionized or in the process of unionizing, including but not limited to the Liverpool Starbucks and Tops Friendly Markets Fayetteville cafe; and

Be if further resolved that the Labor Committee will serve as a space to skill-share and provide community for workers and union-members; and

Be it further resolved that Syracuse DSA, through the Labor Committee, will assist in the strengthening of socialist aligned unions and the creation and maintenance of reform caucuses in different unions at the request of other Rank and File union members; and

Be it further resolved that Syracuse DSA and the Labor Committee will work in tandem with  reform caucuses, including but not limited to, RailRoad Workers United, Reform UFCW, Teamsters for a Democratic Union, and Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAW); and

Be it further resolved that the Labor Committee will coordinate solidarity actions with working-class individuals and union campaigns, and provide assistance with the implementation of the Rank-and-File strategy as laid out in the Labor priority resolution; and

Be it further resolved that the Labor Committee will focus on providing trainings for DSA members working in the healthcare and education sectors; and

Be it further resolved that the Labor Committee will implement the Strike Ready DSA 2023! program laid out by the National Labor Committee to aid striking workers in Syracuse, Central New York, and beyond; and

Be it further resolved that the Labor Steering Committee Officer should regularly communicate with and act on the advice of the Labor Committee. 

Be it finally resolved that the Labor Committee will involve local labor members in its work and work alongside other DSA committees to ensure that the priorities and needs of workers and union members are addressed in all of DSA’s work. 

The post Chapter Convention 2023 Results appeared first on Syracuse DSA.

Drag is an art with deep roots in New York City’s queer communities of color that has much to offer to all people who are interested in liberating themselves from traditional and patriarchal ideas of gender. That’s part of why it’s become a target of the organized far-right both here in NYC and nationally, with public libraries and other community venues facing protests over their regularly offered drag performances and story hours. Local politicians have also experienced far-right threats for merely expressing support for drag. On tonight’s edition of Revolutions per Minute, we’re live with Drag Story Hour NYC storyteller Oliver and  organizer and parent Desiree to discuss the many aspects of drag, and how New Yorkers have come together to reject the far-right threat and show the beauty and power of queer community.  

To learn more about Drag Story Hour NYC, visit dshnyc.org. 

January 17, 2023

The Charlotte Metro Democratic Socialists of America steering committee calls on the CATS bus system contractor RATP DEV USA to accept CATS workers’ collective bargaining demands.

Over the last few months of negotiation, CATS’s contractor has been trying to push a raw deal on bus operators. The company is threatening to cut pensions, remove dependents from their health insurance coverage, and ignore bus operator’s safety concerns. After years of pandemic and inflation it’s unconscionable that an employer would threaten to stop covering medical expenses for loved ones, and pretend a raise below inflation would make up for this. 

The bus operators have voted 254-14 to strike, which may begin as early as February 6th if the company continues to ignore their workers’ concerns. This strike will undeniably inconvenience many people who depend on public transit. We are disappointed that CATS and many local media sources have framed this as the fault of the workers. The workers are going on strike to defend the benefits they currently have and win the dignity we all deserve. It’s the company’s  focus on profits over their workers that is threatening to hurt riders.
As climate change increasingly threatens society, we need to do everything we can to cut back on emissions. This includes investing in our public transportation and the workers who operate it. If we let our city and its contractor keep mistreating the workers and families that keep the buses running, we’re going to struggle to find enough workers to keep up with the transit expansions we’ll need to avoid the worst of climate change.

We stand with our bus operators and their authorization to strike. A win for them is a win for all of us. It’s a win for public transportation, a win against climate change, and most importantly, a win against capitalist exploitation.

Solidarity Forever!

Charlotte Metro Democratic Socialists of America Steering Committee

By Michael Sebastian

Parker students marched with teachers and DSA members to Markham Elementary School last year to protest the closure of their school. (Photo: Stephanie Hung)

On January 11, Oakland’s educators and the community scored a signal victory in their years-long fight to end the closure and privatization of public schools. Within days of being seated on the school board, two new members endorsed by the Oakland Education Association, Valarie Bachelor and Jennifer Brouhard, joined a 4-3 majority to overturn last year’s school closure plan.

The closures faced mass opposition from parents, teachers and students, prompting protests and packed town halls. More than 2,000 attended last year’s virtual school board meeting on February 9, when the board voted to approve the closures. Public comments were unanimously opposed, arguing that the closures fell disproportionately on low-income, majority-black districts in Oakland, and were not needed in the face of a record budget surplus in California and a district superintendent with a base salary of $294,000. “OUSD has had a pattern of targeting schools with black and brown students populations for closures, effectively balancing the budget on the backs of our most marginalized students,” said Kampala Taiz-Rancifer, an Oakland teacher and OEA vice-president. “It has caused generations of harm.” The vote by the previous school board further eroded trust in a board seen as dominated by charter-school interests, setting the stage for the replacement of several board members in the 2022 elections.

