We’re a little more than a week out from our fall General Meeting, and as always we’ve got a packed agenda. Our guest speaker this time around is Marty Harrison of PASNAP. As anyone who’s been following the fight to save Hahnemann University Hospital can tell you, PASNAP has been on the front lines since day one. Harrison, a long-time single payer advocate, a Labor Notes contributor, and the editor of the Temple Hospital Nurses newsletter, will be catching us up on what happened over the summer and speaking on what we can do now.
Additionally, we’ll be hearing from Nic O’Rourke and Kendra Brooks, Working Families Party candidates for City Council, ahead of an important vote on whether or not Philly DSA should endorse O’Rourke and Brooks in November’s municipal election. Read Kendra and Nic’s attached questionnaires to see where the candidates stand on our priorities (Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, organized labor, and electing Bernie Sanders) and send any unanswered questions to [email protected].
Philly DSA General Meeting
Saturday, September 14 | 12:30 - 3:00 pm | First Unitarian Church | 2125 Chestnut St
RSVP Here
CALLING ALL UNION MEMBERS
If you're a member of a union and a member of Philly DSA we need you to fill out this form. Additionally, we’re looking to get as many people as possible to attend the Philadelphia Labor Council’s Presidential Candidate Summit on 17-18 September. Ahead of the summit, Philly DSA and Philadelphia Labor for Bernie will be co-hosting an organizing training this Saturday, September 7 from 1:30 pm - 4:00 pm in the Ben Franklin room of UPenn’s Houston Hall.
Bernie is the best candidate organized labor has seen in generations. We know that, and you know that, and the United Electrical, Radio and Machine Workers of America damn well know that; last week, they became the first national union to endorse Bernie Sanders for President. With Joe Biden seemingly snubbing Philadelphia labor leaders in the leadup to the PA primary, Philly DSA members could have a huge opportunity here to make the case for Bernie in our locals. The AFL-CIO Summit represents a great opportunity to talk to other workers across the labor movement about Bernie, the political fight for workers, and the labor movement’s needs for this electoral cycle.
Saturday’s training will focus on two things: The first part of the training will be a more general discussion about how to talk about why Bernie is the best candidate for labor and to prepare for the upcoming Candidate Summit. In the second part we will break out into small groups organized around your union to start developing an organizing plan for building support for Bernie in your local. Because all of us are in different positions in our unions and face different political climates and structures within our locals, no one strategy will work for everyone. This will give us a chance to strategize about the best prospects and pick strategies that best respond to our local conditions. Feel free to invite other members from your local who you think would be interested in attending!
Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Campaign Update
City Council is back in session next Thursday, September 12, and the organizers of our Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Campaign are calling on you, reader, to come out in support. The PA Domestic Workers Alliance will be meeting at the northeast corner of City Hall on Thursday, with the goal of getting this back at the top of the radar for all the council members coming back from the summer.
We’re showing up at 9:15 am to prep the rap, and we’ll be there until caucus finishes at 11:00 am. It’s a great political education opportunity and a chance to build deeper connections with the workers in this campaign and with the council members of this city. We hope to see you there (and at future sessions)!
Medicare For All Update in the House of Representatives
Representative Hakeem Jeffries [D-N.Y.] just announced that he will cosponsor Pramila Jayapal’s M4A legislation, H.R. 1384. Importantly, Jeffries is the House Democratic caucus chairman, giving him a key voice in what the majority party supports. This is the latest victory in the fight for universal healthcare, and if you’ve ever canvassed, phone banked for canvass turnout, entered canvass data, or called your representative to demand their support, you’re part of this victory! NYC DSA joined forces with the nurses’ unions and healthcare activists to get Jeffries to flip. Now is the time for us to heighten the pressure on our Philly area representatives who still haven’t signed on to 1384. Call Dwight Evans, Madeleine Dean, or Mary Gay Scanlon and remind them that this is one of the most popularly supported proposals in the U.S. Their caucus leader is supporting it too, so let’s see their names on it!
Call Evans (202) 225-5392, Dean (202) 225-4731, and Scanlon (202) 225-2011!
If your union does something cool between bulletins, let us know on Facebook or Twitter!
Labor for Bernie and Philly DSA Organizing Training
Saturday, September 7 | 1:30 - 4:00 pm | Ben Franklin Room, Houston Hall | 3417 Spruce St
Weeknight Bernie Canvass and Data Entry in South Philly
Monday, September 9 | 6:00 - 8:30 pm | 1843 S 15th St, Phila, PA 19145
(Please bring a laptop to quickly enter the sign-up data that you collect when after the canvass)
West Philly Phonebank
Tuesday, September 10 | 6:30 - 8:30 pm | RSVP to [email protected] for address
Domestic Workers Bill of Rights Rally
Thursday, September 12 | 9:15 - 11:00 am | City Hall | 1400 JFK Boulevard
Saturday, September 14 | 12:30 - 3:00 | First Unitarian Church | 2125 Chestnut St
Night School: What is Capitalism?
Monday, September 16 | 7:00 - 9:00 pm | Golkin Room, Houston Hall | 3417 Spruce St
Bernie 2020 Tabling: North Philly
Thursday, September 19 | 2:00 - 6:00 pm (2 hr shifts) | Cecil B. Moore Farmer's Market | Broad and Cecil B. Moore
Temple University Bernie Canvass
Saturday, September 21 | 12:00 - 4:00 | Fotterall Square | York and 12th
Marxism and Politics Reading Group
Wednesday, September 25 | 7:00 - 9:00 pm | Chapterhouse Cafe | 620 S 9th Street
Harassment and Grievance Process
In accordance with Article XIII of our Bylaws, a commission has been formed to process grievances. The purpose of the Philly DSA Grievance Commission is to receive and review all filed grievance claims in order to determine if they are credible, not credible, or not substantiated and to make recommendations on possible disciplinary action. To read more about the process or to file a grievance you can do so here.
Get involved in Philly DSA’s Communications Committee
The Philly DSA Communications Committee is looking for writers, artists, programmers, photographers, and anybody else who’s interested in promoting our local’s amazing work. If you’d like to get involved, please email [email protected]
Local Convention Report
The full local convention report is available now on our website. Click through for the platform, vote totals, and conclusions from the SC and planning committees.
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! Please email Vicki at [email protected] with any questions. If you're interested in hosting, please fill out the form below:
Host a Canvass
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.
Committee & Branch Meetings
Steering // Outreach // Pol Ed // OCOS // Social // Canvassing // Policy // Labor // 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
Inquiries | Website
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