Our main plug this week is for the Bernie Open Strategy Meeting tonight. For those new to OSM’s, it’s going to be an open (members and non-members welcome!) discussion between attendees about how we can win the city for Bernie in 2020. Winning Pennsylvania isn’t going to be easy; Philadelphia County went for Hillary in 2016, and with Joe Biden headquartering his campaign here in Philly, we’ll certainly have a lot of doors to knock.

To get you ready, here’s a bit of a Bernie highlight reel: recently, he’s announced an appearance at the Walmart shareholders meeting on behalf of workers at the company, given an incredibly clear-eyed foreign policy interview with the New York Times (“Let me just say this: I plead guilty to, throughout my adult life, doing everything that I can to prevent war and destruction”), used his campaign email list to do targeted turnout for union actions, and ratified a union contract with his staff (his is the first major unionized presidential campaign). Oh, and his deeply charming Vermont public access TV show from the 1980s was uploaded to YouTube.

Seems like this guy should be President. Join us tonight as we discuss how we’ll help the campaign and capitalize on this historic moment: 7 pm at First Unitarian.

City Council Recap (Quick & Dirty)

Full results here, but if you just want the highlights, read on.

In West Philadelphia’s Third District, Jamie “3.0” Gauthier beat Jannie Blackwell pretty handily. Otherwise, incumbents did well. Congrats to Helen Gym, who basically lapped the other at-large candidates (winning 106,544 votes to second-place Condo King Allan Domb’s 65,636) and with whom our organizers will surely be happy to continue working with. Philly DSA member Adrian Rivera-Reyes came seventh in what was always an uphill battle but brought democratic socialist ideas into a messy city council race and came a lot closer than his campaign budget and pre-election would’ve led you to predict. We’re proud of him, and we hope his political career isn’t over just yet.

Lastly, while preemptive legislation at the state level renders this mostly symbolic, it’s still noteworthy that Philadelphia voters were overwhelmingly (~82%) in favor of raising the minimum wage to $15. Nice reminder that people generally want the world to be fairer.

This Week in Unions

If your union does something cool between bulletins, let us know on Facebook or Twitter!

• Philly DSA will be hosting another State of the Union event on June 6 with Marc Schworer of the Transit Workers’ Union. He’ll be joined by Kilynn Lunsford of the PHL DSA Labor Branch.
• City Council passed a just-cause bill protecting parking workers from unfair firings. The bill was pushed largely by the SEIU. “Right now, it’s the parking industry,” boss lawyer Marjorie McMahon Obod said to the Inquirer last Thursday. “Next time it could be hospitals. ... It could be all industries that service Philadelphia.” She’s saying this like it’s a bad thing?
• Open bargaining ticked on for the Temple Association of University Professionals (TAUP), who received a “twenty-five thumbs down” salary proposal from administration on Tuesday. The July 9 Board of Trustees meeting is likely to be contentious. Temple faculty, employees, and students who want to help the union win a fair contract are encouraged to reach out to Ben at [email protected].
• The Philadelphia Union, coming off a 2-1 win in Toronto, were robbed on Saturday. They drew 0-0 to the Seattle Sounders but, as every Philadelphian knows, the refs hate us. Watch the highlights; that Nouhou guy really should’ve gotten a red card.

Nominations closing soon! Candidates Forum June 5!

Steering Committee Candidates Forum

Wednesday, June 5 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | Parish Room, First Unitarian Church | 2125 Chestnut St

PHLDSA 2019 Local Convention

Saturday, June 8 | 12:00 - 6:00 | Liacouras Center | 1776 N. Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19121

The convention is in two weeks! There will be thrills. There will be spills. There will be debate over organizational priorities for the next two years (a critical time for DSA as we try to reach the millions of people who are hearing about democratic socialism the first time through the Bernie campaign).

The agenda is up on the website. The meeting packet will follow once nominations close; if you’re thinking about running for something, you’ve got until Tuesday, May 28 (forms on the convention website). Then, on June 5 we’ll be hosting a forum for the SC candidates standing for election. Don’t miss it!

RSVP to Convention

Can't make it?

We encourage every member to try their best to attend the Local Convention in person. However, if you know can’t be there and need to request an absentee ballot, please email Philly DSA (phillydsa at gmail) with the subject-line "Absentee" no later than June 6th.

Events

Bernie Open Strategy Meeting

Thursday, May 23 | 7:00 - 9:00 pm | Parish Room, First Unitarian Church | 2125 Chestnut St

New Members Meeting

Saturday, May 25 | 1:00 - 2:30 pm | DIYRE | 4244 Lancaster Ave

Teachers in Debt: Philly Education Debt Workshop #2

Saturday, May 25 | 3:00 - 5:00 pm | West Chester Univ in Philadelphia | 701 Market St

BuxMont Eco-Socialist Hike & Cleanup

Saturday, May 25 | 12:00 - 4:30 pm | Ralph Stover State Park | Pipersville, PA

Phonebank for Convention!

Tuesday, May 28 | 6:00 - 9:00 pm | West Philly | Email [email protected] for details

Phonebank for Convention!

Thursday, May 30 | 6:00 - 9:00 pm | South Philly | Email [email protected] for details

Wissahickon Hike

Saturday, June 1 | 1:00 - 3:30 pm | Meet at 12:50-1:00 at Chestnut Hill West Regional Rail Station

Pre-Convention Happy Hour

Monday, June 3 | 6:30 pm | Haas Beer Garden at La Peg | 140 N Christopher Columbus Blvd

Marxism and Politics Reading Group

Monday, June 3 | 7:00 pm | Chapterhouse Cafe | 620 S 9th St

Phonebank for Convention!

Thursday, June 4 | 6:00 - 9:00 pm | South Philly | Email [email protected] for details

Steering Committee Candidates Forum

Wednesday, June 5 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | Parish Room, First Unitarian Church | 2125 Chestnut St

Philly DSA State of the Union

Thursday, June 6 | 7:00 - 8:30 pm | Repair the World | 4029 Market St.

PHLDSA 2019 Local Convention

Saturday, June 8 | 12:00 - 6:00 | Liacouras Center | 1776 N. Broad St, Philadelphia, PA 19121

BuxMont Presents M4A to Norristown Council

Tuesday, June 18 | 6:30 pm | Norristown Municipal Building | 235 E Airy St Norristown, PA 19401

Announcements

Host a Canvass!

The Philly DSA Canvassing Committee will be running smaller, shorter weeknight and weekend canvasses out of members' homes and in order to do this, we need people to volunteer their houses and apartments as launch locations! If you're interested in hosting, please fill out this form. Please email Vicki at [email protected] with any questions.

Member Surveys: Childcare

At our November 2018 General Meeting, the local established a childcare committee in order to implement more consistent childcare practices for the organization. The committee has prepared an initial survey to assess member needs and interests in order to guide their work. Please take a moment to fill out the survey:

Childcare Survey

Committee & Branch Meetings

Steering // Outreach // Pol Ed // LILAC // OCOS // Social // Canvassing // Policy // Labor // Housing // Childcare // Diversity & Engagement // DelCo // BuxMont

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.

 

In Solidarity,

Philly DSA Bulletin Team

 

Website: www.phillydsa.com

Inquiries: [email protected]