This month’s vote reversing the closure plan saves five elementary schools that were slated to close this year: Brookfield, Carl B. Munck, Grass Valley, Horace Mann, and Korematsu Discovery Academy. In addition, the middle school grades at Hillcrest K8 will be preserved. The vote does not undo last year’s closure of Parker and Community Day elementary, and La Escuelita’s middle school. 

Manufactured Crises Pave the Way for Charters

Despite California’s chronic underfunding of public education, the debt piled onto OUSD when the state put it in receivership in 2003, and chronic deficits since then, the closure of public schools is not the only solution to fiscal woes. The crux of the problem is that the district is spending the money it does have on the wrong things: too many administrators and consultants who are not supporting teachers and students. As Majority observed in 2019, “OUSD spends $30 million more on its central office than other comparable school districts in California. In the 2014-15 school year, if OUSD had reduced its central office spending to the comparison group average, it could have freed up $14 million.”

In fact, closing schools is a false solution. Districts receive per-pupil state funding for the number of students attending, so the more students that the district cedes to private and charter schools, the less money it receives for public schools. By closing public schools, the district only encourages parents to seek alternatives since their child’s own school could be next on the chopping block. Oakland has become a “charter boomtown” according to one KQED report, and in the decade after 2000 the number of charters “more than tripled”. But charters have the option of picking children that do better in school and have less need for support. This leaves public schools in a self-perpetuating cycle, with more high-needs students and fewer resources to support them. Schools then have to cut back on materials and extracurricular activities, which further incentivizes families to leave.

OEA Fights Back

The Oakland Education Association, the union representing Oakland’s public school teachers, made its opposition to school closures a centerpiece of its seven-day strike in 2019. “For decades a grassroots movement in Oakland has fought against the forces of privatization for equity, local control, and well resourced neighborhood public schools,” said OEA president Keith Brown. “The power of this collective effort grew when community and labor joined OEA in our 2019 strike.” 

Brown noted that the strike “brought many improvements for students and re-energized our fight for education justice in Oakland.”  Among those improvements was a brief moratorium on school closures and charter school expansion, and a contract provision that required the district to give OEA and the community a year’s advance notice of its plans to shutter more schools to allow for full community engagement before a decision is made.

Last February, when the district violated that provision, the struggle continued to grow. Teachers and the community organized a week of action against school closures in February, including a mass rally and march, as two teachers at Westlake middle school held a hunger strike. 

These actions culminated in a one-day unfair labor practice strike on April 29 by OEA teachers protesting the district’s breach of the notice provision in their contract. 

Then, as Election Day approached, the California Department of Justice opened up a probe into Oakland’s school closures for potential violation of student’s civil rights, driven in part by a complaint filed by OEA. 

Winning Change at the Ballot Box and in the Bargaining Campaign

But the union’s efforts to protect Oakland’s public schools didn’t stop there. After a disappointing meeting in June in which the school board failed to reverse its decision, organizing efforts shifted to the school board election in November. 

OEA endorsed three candidates, Jennifer Brouhard, Valarie Bachelor, and Pecolia Manigo, who ran on a platform that included reversing the closures. Brouhard and Bachelor won their elections, shifting the balance of power on the board and culminating in this month’s 4-3 vote to reverse the closures. At the emergency board meeting, Bachelor called on “every single board member sitting here today to approve this resolution to make sure that we stop the harm that we’ve already caused our families and make sure that we support these school sites moving forward.” She noted that, “as a Parker Elementary School community member, I saw the devastating impact of the school closures on our community and I don’t want that to happen across the city, especially in East Oakland.”

OEA president Brown credits the reversal of the school-closure decision to “the people power of Oakland,” and he sees the fight of students, families, workers and community for “for equity, local control, and increased resources prioritizing students and families” continuing to grow. “The fight continues this spring as Oakland educators organize to win a contract that addresses the crisis in educator salaries and supports schools that are safe, stable, and racially just.”

As it begins bargaining over a new contract, OEA has put forward a “Common Good” proposal to diversify the curriculum, address racial disparities, and protect our public schools from closure. This plan calls for reinvestment in the Community School model, which has been shown to be a successful alternative to school closures, and received over $4 billion in new state funding over the past two years. The OEA bargaining proposal also outlines a set of guidelines to reallocate resources, consult with the community, and do a thorough analysis before any school closure takes place. Charter schools that do not meet AB1505 regulations would also be returned to OUSD. 

“This victory has been a long journey!,” reflected OEA second vice president Taiz-Rancifer. “Today we need to remember there is not one sole hero in this story. We need to acknowledge all the work done by so many advocates, organizers, parents, educators, and students who have put their hearts on the line and helped us get to this point. Today, we must remember harm caused to many families, school staff, and educators that have been affected by closures. Now and in the future we must stay vigilant because this is a victory in a larger fight against privatization in Oakland.”

