October 2020 Political Education Segment “Right Wing Militias: Yesterday And Today”
Richard Seymour Local Convention 2020 Talk/Q&A
Letter of support for United Museum Workers
On June 20, workers at four of Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Museums announced their campaign to win recognition as the United Museum Workers union. Many in the labor movement associate Andrew Carnegie with violent anti-unionism, and now — only a short distance from the sites of the Homestead Strike and the 1889 Johnstown flood — workers are organizing with United Steelworkers for the right to collectively bargain.
As socialists, we believe that the union is one of the greatest tools of the working class. We stand in full support of the United Museum Workers.
Despite their work preserving priceless artifacts, pieces of art and fossils, it is not uncommon that museum workers receive wages of only $8 an hour, and with a schedule short enough that the museum can avoid covering benefits.
Even as they educate the public, workers face difficulty in developing their own knowledge and professional skills, as management obscures hiring and advancement opportunities.
The pandemic pushed these issues to a breaking point. The museum pleads poverty despite having several large endowments and a Board of Trustees that includes several politicians, UPMC executives, and numerous CEOs.
It is only appropriate that the museum workers have joined with the United Steelworkers in forming their union. For it is the blood, sweat and exploitation of steelworkers in the late 19th century that funded the creation of the Carnegie Museums.
The United Museum Workers serve an important role in preserving art, scientific collections and ideas from the past. They are scientists, educators and art handlers. They work as research lab assistants, grant writers and web developers. Visitors see them at the front desks and as event ushers. In all of these roles, they provide crucial education services and inspire people of all communities to take an interest in the world we live in.
These workers are incredibly passionate, but that passion has been slowly drained through years of exploitation. In addition, they were forced back to work in the middle of a deadly pandemic, to put their lives at risk to keep the institution running. Many have done this without benefits like health insurance, and none have received hazard pay, while the CEO collects a half-million dollar salary (as of 2018).
The nonprofit industry is not exempt from exploitation and abuse, and their workers should not be exempt from demanding a share of the revenue they generate.
Unions give workers power to control their wages and hours, working conditions and benefits, but they also mean more: Unions change the power dynamics of the workplace and allow workers to stand against a capitalist system that exploits the working class.
Just as in the recent successful Carnegie Library union campaign, the institutions that Carnegie created out of a Gilded Age sense of philanthropy are unionizing — with workers joining together to secure a better quality of life.
While the steel mills in Homestead are long gone, the working class in Pittsburgh still fights for better wages, safer conditions and a share of power in the city’s modern industries.
-Pittsburgh DSA Labor Committee
“What does labor want? We want more schoolhouses and less jails; more books and less arsenals; more learning and less vice; more leisure and less greed; more justice and less revenge; in fact, more of the opportunities to cultivate our better natures, to make manhood more noble, womanhood more beautiful, and childhood more happy and bright.”
― Samuel Gompers
Save the USPS Campaign
Background on Save The USPS Campaign
“The Post Office is yours. Help fight to keep it that way.”
For years, there has been a coordinated effort to manufacture a crisis in the USPS. Corporations don’t care that the USPS delivers to all 159 million addresses in the country–no matter who you are or where you live. But you should.
Facts:
- Financial hardships were manufactured and imposed on the USPS in 2006, when the “Postal Accountability and Enhancement Act” forced the USPS to pre-fund future retiree health care benefits 75 years in advance. Private companies like FedEx have canceled their pensions to new employees entirely.
- The USPS receives no tax dollars for operating expenses, and relies on the sale of postage, products, and services for funding.
- The Universal Service Obligation means that your mail will be delivered to you no matter where you live–from Utqiagvik, Alaska to Miami, Florida. Privatizing the Post Office means eliminating that obligation.
- The U.S. Mail is the most secure and private form of communication.
- Over the past ten years, the cost of sending a letter in the UK’s private mail system has risen 80%.
