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UPFRONT

MDC DSA 2022 local convention next weekend — December 10 and 11

The MDC DSA Local Convention is an opportunity for the full chapter to introduce and debate priority campaigns, general resolutions, bylaw amendments, and considerations for political candidate endorsements for the 2023 primary election. The convention planning team is to be headed by Steering member Aparna R. The Steering election for the 2023 term will occur concurrently with convention and will be managed by a separately constituted internal election administrative department in AdCom. Sign up here!

Timeline for the 2023 Steering Committee Election — Steering Candidate Forum on Weds, 12/7 at 7pm

Please see below for a list of important dates and deadlines during the Steering Committee election.

• Saturday, December 3. Deadline for chapter members with at least five nominations to accept their candidacy for the Steering Committee.
• Wednesday, December 7, 7-9pm. The Internal Elections Facilitation Department hosts a candidate forum for all Steering Committee candidates. Sign up to attend here.
• Monday, December 12 to Friday, December 16. Ballots are open. The Internal Elections Facilitation Department sends out email ballots for the election via OpaVote.

This following members have accepted their nominations for the Steering Committee Election:

• Allison K (Campaigns Council)
• Aparna R
• Bakari W
• Dieter LM
• Hayden G
• Imara C
• Kareem E
• Michael M
• Tim S (Treasurer)

Those nominated have till tomorrow (Saturday, Dec. 3) to accept, so the above is a partial list.

More, and more detailed, information about the 2022 MDC DSA convention and Steering Committee election is on the Slack channels #2022-december-convention and #announcements.

Legislation to make Metrobus FARE FREE for all riders to be introduced in the DC Council with strong support

DC Council Chair Phil Mendelson announced on Thursday that Charles Allen’s Metro for DC proposal is set to have a hearing next Tuesday, with support from the Chair. It was also announced that Allen’s original proposal, which would provide DC residents with $100/mo for Metro, has been expanded to make METROBUS completely fareless for rides originating in DC beginning summer of 2023. The expanded legislation will also expand Metrobus coverage to 24 hours on select lines. Read more in DCist.

WASHINGTON SOCIALIST

Washington Socialist is Metro DC DSA's archive of political events and socialist thought covering DC, Maryland and Virginia. In our last issue for 2022, entries include policy analysis, political assessments, labor organizing campaigns, and more...

Decarbonizing DC will be dirty work — Compliance fines and renewable energy credits are not encouraging energy providers to decarbonize DC's power grid. The District should directly finance renewable energy expansion and confront the dirty work head-on.

College Park is a Company Town — The time is now ripe for College Park to become a union town — if the people of Maryland make it. UMD's Grad Students are organizing to reinvigorate the labor-left spirits that have been suppressed by decades of anti-labor forces in the state.

What do YIMBYs of NOVA really want? — YIMBYs of NOVA promises to "make housing affordable to all" through more development. However, given its leaders' libertarian ideological commitments, can we trust these proposals truly reflect the interests of NOVAs working-class?

Five lawsuits demonstrate MPD's hostility to reform — In the past fourteen months, current and former MPD officers brought five lawsuits against MPD. The failure of the department to protect honest whistleblowers casts doubt on the possibility of meaningful police reform.

Did the midterms save democracy? — Pundits took the Democrats midterm performance as a referendum on Republican extremism and support for political moderation. But the results really show that voters want more from Democrats, not less.

BRIEFS

DC Area Labor Notes meetup — this Sunday, December 4 at 5pm

Labor Notes — a rank-and-file organizing and media project — is building up to the DC Area Troublemakers School in 2023 by having quarterly Labor Notes Meetups. The next Labor Notes Meetup will take place on Sunday, December 4th at 5pm at Sonny’s Pizza (3120 Georgia Ave NW, Washington, DC) about half a mile from the Columbia Heights Metro stop. All trouble-makers and union members are invited to attend! Fill out this Google Form as well as the Action Network to provide attendance notice.

SBWU Solidarity Rally - next Friday, Dec 9 at 5pm

Join the SBWU Solidarity Rally at 5pm at the plaza at the Bozman Government Center at 2100 Clarendon Boulevard in Arlington. This is the one-year anniversary of the first union victory at a corporate-owned Starbucks store in Buffalo. After the rally, gather at Fireworks Pizza to celebrate and talk strategy to get Starbucks to stop union-busting.

FCPS Collective Bargaining Resolution Hearing — next Thurs, Dec 15th at 6pm

The AFEU Rally for Collective Bargaining & citizen participation had an impact! The school board put the hearing on the calendar the day after Thanksgiving! Show up and support the Alliance of Fairfax Education Unions by wearing Red-for-Ed and packing the Luther Jackson Middle School auditorium (3020 Gallows Road, Falls Church, Virginia 22042).

The hearing is from 6-7pm on Thursday, December 15th.