Michael Sebastian is a member of the steering committee of East Bay DSA.

The Atlanta Democratic Socialists of America condemns the murder of an Atlanta Forest Defender by the Georgia State Troopers. This killing is the latest act of state violence taken against the Forest Defenders, and the local authorities aim to misrepresent it as an act of self-defense to absolve themselves of responsibility. Over several months, the police have escalated their attack on Forest Defenders using violent tactics, in an attempt to suppress public opinion and organized political dissent to building a costly, corporate-funded cop training facility. Wednesday morning’s raid represents a clear escalation by law enforcement who orchestrated a violent eviction of protestors from public land. Atlanta DSA maintains our full support for the democratic rights of all people to peacefully protest this development and defend Atlanta’s public forests from destruction. As socialists, we should always condemn attempts by police and the far-right to mischaracterize Left-wing activists as “outside agitators” or “domestic terrorists.”

Atlanta has the highest income inequality in America, yet all the corporate Democratic and Republican officials have to offer is environmental destruction and more state violence. Cop City is both an ecological and racial justice issue, with both Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Georgia Governor Brian Kemp calling for the destruction of much of Atlanta’s South River Forest as well as the expansion of the carceral system through a $90 million dollar cop facility. We stand firmly with the working-class communities who overwhelmingly oppose the destruction of public forests, and who squarely reject the construction of an 85 acre police base in their backyards. We call on Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and the Atlanta City Council to shut down construction and cancel the city’s plans for a new cop academy. We reiterate calls for an independent investigation of this recent murder by police, which should be shielded from the corrupt political agenda of local officials and the Atlanta Police Foundation.

As socialists committed to environmental justice and the abolition of the carceral state, we ask our comrades and the community to donate to the Atlanta Solidarity Fund to provide bail support to protestors arrested in Atlanta. You can follow and find more ways to support the movement at defendtheatlforest.org and @defendtheATLforest.

Statement co-written by Atlanta DSA and the National DSA Abolition Working Group

Workers at America’s only major unionized publishing house, HarperCollins, went on strike in early November of last year after their contract expired in April. As their strike approaches day 50 with little response from management, workers are standing strong on the picket line and fighting for higher wages, real racial equity on the job, and a union security agreement or “agency shop”. Tonight, we hear from bargaining committee member Carly Katz on how workers are standing up to a company owned by right-wing media conglomerate NewsCorp and how their union is sustaining the longest strike in their shop’s history.

 

In other New York labor news, Senate Judiciary Committee hearings started Wednesday January 18 for Governor Hochul’s nominee for the next chief judge of the state’s top court. In the weeks since Hochul announced her nomination of Hector LaSalle to the Court of Appeals, labor unions have joined with the abortion rights movement, socialists in office, and Senate progressives to oppose a judge with an alarming record on labor and abortion rights. Last week, TWU International president John Samuelsen broke with NY Labor and refused to denounce LaSalle. We’ll hear from transit worker John Ferretti on why he won’t be following his union leadership and what the LaSalle story can tell us about the power of organized labor in our city.

 

Find ways to support and follow HarperCollins Union here: https://linktr.ee/hcpunion

The new year brings new opportunities for workers to build power across the South. In Georgia specifically, one such significant opportunity lies in fighting for collective bargaining rights for public sector workers throughout the state. But what exactly does that mean and why is it so important?

Before we dive into that, we must first answer the question of what constitutes public sector work in Georgia. Public sector jobs are tax-payer-funded and service-driven. The most common examples are public school teachers and staff, firefighters, and healthcare workers, but public sector work is also in child care, social services, transportation, public utilities, sanitation, parks and recreation, environmental protection, libraries, museums, historical sites, and much more. Looking at that list, it’s clear that public sector work plays a crucial role in making local communities function and thrive, and it’s imperative that we empower these workers to have a democratic say in how their own workplaces operate. 

Collective bargaining allows workers to negotiate their wages, hours, health benefits, and other workplace conditions. In other words, collective bargaining gives workers a seat at the table, so of course, it is vital to our goal as Socialists to win power back to working people. However, in Georgia, public sector workers are banned from bargaining a contract. Most private-sector worker unionization in the United States is overseen by the National Labor Relations Act (NLRB), but the legal scope of collective bargaining for state and local public sector workers falls to states and local authorities. Our state does permit public sector workers to form and join unions, but Georgia law prohibits those unions from bargaining on behalf of their members. That means that the state has total control over these workers’ wages, health benefits, retirement funding, sick leave, and workplace health and safety. 

Additionally, Georgia is a right-to-work state, which means workers cannot be required to join or pay union dues if their workplace is unionized. Without collective bargaining rights, unions have less power and therefore there is less of an incentive for workers to join, which only further diminishes unions’ potential reach and strength. That’s part of the reason why Georgia has the ninth-lowest percentage of unionized workers in the country, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. As Atlanta Civic Center recently put it, “About one in 10 U.S. workers is in a union. In Georgia, the rate is less than one in 20.”

