Chapter Priorities June 2026 – September 2026
At our June 2026 General Meeting, Pittsburgh DSA decided to recharter the ICE Out chapter priority.
ICE Out Pittsburgh is a campaign to restrict, delegitimize, and weaken ICE and CBP operations in Allegheny County. Through the campaign, Pittsburgh DSA is pressuring local government, businesses, and/or employers not to cooperate with ICE and engaging hundreds of people in anti-ICE rapid response methods. We are also strengthening the chapter’s rapid response infrastructure, including integration of DSA membership with existing rapid response networks and training a core group of DSA members to provide security for future DSA events.
Chapter Priorities March 2026 – June 2026
For the March 26 – June 26 cycle, Pittsburgh DSA adopted the Help Ensure Access and Rights for Trans Youth (HEARTY) priority and the Ice Out Pittsburgh priority.
Help Ensure Access and Rights for Trans Youth (HEARTY) was created in response to UPMC (Pittsburgh’s largest hospital system) removing gender-affirming care for people 19 years and younger as well as general anti-trans legislation. The chapter tabled to raise awareness of alternative resources and worked with other groups in Pittsburgh to how protests to pressure UPMC to restore care.
ICE Out Pittsburgh is described above, as it was renewed for June 2026 – September 2026.
Chapter Priorities November 2025 – Feburary 2026
At the September 2025 Chapter Meeting, Pittsburgh DSA voted to change how we will prioritize chapter work. Pittsburgh DSA will vote on up to two priorities in 4-month cycles (November-February, March-June, July-October).
For the November 25 – February 26 cycle, Pittsburgh DSA adopted the Strike Ready priority and the No Appetite for Apartheid priority.
Strike Ready brought members together to support local unionzed Starbucks workers as they striked during the holiday season against Starbucks corporate, who refuses again and again to come to the bargaining table. Members showed up to pickets and actions with signs, snacks, and solidarity. The chapter also hosted fundraising events to support strike funds. The project came to a natural end shortly after the new year when Starbucks workers returned to work.
No Appetite for Apartheid (NA4A) is based on the nation-wide campaign run by activist group DURUB. It is a pressure campaign to encourage local shops to stop carrying products made in and benefitting the imperialist state of israel so long as there is a genocide and Palestinians have apartheid status. The 4-month cycle was enough to kickstart the project, where volunteers found 15 local businesses to take the pledge and got signatures from over 300 Pittsburghers saying they were interested in supporting businesses who go Apartheid Free. At the end of the cycle, the chapter ran a Benefit Concert, raising over $6,000 for Medical Aid for Palestine. After the cycle completed, the project continued as a regular project through the Abolition & Anti-Imperialism Committee. Learn more about the Pittsburgh NA4A campaign.
Chapter Priorities 2024
At our September 2024 Chapter Convention, Pittsburgh DSA voted to adopt five chapter priorities to focus our organizing. Organizers were urged to keep the chapter priorities in mind when planning chapter projects and campaigns.
Summaries are provided below, but you can also read the full text of the passed priorities.
Deep Base-building
As socialists, we know that we need to build a mass movement for large-scale systemic change. To do this, we must challenge ourselves to go beyond organizing just with those who currently share our beliefs. Members will organize across tendencies in a welcoming way while challenging thoughts informed by colonialism, capitalism, and neoliberalism.
Leadership Development
To continue socialist organizing, we need leaders who are capable, trained, and connected to help our base grow. Members will encourage one another to step into leadership, not based on credentials, but based on vision and dedication. Members will run trainings, share resources, and document knowledge for the betterment of the chapter.
Localized Organizing, Including Outside Pittsburgh
Our organizers will remember that as the Pittsburgh DSA, we represent not just the city of Pittsburgh, but the greater Pittsburgh region, including the counties bordering Allegheny. Although we cannot overcome geography, we can work to make resources accessible remotely. We can support fellow socialists and leftist organizers in suburban and rural areas in southwestern Pennsylvania, in southeastern Ohio, and in West Virginia.
Palestine and International Solidarity
A genocide is unfolding in real-time before our eyes–funded by US tax dollars, armed by US weapons, aided by US military support, and protected by US political power. This demands action and resistance. Our chapter will strengthen our coalition work with other local organizations and support activities and campaigns led by Palestinian organizers and Palestine solidarity organizations. We will link Palestinian liberation to greater liberation through various lenses.
Poverty Solidarity
We must stand in solidarity with the poorest ranks of the working class. Nearly everyone is much closer to being in poverty than being a member of the ruling class, whether they recognize this truth or not. Our efforts must alleviate the conditions of the poor in the short-term and work toward liberating the poor in the long-term.