For a DSA Ready to Move in the Labor Movement
Labor Amendment E, the Groundwork slate’s amendment to the National Labor Committee (NLC) consensus resolution, is critical for equity in DSA’s work on the national level, avoiding layoffs, and actually protecting the DSA’s existing unionized workers.
The amendment would stop an unfunded mandate to pay full-time salaries and benefits for two NLC co-chairs at a time when it is unclear if DSA can afford it and no similar payments are being offered to other major national committees. As a longtime labor activist, I fully support substantial investment in DSA's labor work; for example, I'm glad that the NLC already has a full-time staff member, even as other priorities lack staff. But I strongly believe that adding an additional two full-time paid positions, as this resolution does, is misguided and puts our organization at risk.
DSA’s future budget is unclear; revenue has dropped as membership has declined to around 78,000 current dues-paying members. Proposed programs for member retention and increasing dues are not yet in place. Furthermore, other convention proposals, such as paid national co-chairs and expanding and paying National Political Committee members, should they pass, can and should take precedence over the original proposal; national co-chairs and NPC members are elected to serve the whole organization and if we are able to pay national leaders, we should start with paying comrades to serve the whole organization.
Even if we could afford it, I would be hesitant, despite being a union activist and NLC member, to pass this resolution, especially for two roles elected not by delegates or all DSA members but a much smaller and restricted NLC membership itself. I favor having a holistic assessment of where paid DSA organizers are most needed, instead of such specific internal DSA paid roles being decided by convention. There is already a dedicated labor staffer. Why not give another committee full-time paid support first?
But setting aside a hypothetical future where we could afford this, these resolutions can and will have consequences on our comrades' livelihoods. As a union member, I stand in solidarity with the existing unionized DSA staff. If we face deep financial cuts, we should protect the jobs of our existing DSA employees, rather than try to find money for new roles at the expense of other people’s jobs. We need genuine solidarity with today’s workers.
Nationally, we are not alone: groups such as Justice Democrats and Color of Change are shaving off staff as funds dwindle after the Trump and Sanders bumps. Let’s not put DSA in a position to have to join them. Stipends as a potential option, as the amendment suggests, is a great way to protect us. Vote for Amendment E!