To fully legalize collective bargaining rights in Georgia, we need pro-labor state legislators to introduce and pass a bill that repeals and amends the sections of Georgia law denying public sector workers collective bargaining powers, like HB 1576 which was introduced last year but not passed. Even better would be a bill granting public sector workers the right to strike. Right now, under Georgia law, public employees cannot promote, encourage, or participate in any strike and will in fact be terminated if they do. But the right to strike is hugely important because as workers, our power comes from our labor. Therefore, withholding that labor is one of our strongest and most effective methods of control over our employment conditions.

While all workers deserve a seat at the table, Georgia’s 680,000 public service workers have significant need for the power that would come with collective bargaining rights and the right to strike. The public sector in particular is largely made up of workers from historically marginalized and disadvantaged populations. According to a Georgia State University report, women have consistently made up a larger percentage of Georgia’s state and local government employees over the last four decades, and there are more women working in the public sector in Georgia than in the private sector. Recent data from Morehouse College shows that more than 6 out of ten public sector employees in Georgia are women. Black workers are also more likely to be employed in the public sector both in our state and across the U.S. As the Economic Policy Institute reports, “Public-sector jobs are rungs to the middle class for Black workers, who often face labor market discrimination, especially in the private sector where employers may be less likely to follow standardized hiring and promotion practices.”

Many public sector workers around the country are also underpaid. Nationally, 32.7% of state and local government employees are paid less than $20 an hour and 15.6% of the sector is paid less than $15 an hour, according to the Economic Policy Institute. In Georgia, that share is higher. Over 20% of Georgia’s state and local government employees make less than $15 an hour. The right to collective bargaining is a recourse for change in this area and many others. 

Collective bargaining provides an important fair wage premium for public sector workers. It ensures they earn as much as 20 percentage points higher than public workers in states where public collective bargaining is banned, per the Morehouse College report. And research published in the American Journal of Public Health has shown that workers represented by a collective bargaining agreement have higher living standards, and the benefits that workers reap from collective bargaining rights have been shown to spill over into their communities, improving public health and boosting civic engagement. For public sector work, which is based entirely in serving the public, those community benefits that come with collective bargaining rights are even more directly seen and widely felt. For example, One example of this is that higher wages for teachers can mean better school staffing, smaller classrooms, and thus better education for students. Similarly, better paid health care workers means quicker and improved care for patients and healthier communities. , which is, of course,  In summary, Georgians have a lot to gain from standing with workers fighting for workplace democracy and in turn stronger public services for all! s a whole better for the community as a whole. All Georgians have a lot to gain from passing public sector collective bargaining in our state.

Currently, 26 states across the country allow public sector collective bargaining, and we can play a role in getting Georgia to join them. In the coming weeks, Atlanta DSA will be working closely with the United Campus Workers (UCW) of Georgia to push Georgia State House members to sign onto a bill to legalize public sector bargaining rights during 2023’s fast-approaching legislative session, and we need your help! 

Sign our petition in support of public sector bargaining and the right to strike for public sector employees, and reach out to your State Representatives to let them know this is an urgent issue! Sign up to join phone banking, text banking, and outreach events to promote awareness throughout our community and build support for the issue. Be sure to also share the petition with friends and family members, especially if they happen to be public sector workers. Finally, if you are a public sector worker, reach out to Atlanta DSA about organizing your workplace or getting involved with a union. 

Note: Since the publishing of this article, SB 166 has officially been introduced to the Georgia State Senate! Write you legislators here and ask them to sponsor the bill.

The post Georgia’s Public Sector Workers Need Bargaining Rights Now appeared first on Red Clay Comrade.

The first thing I want to say about our December 10 defense of the Fall River Pride Committee’s drag story time is that we succeeded.

I wanted to start out that way because between all the various mediocre news stories and online commentaries, you might not realize it. But we succeeded. When neo-Nazi group NSC tried to rush the door, it was our team of volunteers from an ad hoc coalition of local organizations including Boston DSA, that kept them out. We, the team that I coordinated, did keep them out, and we were able to keep attendees safe. And through friendliness and creativity – singing, bells, colorful masks – our volunteers at the side door were able to provide an atmosphere of fun and normalcy for the children as they entered the event, even with NSC outside the front door and Proud Boys across the street. Volunteers were able to escort families to their cars as they left. We did all this not by being some kind of elite strike force, but by showing up, working together well, using our varied skills (tactical situational awareness, first aid, cheery child-friendly charisma, and more), and by keeping our cool.