More about our campaign:
More about Senate Bill 2965, the “USPS Fairness Act”:
https://www.congress.gov/bill/116th-congress/senate-bill/2965
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Information on Representatives
Find addresses for your local (town, city, or county) council representatives here:
https://myreps.datamade.us/
Sample Messages for your representatives:
Dear Councilperson _____,
As your constituent, I am writing to call on _____ council to pass a “Save USPS” resolution in support of the US Postal Service, to help ensure that our post office is able to keep functioning during the pandemic. USPS is enshrined in our Constitution, and it serves rural and poor communities in ways that private companies can never replace. A strong “Save USPS” resolution should support a grant of $75 billion in pandemic relief as requested by the USPS Board of Governors, a guarantee that the entire country is able to vote by mail in the Fall elections, and the bi-partisan “USPS Fairness Act” (SB 2965). I believe that _____ council can play an important part to protect our post office and I look forward to your swift response. Thank you.
Sincerely,
[Sign with your name and your full address]~~~~~~~~~~
Information on Senators
Addresses for Pennsylvania Senators:
Senator Pat Toomey
310 Grant Street, Suite 1440
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: 412) 803-3501
Fax: (412) 803-3504
Senator Bob Casey
310 Grant Street, Suite 2415
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Phone: (412) 803-7370
Fax: (412) 803-7379
Sample message for Senators:
Dear Senator _____,
As your constituent, I am writing to call on you to support the US Postal Service and ensure that it is able to keep functioning during the pandemic. USPS is enshrined in our Constitution, and it serves rural and poor communities in ways that private companies can never replace. I urge you to co-sponsor the bi-partisan bill SB 2965, and provide $75 billion in grant funding as requested by the USPS Board of Governors. I also call on you to make sure that the entire country is able to vote by mail in the Fall elections. I hope that you will take aggressive action to protect our post office and I look forward to your swift response. Thank you.
Sincerely,
[Sign with your name and your ZIP code]Recommendation of Turahn Jenkins for District Attorney
The Pittsburgh Democratic Socialists of America recommends its members and the Allegheny County Community vote for Turahn Jenkins for District Attorney in the May 21st Primary Election.
Incumbent District Attorney Stephen Zappala has caused irreparable damage to the people of Allegheny County, especially Black and Brown communities, who face higher rates of incarceration and a terrifying lack of justice regarding police brutality in Allegheny County.
As a direct consequence of Zappala’s work, the Allegheny County Jail imprisons more than 2,000 people, and sees upwards of 100 new arrests per day. Zappala has also chosen to prosecute sex workers, as well as those charged with so-called “crimes of existing” such as loitering, public urination, and other behaviors necessary for survival that have been criminalized under the capitalist system. If re-elected, Zappala would continue and deepen the harms faced by Allegheny County’s most marginalized residents.
If we had a District Attorney committed to rehabilitative justice, communities all across Allegheny County would see improvements in their day to day lives. A District Attorney who believes that Black lives matter and is committed to abolishing cash bail, decriminalizing sex work, holding police accountable for their crimes, refusing to cooperate with ICE, and stopping the school-to-prison pipeline could save thousands from being forced into the criminal justice system and save lives.
The Primary Election on May 21st is our opportunity to choose that District Attorney by voting for Turahn Jenkins.
In his responses to our endorsement questionnaire and during the Q&A session at our meeting, Mr. Jenkins pledged to implement a slew of policies that would reduce the criminal justice system’s destructive role in Allegheny County communities.
First and foremost, he pledges to massively reduce cash bail through a presumption of release policy. He views cash bail as “essentially criminalizing poverty.” Additionally, Turahn Jenkins plans to create a conviction review unit to identify wrongful convictions and free the innocent, and to end the practice of overcharging defendants in order to secure plea deals. He promises to never cooperate with ICE or any other immigration enforcement agency. Further, he has pledged to help unhoused people access treatment and other non-carceral services, and to interrupt the school-to-prison pipeline by opposing police presence in schools and favoring restorative justice initiatives in cases involving juveniles.
Turahn Jenkins is committed to the decriminalization of sex work, and promised to examine the predatory practices of the Pittsburgh PRIDE court.
Mr. Jenkins wants to expand the Citizen’s Police Review Board to be county wide, and says that he would handle cases of police brutality much differently than Zappala’s office has. Mr. Jenkins believes that no profession makes you above the law, and that being a police officer is not an exception to this rule. In regards to the recent trial of Michael Rosfeld, Mr. Jenkins has said that he would have done a number of things differently than Zappala’s office. Zappala did not try the case himself, and Mr. Jenkins said that he would have handled the case personally. He also would have called in an expert on police use of force, which Zappala’s office failed to do.
