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October 2019 DSA North Texas Newsletter
** Solidarity with UAW and Striking GM Workers
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45,000 GM workers have been on strike for nearly a month now. Workers are protesting wages that have been largely stagnant ever since the bailout of 2009, even as the company now rakes in billions in profits annually. The Arlington GM plant employees 4,500, and workers create approximately 1,200 vehicles per day. It is the most profitable GM plant in the nation. Since GM has yet to meet the demands of UAW, the company is losing $50 million per day.
Meanwhile, striking workers are only making $250 per week as UAW negotiates. GM even cut off workers' health insurance (further illuminating the need for Medicare for All that not employer-provided), but fortunately coverage was restored after a few days due to backlash and negotiations.
Pickets have been ongoing the duration of the strike, running 24 hours around the clock in order to prevent scabs from entering the gates and to bring attention to the struggle for labor justice. Members of DSA, YALL, and other local organizations have been taking shifts on the picket lines to stand in solidarity with the striking auto-workers. We will continue to stand up to the oppressive capital class until we win fair wages justice for all workers.
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September General Meeting
September's general meeting primarily covered the Bernie Sanders 2020 presidential campaign, and why and how our chapter will be involved.
Sanders' agenda is centered around fighting economic inequality, poverty, climate disruption, and the immoral profit-driven healthcare system. If enacted, this platform has the potential to improve material conditions for many and raise the consciousness of the working class while clearly defining the enemy as the elites/ billionaires. The US halls of power are populated with politicians that are bought by corporate interests, so a mass mobilization is necessary in order to create this sort of massive transformation.
Federal election laws are incredibly complex; since DSA is a non-profit, the organization has established an independent expenditure for the purpose of the campaign. This means, however, that DSA for Bernie can not coordinate directly with the official Sanders campaign or use any of their materials. We must track all money raised and spent and all work done. If you have any questions, do not be afraid to ask.
The tenets of Sanders' platform were explained by several comrades, which helped to show how they intersect with the work DSA is currently doing.
* Criminal Justice Reform: Bernie has said he would support a moratorium on all deportations, which he did not previously support. This shows he is susceptible to pressure from the left.
+ End Mass Incarceration
+ End the war on drugs
+ End police brutality
+ End detention of asylum-seekers
+ End money bail
+ Abolish ICE
* Good jobs for all: Not an explicitly Socialist proposal, but it would radically transform the relationship between workers and capitalists
+ Unionize nearly all of the US workforce including farm and domestic workers
+ Ban "Right to Work" laws
+ End the misclassification of workers as "contractors" (see: Uber, Lyft, etc)
+ Protect pension plans
+ Deny contracts to exploitative employers
* Quality Education for All: Create a national budget that prioritizes quality public education and bans for-profit charter schools
+ Free higher education
+ Fair pay and unionization for teachers and support staff
+ Good-paying jobs upon graduation
* End Wall Street Greed: Market crashes are a feature not a bug
+ Regulation is not enough
+ Hold those whose greed damages the lives and livelihood of others accountable
* End the Wars and US Imperialism: Endless wars for profit kill endless civilians. Capitalism’s contradictions get resolved by exporting our violence and exploitation elsewhere
+ Cut military budget to fund domestic programs
+ End Yemeni slaughter by Saudi Arabia
+ Foster peace with North Korea, Venezuela
+ Push back on far right oligarchs that control foreign policy
* Medicare for All: Healthcare is a human right
+ Is it more expensive? No. It costs less in long term, and the 4% tax increase is less than premiums, co-pays, out of pocket, deductibles.
+ Can I keep my doctor? Yes, It eliminates insurance networks so you can see whichever doctor you like.
+ Will quality be worse? No. And it will allow all to get healthcare rather than just some
* End anti-worker trade deals
+ Challenge power of multinational corporations
+ Place blame on CEOs not on migrants, workers
+ Trump’s solution of raising tariffs hurts everyone involved
+ Bernie has fought against harmful trade policies such as TPP
+ Stop corporate / tax havens/ outsourcing
+ Crackdown on outsourcing
+ Labor and environmental issue
+ Lower cost to dump chemicals in foreign countries
* Green New Deal: a first step toward a transformation that will save lives
+ 16 trillion dollar budget over a decade
+ Rural union jobs for wind and solar
+ Massive infrastructure and public transportation work
+ Infinite growth is a cancer
* Equality for All
+ End all barriers to access for abortion and reproductive health
+ End voter suppression and racist employment and housing discrimination
+ Democracy for all
+ Voting rights for formerly and currently incarcerated
+ Workplace democracy
+ Bernie has fought for LGBT rights for decades
+ Stood up to Don’t ask don’t tell and other anti-LGBT legislation
+ No discrimination
+ Every child deserves a family act (by Gilibrand)
+ Eliminate all laws that prevent same sex families from adopting
+ Address police brutality against transgender people
+ Abolish religious liberty laws that legalize discrimination
+ Eliminate wage gap of LGBT
* Housing for All: Currently, rent eats up many workers' entire salary. HUD is limited and means-tested, and our infrastructure is inadequate for solving housing crisis
+ Would benefit women trapped in abusive relationships who can’t afford to move out as well as single mothers who are struggling financially
+ Millennials who can’t afford to move out from parents
+ Rent control would help control displacement through gentrification
+ Publicly funded housing would ease our homelessness crisis
+ Would free up city resources to focus on infrastructure
DSA Supports Alliance AFT In Fight Against Merit-Based Pay System
DISD teachers are paid according to a standardized evaluation system called Teacher Excellence Initiative (TEI). The program harms students by overemphasizing standardized testing rather than critical thinking. The system also disincentivizes good teachers from working where they are most needed at struggling schools. Many great teachers have left DISD due to dissatisfaction with the system. While many other states and even other Texas school districts have abandoned these type of programs, DISD stands by this harmful model.
Before last month's DISD board meeting, teachers gathered outside, supported by DSA members, to protest the continued use of TEI. The red-clad group then moved into the meeting. Although the issue was not on the official agenda, several DSA North Texas members who are public teachers spoke passionately about the injustice this creates to teachers, students, and the community and received enthusiastic reaction from the room.
UTD YDSA Labor Update!
The former managers of Chartwells on the UTD campus have all been replaced after an organized pressure campaign by workers. The new management has increased staff pay and has so far proven highly responsive to staff complaints.
Healthcare Working Group is putting on its annual flu shot clinic on November 9. Come get immunized and help us spread the word. Stay tuned for info about canvassing the previous Saturday, Nov. 2.
Upcoming Events
* Ecosocialist Working Group Meeting - Thurs. 10/10 - 7PM Half Priced Books Flagship
* October General Meeting - Sun. 10/13 - 2PM CWA Hall
* Medicare For All Strategy Session - Wed. 10/16 - 7PM CWA Hall
* Dallas Stands Against White Supremacy - Thurs. 10/17 - 6PM American Airlines Center
* Media Committee Meeting - Wed. 10/23 - 7:30PM Half Priced Books Flagship
* Organizing 101: Building Power - Thurs. 10/24 6PM Oak Lawn Library
* Environmental Justice Movie Night - Sat. 10/26 1PM
* Racial Justice Working Group Meeting - Tues. 10/29 7PM Half Priced Flagship
* Flu Shot Clinic - Sat. 11/9 10AM Jubilee Community Center
* November General Meeting - Sun. 11/10 2PM CWA Hall
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