Don’t get me wrong. It wasn’t a pleasant experience for me, and I suspect there are other people on the team who feel similarly. It’s frightening to be rushed by neo-Nazis who have a lot more muscle mass than you and who outnumber you (because they arrived quite early, only some of our team was there at the time of the rush). I was hit multiple times in the solar plexus, slammed against the doors. I would rather not have been injured, and would rather none of my comrades had been injured either. I heard a whole lot of slurs that morning. I’ve been frustrated at attempts to credit the police for keeping people safe when the cops were not present during the rush on the doors, and who later claimed to not be able to tell the difference between us, in our varied clothing, and neo-Nazis in group merch and quasi-uniform dress). But none of that changes the first sentence in this essay. We succeeded in defending drag story time.

This Saturday, January 14, is the next drag story time in Fall River, and this time it will be a little different – with a community support rally outside to provide fun and safety for all, to celebrate queerness and perseverance and courage. If it isn’t obvious, I’m writing this not simply to share my own experiences or perspective, but to encourage you to attend in support.

I have never been, to use a good friend’s phrase, a “woofing tough.” I have disabilities that impact my ability to build strength or coordinate my own movements. I have chronic pain issues. I avoid militant rhetoric and aesthetic in this kind of work because I don’t believe in raising stakes for nothing, and I don’t believe in making implied promises that I can’t back up. Every time fascists yell in my general direction about how they’d win in a fight, I shrug internally, because I’ve never thought otherwise. And yet over the last few years I’ve worked more action frontlines than I care to recall. A lot of people have been beside me on those lines who didn’t think of themselves before as the kind of people who could do this work. No matter how much groups like NSC want it to be so, we antifascists aren’t their mirror image and we don’t operate on the same terms with only the politics changed. If I have stood for anything in my time organizing against the far right, it is that this work does not belong only to the strong and the powerful.

Why am I telling you all this? Because I want good people to participate in supporting our communities and opposing the intimidation and the organizing of the far right. I don’t want people to think they can’t or shouldn’t do it, or that their contributions aren’t real, because in some way they aren’t the “right” type of person.

So come one, come all, to Fall River this Saturday – whether you’re an old hand or this would be your first action, whether you’re a ninja or regularly trip over your own feet. Dress for the weather (wearing comfortable shoes, wearing hats and masks, minimizing the amount of cotton against your body). Keep your cool, act collectively, and follow the lead of organizers (because this all has a goal and it’s not individualized catharsis). Be aware of what’s happening around you, make sure you have safe ways to enter and exit, and enjoy the performances! Numbers will make us all safer, make it more possible for people who are afraid or uncomfortable or unsure to participate. The numbers we turn out could mean the difference in whether a family feels safe enough to attend the drag story time.

Together we can preserve this queer space, and send a much-needed message to any queer kids (or adults) who may be watching: tomorrow need not be as bleak as neo-Nazis and bro-fascists want them to believe.

New York State Assembly Members and Senators headed back to Albany last week for the start of the 2023 legislative session. We caught up with Queens Assembly Member and socialist Zohran Mamdani the night before the session began to learn how he’s feeling about this year's prospects to pass legislation that will help the working class and the addition of two new socialist legislators. We also talked to him about why his office joined as an intervening party to stop Con Edison from raising gas and electric bills and his platform of legislation to fix the MTA. We’re also joined live tonight by Lizzy Oh and Brandon West to talk about one of New York City DSA’s priority campaigns this year - taxing the rich.  

 

To submit a public comment against ConEd's proposed rate hike visit: bit.ly/NoConEdRateHike

For more information on the Fix the MTA platform, visit: www.fixthemta.org

For more information on the Tax the Rich campaign, visit: www.taxtherichny.com

On Tuesday, December 13th, 2022, several members of Colorado Springs DSA and the Chinook Center delivered the following public comments during the Colorado Springs City Council 2023 budget meeting. The full text of our statement is below.

Part one: Introduction and Budget Summary

My organization operates out of the Chinook Center, a local community center that provides a safe haven for progressive community organizations. They also offer a free grocery service every Sunday out of their office in southeast Colorado Springs, which is an area that is historically low-income and historically underserved by city resources. The shopping center where they are based is also home to two other food banks by other community organizations. Yet even with three food banks, our community still struggles to meet the demand for food and basic necessities like clothing and personal care items. Our community lacks access to public transportation to get around the city for work and the necessary errands that keep life flowing. In the southeast, we see poverty and homelessness every day, while only a few miles away, people in wealthier, better-funded sides of town enjoy easy access to grocery stores and parks, recreational activities, and well-funded schools. 

I’m here today to advocate for real change in the community, change that benefits the working class in Colorado Springs — not change that caters to the wealthy real estate corporations, nor change that criminalizes poverty. The change we’re looking for is investment in communities, rather than a bloated budget for CSPD. 

Out of the City’s overall 2023 budget of $420,306,552, CSPD is proposed to receive a total of $132,216,218. This gigantic proposed 2023 budget makes up 31% of the total city budget and represents an increase of almost $7 million dollars from 2022.