During our chapter Question & Answer session with Turahn Jenkins, many of our members expressed concern around Mr. Jenkins’ hurtful comments towards the LGBTQ+ community last year. Our members asked whether Mr. Jenkins had taken deliberate steps to educate himself around issues impacting the LGBTQ+ community, and whether he would support policies important to the LGBTQ+ community. He answered “yes” and shared with us how he has been educating himself and seeking education from the queer community. Turahn told us that he opposes conversion therapy and is committed to using his position as District Attorney to pressure Allegheny County Jail to treat LGBTQ+ people with the basic respect they deserve. This includes policies that improve the material conditions of those currently incarcerated, such as housing trans people in prisons that match their gender. Mr. Jenkins also pledged to have queer people on his staff and understands that he will be a better District Attorney with the queer community having a seat at the table.
Turahn Jenkins apologized to our LGBTQ+ members who were harmed by his remarks and actions. He acknowledged that he still has lots of learning to do and is actively working to do so. Because we know so many of Allegheny County’s LGBTQ+ community have felt torn deciding how to approach this race, we are hopeful that Turahn Jenkins will share publicly the steps he has taken to unlearn homophobia and transphobia, and the ways that as District Attorney he could reduce harm done to the LGBTQ+ community – in particular, because we believe it is important and commendable that those entrusted with power in an unjust justice system demonstrate an ability to recognize wrong in themselves and work to change, as he is doing and has done. With so much at stake for all of Allegheny County’s marginalized and oppressed communities in this election, we hope that everyone will get to hear about his commitment to justice that our membership so appreciated.
Turahn Jenkins understands well that the present criminal justice system and its old guard leadership like Zappala have undermined and incapacitated the poor and marginalized, thus sabotaging safety, solidarity, and justice. Together, his policies and stances reflect a commitment to push back against this system of criminal injustice, institutional racism, and mass incarceration. As socialists, we admire a candidate who shares these commitments with us.
Electing Turahn Jenkins is the moral choice, one that would reduce the daily and ongoing violence waged upon the people of Allegheny County by Stephen Zappala’s unjust and racist term as District Attorney, particularly for the Black community.
For the past year, our streets have seen protest after protest demanding change, demanding justice, and making clear: Stephen Zappala has got to go. We do not believe one election or a different District Attorney will bring total justice. We do believe that District Attorney Turahn Jenkins would materially improve the lives of everyone in Allegheny County, particularly those disproportionately targeted by a white supremacist police and prison system.
We strongly encourage our membership to vote for Turahn Jenkins.
We also strongly encourage them to volunteer for or otherwise support the Jenkins campaign, which they can do by clicking here.
Statement of the Pittsburgh DSA on the National Prisoners Strike
The Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America endorses the National Prisoners Strike taking place from August 21 to September 9. We stand in solidarity with prisoners across the US bravely demanding their rights, dignity, and material well-being.
The National Strike has been called in response to a tragic massacre on April 15 at Lee Correctional Institution in South Carolina. When tensions between inmates that had been stoked by prison officials boiled over into a brawl, officials did nothing to intervene or treat the injured, culminating in at least seven people losing their lives. The blame for this tragedy lies at the hands of the institution, not the prisoners.
More broadly, the blame lies with a violent society that warehouses people for their social problems — unemployment, drug addiction, mental health issues, and more — instead of actually solving their problems. The vast majority of the imprisoned are not violent, having committed mostly drug and property crimes. Rather, the system of prisons and policing is inherently violent.
As we support the brave striking comrades on the inside, we simultaneously call for the abolition of prisons and police on the outside, knowing full well that this system provides more harm than security and exacts intolerable suffering on the marginalized.
For information on the striking prisoners’ 10 demands, and how to support them, visit the following websites:
http://prisonstrike.com/
https://fundly.com/2018-prisoner-strike
http://sawarimi.org/national-prison-strike
For printable flyers:
https://incarceratedworkers.org/resources/august-21-prison-strike-printable-flyers
Pittsburgh DSA Celebrates Success of Endorsed Candidates Sara Innamorato and Summer Lee
The Pittsburgh chapter of the Democratic Socialists of America is thrilled to announce that Sara Innamorato and Summer Lee emerged victorious from the May 15th, 2018 primary elections for their respective State Representative races. Also endorsed by the national DSA, State Rep. candidates Sara Innamorato and Summer Lee have firmly demonstrated that bold left values hold broad appeal for working Pittsburghers.