Congress imposes contract on rail workers without PTO, leaving rail workers with only the possibility of wildcat strike

Over the past year, freight rail workers have been staging an extended campaign to bolster wages and boost benefits. A tentative agreement between labor leaders and rail companies was rejected by three of the unions – including SMART-TD, the country’s largest rail worker union – creating the potential for a strike that would interrupt national supply chains. At the heart of this debate is a fight over paid sick-leave: freight rail workers must deal with a hectic scheduling and PTO system that prevents many workers from seeing doctors, recovering from illnesses, or dealing with personal affairs. [READ: DSA National statement on the negotiations.]

On Nov 28, President Biden urged Congress to ratify the tentative agreement – which does not include expanded sick leave – which would impose the contract on rail workers, including those who rejected it, and bar the workers from striking. On Wednesday night, the House of Representatives both approved the deal and an amendment that would guarantee workers 7 days of sick leave. However, the Senate needed to approve an amendment proposed by Bernie Sanders for the paid sick leave policy to be adopted. That amendment failed in the Senate during a Thursday afternoon vote – 52-43 (60 votes, for some reason, are needed to overcome the filibuster). The rail agreement is likely to be signed by President Biden without guaranteed PTO, which would legally bar workers from striking, leaving only the possibility of a wildcat strike.

More reading:

• Railroad Workers United open letter to Congress and the President.
• Politico – Rail contract faces uncertain future in the Senate
• Intercept - reporting on left-democrats strategy in the Senate

If you live in Virginia or Maryland, call your Senator and Congressional Representative and let them know how you feel about this.

Buena Visa Tenants Co-op purchase celebration — Sunday, Dec 18th

For over two years, the tenants of Buena Vista Apartments have been organizing to reclaim their homes and health from the greed of their landlord. Using their experience organizing for land reform efforts in Honduras and leadership in local unions (32BJ, UNITE HERE Local 23), and supported by Stomp Out Slumlords, tenants have pushed forward through the byzantine development process and successfully secured financing for a purchase loan. This struggle culminated last week with the formal purchase of the property and the formation of the Buena Vista Tenants Limited Equity Co-op!

Come celebrate this victory with the tenant organizers, now tenant-owners, on December 18th at 11am with a potluck brunch! Stomp Out Slumlords will also be bringing food and drink to commemorate a long fought and hard won victory and prepare for the next steps of repairing and renovating the decrepit building. If you’re new to tenant organizing, would like to learn more about forming a limited equity co-op, or have been hungering to see what a housing victory looks like, sign up for additional details here!

Stomp Out Slumlords anti-eviction canvassing — Saturday Dec 17

On December 17th at 1:30pm, DSA’s tenant organizing project, Stomp Out Slumlords, will be conducting an Anti-Eviction Canvass in DC. SOS will be informing tenants facing eviction about their rights in court and how to get a lawyer, as well as provide resources for building organizing. Tenants SOS speaks to are twice as likely to go to court and fight their eviction, so every volunteer can make a big impact.

Anyone interested in tenant organizing is invited to attend. Organizers will help train newcomers in the process. (Please sign up here so organizers can reach you.) SOS will be meeting at the L’Enfant Plaza Metro station near the D Street exit between 6th and 7th, above the escalators (if the weather is bad, the meeting spot will be downstairs just before the turnstiles). If you have a car, please drive it down to the meeting spot, as cars are helpful for getting canvassers to Metro-inaccessible areas. After canvassing, the group will meet at Sonny’s in Park View to socialize and debrief.

Reproductive Justice working group to host fundraiser in support of reproductive rights in WV — Tuesday, Dec 13

MDC DSA's Reproductive Justice Working Group is hosting a happy hour on Tuesday, December 13, at 6:30pm at Midlands Beer Garden to raise money for reproductive healthcare kits for folks in West Virginia. Join us to help our WV neighbors access critical healthcare including emergency contraceptives, condoms, and more. Follow the next update for more details, including a registration page.

Interested in leading a reading group?

The Political Ed team is gearing up for Spring Reading Groups — if you are interested in coordinating a specific book/reading or leading one of several groups focusing on Marx’s Capital, fill out this interest form or reach out directly to Jackson or Liz.

INFO ACCESS

Publications Schedule: December’s Weekly Updates will drop on Fridays, December 9, 16, 23 and 30. The Washington Socialist monthly newsletter for January (!!) 2023 (!!) will be published in harness with the December 30 Update.

The Washington Socialist welcomes articles – solo or collaborative responses – from our many Fall reading groups; pass along what you are learning and thinking to your comrades who aren’t present and to our wider readership on the DMV left. Join our #publications channel to chat this up on Slack and send individual or group responses to [email protected].

Our annual MDC DSA convention (12/10 and 12/11) and the election of next year’s Steering Committee are on tap in early December – a point at which we can debate and amend our chapter bylaws, found here. Info, especially looming deadlines on submitting resolutions, is above in UP FRONT, as is info on the Steering elections.

Available as a member resource on the local chapter website is the road map of MDC DSA’s activities — campaigns, working groups etc., including our three branches. Want to see our chapter activities laid out in monthly calendar form? Here it is.

Red Desk is where all members can go to request support, calendar links for events, etc. for their campaigns and working group needs. How to access and use Red Desk? Here are some visual how-tos