When salaries are compared across the departments in the proposed budget, CSPD is receiving 43% of the salaries, compared to 9% going to Public Works, 4% to Parks and Recreation, and a meager 3% to Planning and Community Development.

This lopsided budget reflects the upside-down priorities of this city council. For our communities to flourish, the communities themselves must receive the necessary funding for strong social safety nets. There are no excuses for the hunger and poverty that exist in this city, especially in Southeast Colorado Springs. When working class families and individuals have their basic needs met, they’re able to live the dignified lives that all Colorado Springs residents deserve.

Part Two: Addressing Homelessness

The covid-19 pandemic not only had a detrimental impact on our economy, but on our collective mental health. This has led to more bad outcomes for those suffering with mental illness and substance use disorder. Colorado currently has some of the lowest funding for mental health in the nation. These issues factor heavily into the rates of homelessness in our state and locally.

From 2007-2021, homelessness rose 266% in Colorado, more than any other state in the country.

Nationwide, we rank 5th for the number of sheltered, chronically homeless individuals, and 11th for the number of people who are unhoused. Statewide, officials estimate that over 9,000 people are currently experiencing homelessness.

In El Paso County, the most recent point-in-time survey found that more than 1,400 people are unhoused, with over a quarter of those being teenagers and young adults aged 15-24.

The city wants to give CSPD 31% of the city budget. Politicians say that crime is on the rise here due to police reforms. While crime is on the rise nationally, crime in Colorado Springs has overwhelmingly decreased from 2019-2021 according to a recent study that was reported on in CPR in March of this year. We also have seen nothing in the way of true police reforms, so it is difficult to understand why politicians are crediting something that never happened for statistics that don’t exist. We must put people above inflammatory politics to give our people the lives of safety and dignity that they deserve, but our city continues to push homelessness farther and farther out of the city with the Pedestrian Access Act, to criminalize our most vulnerable, and to put money into police and business interests. 

Meanwhile, our crisis of homelessness is deepening as inflation rises. Fentanyl deaths are also on the rise. Contrary to how conservative state and city leaders prefer to frame the issues of homelessness, substance use disorder, and mental illness, these are not problems that can be solved with sweeps, jobs, and more willpower from the people affected. These are public health emergencies that desperately need funding to provide people with homes and care. 

Recently, a U.S. News & World Report ranked Colorado Springs as one of the best places in the country to live, but this is not true for those who struggle to make ends meet as housing prices continue to skyrocket. In 2021, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reported that people working full time would need to earn $22 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment in Colorado Springs, yet our state minimum wage will only go up to $13.65 per hour next year. We have people experiencing homelessness when they are fully employed. This is not a crisis of laziness, it is a crisis of low wages and exorbitant corporate greed. We should not be enabling predatory housing practices in our city. 

And when it comes to those who are unhoused due to severe mental illness, disability, and substance use disorder, these issues are public health issues and we must care for our most vulnerable. It is a shameful and cowardly act for those who occupy positions of power to punch down at those with no power. Our people deserve better, and we expect better of you. 

Housing first with supportive wraparound services is the only policy proven to end homelessness and effectively treat the substance use and mental illness of the people that suffer from them, in addition to being proven as the more economical choice. In other words, we must fund compassion and meet people where they are, NOT fund measures that contribute to a culture of victim-blaming people for their own illnesses. Housing and healthcare are human rights. We don’t want excuses. We want housing for all, and we want you, our City Council, to give this issue the funding it deserves. 

Part Three: Mass Incarceration and the Criminal Injustice System

In theory, police are here to stop crime, but they do nothing to address crime at its roots, because police only respond once a crime has taken place. In fact, our policies of mass incarceration are directly linked to rises in crime. When you punish people who are victims of poverty and trauma with the traumatic experience of incarceration, where they are subject to strip searches and the loss of all their basic rights, you do not set these people up to be rehabilitated members of society upon their release. 

According to The Compassion Prison Project, 64% of the U.S. population has experienced at least one adverse childhood experience of violence, abuse, or trauma. In comparison, 98% of the U.S. prison population has experienced an adverse childhood experience. The more adverse childhood experiences that people have, the more likely they are to end up incarcerated. It is estimated that 20-25% of people in jails and prisons have mental illness, meaning that they are overrepresented in carceral detention compared to the rest of the population. Another study has found that formerly incarcerated people are 62% more likely to die by suicide. Prisons and jails are not mental health treatment facilities, yet we use them to imprison those amongst us who need the most help. While prisons fall under the state domain and the jail is in the jurisdiction of the county, CSPD, as the point of arrest, serves as the gateway to the mass incarceration of our community members that don’t need to be in jail or prison, but need to be treated by medical and behavioral specialists. 