These wins indicate that a renewed, vibrant left in America is not an aberration, but instead that working people are ready for real change, progressive policies, and a society that works for all of us, not a select few. Pittsburgh voters will require candidates who stand for economic and social justice, who fight against the injustices of our carceral system, who will ensure that we have clean water and air, who believe in fully funding public education and creating a system that provides healthcare for all, and who will fight for universal reforms for working people.
Endorsement by the Pittsburgh DSA includes the completion of a detailed policy questionnaire, a public statement and Q&A with our membership, and member debate and vote. These candidates were specifically endorsed—in near-unanimous votes—because of their shared belief that our current political and economic system is fundamentally unjust. Members of the Pittsburgh DSA have organized canvasses, knocked on over ten thousand doors, and engaged with Pittsburghers in these districts on the issues that mattered to them, from environmental justice to single-payer healthcare and more.
Though Kareem Kandil, also endorsed by the Pittsburgh DSA, was unsuccessful in seeking the Democratic nomination in House District 30, the tightness of this race in a historically Republican district is, in itself, a success for left politics. A significant portion of the voters in these districts have proven their support for the values of the American left.
The successes of Sara Innamorato and Summer Lee build on top of the wins of Pittsburgh DSA-endorsed candidates Mik Pappas, District Judge, and Anita Prizio, Allegheny County Council, in 2017. The Pittsburgh DSA is hopeful to look forward, ensuring that Sara and Summer will be successful in Harrisburg, and to continue building and growing here in Pittsburgh.
Statement on Trump’s Withdrawal from the Iran Deal
President Trump’s decision today to withdraw the U.S. from the JCPOA with Iran is a harrowing development. Moreover, it is a clear violation of the terms of the deal. As democratic socialists, we object to actions that harm the marginalized at home and abroad, and we advocate building collective power through international negotiations toward denuclearization and demilitarization.
Along with détente with Cuba, the JCPOA was one of the few rays of light in an Obama foreign policy that otherwise institutionalized the perpetual war state of the Bush Administration. The deal was a success at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons, according to leading nonproliferation experts as well as the U.S.’s and Israel’s own security establishments. It also removed the core justification for another aggressive U.S. war. Given the presence in Trump’s administration of lifelong Iran hawks such as National Security Advisor John Bolton and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, we should not be surprised if Iran’s purported “efforts to get a nuclear weapon” — which the JCPOA was the best tool available for stopping — are used as pretext for future hostile US actions, from more sanctions to all-out bombing or invasion.
Let us not forget, however, that in the summer of 2017 it was Democrats in Congress who paved the way for today’s withdrawal with their foolish Iran sanctions package, which they bundled with Russia sanctions in an attempt to coax President Trump into opposing Putin. Out of hostility towards Iran, Trump happily signed the bill into law. The single Democratic caucus member to vote against it? Independent Bernie Sanders, who cited the need for peaceful reconciliation, not war, with Iran.
As a historic agreement is being realized in Korea, today’s news is a stark and distressing contrast. But we must not lose hope — instead, we must fight back. Here in the U.S., that means uniting to demand that politicians of all parties, in all branches and at all levels of government, commit to a pro-peace, anti-war agenda.
— Pittsburgh DSA Anti-Imperialism Committee
Statement on Air Strikes Against Syria
To look at the situation in Syria and believe that the solution is more bombs is barbarous. Military interventions by the United States have never benefited the civilians of the country violated. There are no “precise” air strikes. When children see tear gas canisters and remnants of shells, they see “Made in the USA.” When refugees try to flee from death and destruction, the doors to America are slammed in their faces.
When the United States struck Syria last year, weapons manufacturers gained nearly $5 billion. Where does this money end up? Not in the pockets of the American people; surely not in aid packages to the people whose lives these weapons destroyed. While these billions each year go to more bombs for us to drop on Syria, cities like Flint, Michigan and Pittsburgh do not even have the basic infrastructure to provide safe drinking water to its citizens.
We condemn these attacks on Syria and on imperial wars worldwide. We demand an end to wars for profit fought by and against the poor. No war but class war!
— Pittsburgh DSA Anti-Imperialism Committee