Statement on new deficit information
by THE SOCIALIST MAJORITY STEERING COMMITTEE
On Monday, a majority of the NPC passed a resolution initiating the layoffs of twelve staff members. Socialist Majority strongly opposed this resolution and our NPC members voted against it.
This was the most attended NPC meeting in DSA’s history. Over four hundred comrades sent emails to the NPC—twice as many as have ever contacted the NPC before over a single decision—asking them to reject the proposal. Instead of heeding member concerns, however, a majority of NPC members (Bread & Roses, Red Star, Marxist Unity Group, Ahmed, Luisa, and Aron) rushed the process to push the twelve layoffs through.
The majority amended the agenda to consider the layoffs proposal first, ahead of any non-staff cuts. Faced with basic questions about the numbers behind the resolution, the NPC majority struggled to respond. The majority even rejected a motion to return the resolution to the Budget & Finance Committee and assess the numbers behind the proposal.
Additionally, the majority passed the resolution without budget “actuals” (the actual income, as opposed to projected income) for December and January. Those numbers now show that, thanks to strong fundraising via our Solidarity Dues phonebanking, the organization is projected to raise $420,000 more this year than anticipated. And that’s just from December and January: We’re still waiting to see what this month’s record-breaking attendance at Solidarity Dues phonebanks, in response to the layoffs proposal, will generate.
We are relieved that this new information shows that DSA is in a much stronger position than the majority previously assumed. It also shows what we have said since the beginning: It is absolutely possible to reach our budget goals without mass layoffs.
Our NPC members have already voted for over $772,000 in non-staff cuts to our budget. While some of these cuts have been adopted by the NPC, most have been rejected. In light of DSA’s updated deficit, the layoffs resolution must be rescinded and those cuts should be reconsidered.
Therefore, Socialist Majority and Groundwork have submitted a new resolution to:
Rescind the majority’s layoff resolutions that were based on now-incorrect calculations;
Schedule a meeting for the NPC and unit staff to discuss budget cuts (as the union has asked for and which the NPC initially promised to do); and
Commit the NPC to reconsidering non-staff budget cuts, setting our deficit goal at no more than $250,000.
In the last week, our members demonstrated unwavering solidarity with the DSA Union. We strongly encourage the NPC to reconsider mass layoffs and move forward collectively—with all our members.