It is well-known that the root causes of both non-violent and violent crime are often found in economic stressors such as housing insecurity, food insecurity, lack of access to medical and mental healthcare, and lack of access to childcare. Yet the city and the nation as a whole refuse to put money towards helping people with these issues and instead put money into militarized police, jails and prisons, and for-profit halfway homes. 

It is also well-evidenced that the entire criminal injustice system economically burdens those who enter it, from court and attorney fees to fees for drug testing and court-mandated classes, to halfway house and sober living fees, and more. All together, the criminal injustice system punishes those who are most vulnerable and works to make it more likely that people will return to jail and prison, rather than supporting them to lead better lives for themselves, their families, and their communities in the future. 

Colorado Springs is one of the top three cities alongside Denver and Aurora that send people to state prisons, with most of the Colorado Springs prison population coming from Southeast Colorado Springs, the community that the Chinook Center and its member organizations serve. Our incarcerated are disproportionately people of color, especially Black and Latinx people. This is also the area of town where people are most likely to be low-income, to live in food deserts and experience food insecurity, to lack health insurance and access to medical and mental healthcare, to lack adequate transportation, and to be overlooked by city resources. 

We must also call attention to the recent deaths in El Paso County CJC. At least nine people have died in CJC custody in 2022 alone, with the most recent one passing away just this past Sunday. Again, CSPD serves as one of the main points of arrest in our city and a gateway to CJC. We should be putting our city dollars towards helping people and giving them the resources they need to live healthy, safe, and dignified lives, not signing them up for a death sentence at the hands of the carceral state before they are even found to be guilty of a crime. 

When we put our city, state, and federal dollars into supporting people, it builds a healthier, friendlier, and safer place for all to live. The failures of our local police and criminal injustice policies only serve to make us less safe, and our community deserves better.

Part Four: Club Q

Less than a month ago, an armed gunman put Colorado Springs in the national eye with a mass shooting in one of the few safe spaces for the LGBTQ+ community in a city that has historically marginalized them. There are no words for the depth of the pain and trauma that this has inflicted on members of our city, especially those in the LGBTQ+ community, and especially our youth that are still trying to understand themselves and their place in a world that tolerates hatred and violent rhetoric towards people on the basis of who they love and how they identify.

The anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric comes from all corners of Colorado and Colorado Springs. Our House Representative Doug Lamborn wrote a statement on December 5th, 2017 defending the rights of business owners to discriminate against potential customers on the basis of their sexual orientation. That statement remains on his website to this day. Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert has also regularly posted anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric on her social media, characterizing members of the LGBTQ+ community as groomers seeking to harm our children. For a long time, Colorado Springs has been known as the home of Focus on the Family and other anti-LGBTQ+ evangelical churches that regularly encourage their members to condemn queerness as a sin. The problem is also growing in local Colorado Springs school districts, where parent groups like Advocates for D20 Kids, FEC United, Moms for Liberty, the deceitfully named FAIR organization, and others have lobbied for the dissolving of the equity and inclusion department at D-11, for segregation of LGBTQ+ students onto a separate campus in D-20, and for the squashing of the Social and Emotional Learning program at D-49, which school board member Ivy Liu, who openly posts Hitler quotes on her social media, has characterized as “indoctrination.” All of these organizations and politicians have the blood of our community and LGBTQ+ people throughout the nation on their hands. We ourselves came terrifyingly close to losing people that we love and value deeply, and we have mourned the losses of those who were taken from us with our friends that knew the victims. This tragedy was extremely personal, and we will never stop fighting for the agenda of queer liberation as members and allies of the LGBTQ+ community.

Meanwhile, Colorado Springs District Attorney Michael Allen and the court he works for want us to believe that they could not do more to prevent the bloodshed. They want us to believe that because they could not subpoena the shooter’s families, that they could not prosecute a terrorist who had a three-hour armed standoff with a SWAT team while the terrorist live-streamed the encounter on Facebook and threatened to blow the place up. They expect us to believe that they could not prosecute someone who had over 100 pounds of explosive material, guns, and ammunition in a basement. They expect us to believe that with all the police witnesses who faced the danger posed by this individual, that they could not bring a strong prosecution against a terrorist that even the FBI knew about. We do not accept this excuse, and we cannot make sense of the fact that an armed terrorist was allowed to walk free while so many of those who are suffering from poverty, substance use disorder, and severe mental illness are prosecuted and incarcerated by the very courts that botched the opportunity to prevent an act of terror and hatred. 

