Bulletin: What a difference a year makes

It’s February 29, 2020. Krystal Ball is speaking to a packed First Unitarian Church to kick off our quarterly general meeting.

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It’s February 29, 2020. Krystal Ball is speaking to a packed First Unitarian Church to kick off our quarterly general meeting. You’re laughing, cheering, sitting in a row with your friends and comrades, breathing all over them, coughing and sneezing without a care in the world—except for, you know, your boss, the American healthcare system, climate change, the Democratic Party, and something called “Pete Buttigieg.” Actually, you care about a lot of things, and you’re in the room that day because you think these problems can be solved, that there’s something you, your friends, and comrades can do about them, and it involves millions of people coming together in rooms like this, talking, sharing, breathing on each other, and above all else, organizing.

Now it’s March 21, 2021. You’re in your apartment or your bedroom or whatever, which you haven’t left in months except to work and get groceries, Marx’s theory of social reproduction extended to its logical endpoint. You haven’t breathed on anyone in a year. You’ve long since forgotten what a Pete Buttigieg is. (You’re pretty sure it was some kind of bug.) The past three meetings have been virtual, this one is too, and you’re not sure how many more will be. You’re waiting to hear back from the city about your vaccine. You’ve got all the same problems, plus a few more: are schools safe for our teachers? Is the minimum wage thing gonna pass?

And here you are, settling in again, for another Philly DSA general meeting, because the way to solve those problems is the same as it was a year ago: organizing.

General Meeting on March 21

Paul Prescod from the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers / the Jacobin show / & the Labor Commission! New business! Committee updates! Draft agenda will go up March 5.

RSVP here to get the Zoom link. The meeting is scheduled for Sunday March 21 at 12:00 pm.

GM Dates & Deadlines: 

  • Deadline for General Meeting business submissions: 2/26
  • Draft Meeting Agenda published: 3/5
  • Amendments due: 3/9
  • Meeting Agenda published: 3/12

 

This Week in Unions

  • Two Philly-based Starbucks employees took an unfair labor practice charge from 2019 all the way to the NLRB; here’s the Inquirer’s Juliana Feliciano Reyes with the story of how two baristas were fired for organizing and why they decided to fight back.
  • Biden’s statement on the Amazon union drive in Bessemer, Alabama was good, writes our own Mindy Isser in Jacobin, “But here’s the real litmus test for Biden: the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.”
  • Speaking of which: this Sunday, the DSA for PRO Act campaign kicks off in style with a 5:00 pm launch call this Sunday, March 7. Join Naomi Klein, Sara Nelson, and other TBA special guests to hear why we need the PRO Act and what you can do to pass it.
  • “Sixteen thousand domestic workers have cared for the City of Philadelphia throughout the pandemic,” writes house cleaner and NDWA member-leader Mercedes Reyes in a powerful Inquirer op-ed from February 23. “We cannot let another day pass before we are prioritized for this critically lifesaving vaccine
  • Finally, the Bulletin would like to join the chorus of Philadelphia Union fans celebrating the career of MLSPA union rep, racial justice activist, and one-club man Ray Gaddis, who announced his retirement earlier today. By all accounts, there’s not a nicer guy in soccer.

 

Events

Housing Committee Meeting
Thursday, Mar 4 | 8:00 pm – 10:00 pm | Virtual

Steering Committee Meeting
Monday, Mar 8 | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm | Virtual

Racial Justice Commission Meeting
Wednesday, Mar 10 | 6:00 pm – 7:15 pm | Virtual

Night School: The Civil Rights Movement
Wednesday, Mar 10 | 7:00 pm – 8:30 pm | Virtual

Policy Committee Meeting
Thursday, Mar 11 | 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm | Virtual

OCOS Committee Meeting
Saturday, Mar 13 | 3:00 pm – 4:30 pm | Virtual

Green New Deal Commission Meeting
Monday, Mar 15 | 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm | Virtual

Canvassing Committee Meeting
Monday, Mar 15 | 7:30 pm – 9:00 pm | Virtual

New Members Meeting
Tuesday, Mar 16 | 6:30 pm – 8:00 pm | Virtual

Marxism Reading Group: The Capitalist State
Wednesday, Mar 17 | 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm | Virtual

Roberts Rules Training
Thursday, Mar 18 | 6:30 pm – 7:30 pm | Virtual

Medicare For All Phone Zap
Friday, Mar 19 | 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm | Virtual

March General Meeting
Sunday, Mar 21 | 12:00 pm – 3:00 pm | Virtual

Branch Events

BuxMont DSA Electoral Working Group
Sunday, March 7 | 2pm  | Virtual

BuxMont DSA Political Education Reading Group
Every Monday | 7pm | Virtual

BuxMont DSA New Members Meeting
Tuesday, March 9 | 7pm  | Virtual

BuxMont DSA Bucks Tenant Solidarity Meeting
Wednesday, March 10 | 6pm  | Virtual

Delco DSA Reading Group
Thursday, March 11 | 8pm  | Virtual

Delco DSA March Branch Meeting
Wednesday, March 17 | 7pm - 8:30pm  | Virtual

St. Patrick's Day Socialist Social
Wednesday, March 17 | 7pm  | Virtual

 

Support 👏 Philly 👏 DSA 👏!
Local Dues - support our campaign work and cover everyday operating costs like meeting space // Contribute to Philly DSA PAC - help fund our independent electoral campaigns // Accommodations, Accessibility, Childcare - let us know what you need to stay involved // Moved away from Philly? - update your address on the DSA national database.

Harassment and Grievance Process
In accordance with Article XIII of our Bylaws, a commission has been formed to receive, process, and review grievances for disciplinary action. To read more about the process or to file a grievance you can do so here.

 

Stay safe,

Philly DSA Bulletin Team

 

Inquiries | Website

 

PAID FOR BY PHILADELPHIA DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS OF AMERICA (WWW.PHILLYDSA.ORG.) NOT AUTHORIZED BY ANY CANDIDATE OR CANDIDATE'S COMMITTEE.

 

 

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