Colorado ranks among the worst states for mental health funding. We need money to go to mental health services for the community that has been so deeply traumatized by this catastrophe. We need funding for LGBTQ+ specific resources and more safe spaces, pro-LGBTQ+ policies and rhetoric from all corners of our city, violence prevention and equity and inclusion programs to teach acceptance and love to our youth. City officials should condemn anti-LGBTQ+ rhetoric from churches, parent groups, school boards, and local and state politicians. You all should be advocating for the IRS to amend the tax-exempt status of churches and organizations that are engaging in dangerous hate speech that amplifies and accelerates violence. We should have a Pride flag hanging from city hall and all city buildings year-round, not just when the eye of the nation is on our city. City Council must make sure LGBTQ+ and other marginalized communities are prioritized to receive the services we need to keep us safe. We need justice, not excuses. We will not stop until the legacy of anti-LGBTQ+ hatred in Colorado Springs is ancient history, and neither should you. 

Part Five: Police Brutality by CSPD

CSPD has shown repeatedly that they have a culture which produces violent language and actions. This manifests in unjustifiable harm to members of our community.

Just this past October, CSPD pulled over a 29-year-old black veteran who was living out of his car for failing to produce a license plate. Officers claimed to smell marijuana and proceeded to pull the man from his car while repeatedly punching and kicking him in the head and back. This attack caused eye injuries and a ruptured eardrum. The DUI charge, which was the stated reason for arrest, was later dropped. As far as I’m aware, CSPD has yet to even comment on this incident.

Let us not forget that in 2019, CSPD officers murdered Devon Bailey after they claimed he “matched the description” of an assault suspect. They shot him 3 times in the back as he fled. The officers involved received 3 days paid administrative leave and were returned to active duty.

In 2020, police were called to the scene where a 17-year-old girl was having a panic attack. The girl in question was also a survivor of sexual assault. As she was sitting on the curb crying, how did CSPD respond to this situation? They threw her to the ground, cuffed her, and put her in the back of a cop car. Surely when the supervising Sergeant Gregory Wilhelmi arrived on scene, he was able to de-escalate the situation, right? Wrong. He thought the best course of action would be to pepper spray this teenage girl twice in the face then close the door on her, effectively sealing her in with the pepper spray. But hey, at least they cracked the window after several minutes of agonizing pain. Currently, zero consequences have been given to the officers responsible.

In the summer of 2020 as nationwide uprisings were fighting for the defense of black lives, officer Keith Wrede watched a Facebook live of a local protest. In the comments, Keith decided to comment “KILL THEM ALL.” What was his punishment? Suspended. With pay. Must be nice to get paid vacation after calling for the murders of peaceful protestors.

On July 31st, 2021, the Colorado Springs Housing 4 All Coalition held a march to advocate for affordable housing within the city. CSPD decided to disrupt this peaceful protest by attacking and arresting demonstrators who were occupying one lane of Tejon due to the narrow sidewalks near Dorchester Park. Prior to these violent arrests, CSPD officers were recorded on their bodycams speaking freely about the violence they wish to unleash on protestors who, to be clear, just wanted rents in the city to be lower. One officer expressed wanting to encourage onlookers to “stone them to death.” Another officer said that they should launch “stingers,” a nickname for flash grenades, at demonstrators. Furthermore, officers can be seen in this bodycam footage looking over a piece of paper which had names and photographs of central organizers of the march. 

For nearly a full year leading up to the housing march, CSPD embedded an undercover operative in multiple leftist community organizations. These included the Chinook Center who organizes a food bank with delivery, Colorado Springs Tenants Union who advocates on behalf of renters, Colorado Springs Democratic Socialists of America who seek to advocate for working class interests, and the Colorado Springs Mutual Aid and Solidarity Union who distribute food and supplies weekly to our unhoused neighbors. This undercover officer attempted to entrap activists into illegally purchasing firearms, and yet after over a year of investigation, no illegal activity was found by any of the organizations. 

A month after the Club Q shooter had a 3-hour standoff with the SWAT team, CSPD thought a more important priority would be to surveil community organizers who were advocating for affordable housing. These actions of infiltration, surveillance, and outright violence have traumatized members of the community and caused them to feel unsafe going about their daily lives. How can we possibly stand to give CSPD 44% of salaries in the city budget while they routinely demonstrate a pattern of violent behavior, targeting people for their political beliefs?

It is beyond time for the City of Colorado Springs to prioritize the well-being of our communities and the necessary services to support them. CSPD’s overinflated budget needs to be redistributed to focus on fixing the systemic issues that prevent our neighbors from living dignified lives. Housing first. Mental health. Drug addiction treatment. Infrastructure. Funding these, not CSPD and the criminalization of poverty, is how our communities will thrive.

Members of Colorado Springs City Council, you have a unique opportunity with the 2023 city budget to make a historic impact in our city by funding the resources we actually need, resources that make us safer, healthier, and happier. Fund communities and services, not corporations and the police. We’ve had two politically-motivated mass shootings in our city in less than a decade — first the Planned Parenthood shooting in 2015 and then the Club Q shooting last month. We need real solutions, not inaction and excuses. The whole country is looking at us right now, and what we do matters. Stop funding the problem and start funding real solutions. Our lives depend on it.