East Bay DSA Steering Committee Meeting June 18th, 2023
Sunday, June 18th, 2023
10am-12pm
I. Settle in [5 minutes]
- Mathew L
- Juan C
- Graham D
- Shane R
- Benny Z
- Ian B
- NIck R
- Max M
- Maddy GW
- Maura M
- Yari G
- Casey
- Dan T
- Ella T
- Michael S
- Caitlin J
- Carrie A
- Ethan L
- Liv P
- Laura
II. Approval of Agenda & Meeting Minutes [5 minutes]
- SC Meeting 06.05.23
- Approved via Clear Majority [1 No]
III. New Business
- Oakland Schools for All Program
- Motivated by Shane R
- Q&A
- Debate
- Moved to committee as a whole
- Seconded
- Approved via unanimous consent
- Motion to Amend: Replace “Ensuring a democratic process, including a majority vote of the parents and teachers at a school site, before a closure or merger is approved.” With: “-Stopping school closures: committing not to vote for any schools to be closed -Ensuring a democratic process, including a majority vote of the parents and teachers at a school site, before a merger is approved.”
- Seconded
- Debate
- Vote: 5 yes, 6 no, 2 abstain/absent
- Motion to Friendly Amend: Include non-charter language to every mentioning of school
- Motivate by Mathew L
- Seconded:
- VOTE: Approved via U.C.
- Resolution debate
- Resolution VOTE: 11 yes 0 no 3 abstain/absence
- Resolution to Allocate Funds for Printing Posters in Solidarity with UPS Teamsters
- Motivated by Caitlin J
- Q&A
- Debate
- Vote: 12 yes 0 no 1 absence/abstain
- Resolution to fund tickets for SF rising
- Motivate by Carrie A
- Q&A
- Debate
- Vote: 1 yes 8 no 4 abstain/absence
- Discussion
- Debrief SC term
- Things we did well
- Maddy GW - successful debates over UAW/Staff
- Yari G - more organized; more communication between SC members; molded each other’s politics
- Matthew L - Increased our revenue; successful updating bylaws amendments
- Shane R - more debates over chapter actions then theory debates
- Things to improve on
- Addressing sectarianism/ marginalizing - assessing political porojects
- Went to hard on Labor Committee over other portions of the DSA
- Yari G - more of a reactive structure in SC instead of proactive steps
- Graham - Avoid chats to continue meeting; talking more about political things; SC members not engaged in chapters which could be fix with SC restructure
- Benny - flushing out duties for At-large
- Matthew L - Reports from the treasurer; adopting minutes; putting staff on consent agenda [?]; implementing SC approved resolutions; three hours may not be enough for leaders to meet.
- Recommendation: Rec Sec - having at least one additional person to help with Rec Sec duties; bring back Rec Sec report backs - email votes
- What support does next SC need from current sc?
- External relationships with other orgs; post SC support for moral.
- Oakland’s District city council election seats issues/relationship
- Grievance officers? Stewards?
New Business
EBDSA OUSD Program
Goals:
- Increasing enrollment at public schools
- Opposing OUSD corruption and austerity
- Students learning and curriculum
- Long-term organizing
Increasing enrollment at public schools by:
- Converting charter schools to OUSD public schools and moratorium on new charters.
- Canvassing neighborhoods and hosting parent, teacher, and student town halls/block parties emphasizing the importance of public education to our community
- Ensuring the CA Community Schools grant is spent as as democratically decided through the process outlined in the OEA Common Goods.
- Work to implement all OEA common good demands
Opposing OUSD corruption and austerity by:
- Ensuring a democratic process, including a majority vote of the parents and teachers at a school site, before a closure or merger is approved.
- If budget cuts are necessary cut from top central office positions and contractors, not essential or unionized staff
- Taking private profits out of school services, by “in-sourcing” work away from contractors and to union jobs.
Student learning and curriculum:
- Working with special education parents teachers and students to preserve disabled student resources
- Developing curriculum that emphasizes workplace rights and the right to organize a union
Long term goals
- Working to develop a democratic parent, teacher, and student organization to hold OUSD accountable
- Developing additional revenue proposals for the ballot
- Coordinating statewide efforts across education worker unions and parent groups to fix education funding
- Research reduction in class sizes and required additional revenue
RESOLUTION TO ALLOCATE FUNDS FOR PRINTING
POSTERS IN SOLIDARITY WITH UPS TEAMSTERS
Submitted by: Richard M (Labor Solidarity co-chair and co-lead, EBLS UPS Teamsters Solidarity Working Group), Caitlin Jones (co-lead, EBLS UPS Teamsters Solidarity Working Group), Ella T (incoming co-chair, EBDSA), Jonathan Martin (member, EBLS UPS Teamsters Solidarity Working Group)
Whereas, a UPS Teamster Solidarity Working Group has been created within East Bay Labor Solidarity (EBLS) to implement the actions contained in that Resolution and to prepare our chapter to engage in impactful solidarity support of Teamsters Locals 70 (Oakland) and 315 (Richmond), and their rank-and-file members; and
Whereas, the IBT announced on Friday, June 16, that 97 percent of its UPS members voted to authorize a strike on August 1 if a new contract is not in place; and
Whereas, East Bay DSA’s Steering Committee adopted a RESOLUTION TO MAKE EAST BAY DSA STRIKE READY IN SOLIDARITY WITH UPS TEAMSTERS, based on the national DSA Labor template, on April 3, 2023; and in May adopted a RESOLUTION TO ALLOCATE FUNDS FOR PRINTING STRIKE READY PLEDGE CARDS IN SOLIDARITY WITH UPS TEAMSTERS, allocating up to $500 for the printing of pledge cards; and
Whereas, the actual cost of printing those pledge cards was $420.99; and
Whereas, DSA Labor’s Strike Ready campaign has announced that it will make reimbursement available for the printing of those pledge cards, and the co-leads of the UPS Teamster Solidarity Working Group are applying for that reimbursement on behalf of the chapter; and
Whereas, EBLS’s UPS Teamster Solidarity Working Group is preparing to launch poster canvassing, in collaboration with DSA-SF’s solidarity group;
Whereas, DSA Labor’s Strike Ready campaign has designed various posters with the message “UPS Teamsters Deserve More/DSA Supports UPS Teamsters”), and has been asked to provide more public-facing designs that we can use;
Therefore be it resolved that East Bay Labor Solidarity is authorized to spend no more than $500 to print posters expressing community support for the UPS Teamsters; and
Be it further resolved that the co-leads of EBLS’s UPS Teamster Solidarity Working Group shall apply for any reimbursement out of the national DSA Solidarity Fund that are made available for this purpose.
Resolution to Fund Tickets to Party & Townie Awards July 2023
Author: Carrie Austin via Electoral Committee
Whereas, East Bay DSA desires that our membership represent the full economic, racial, and cultural make-up of the East Bay’s working class
Whereas, East Bay DSA desires that our membership include more POC, including low-income working class POC
Whereas, The Party & Townie Awards event is an opportunity for East Bay DSA to increase our visibility in the flatland communities from which we seek to recruit more members
Whereas, The mission of Oakland Rising 501(c)(3) aligns with East Bay DSA’s goals:
Oakland Rising is “a collaborative of racial, economic, and environmental justice organizations, Oakland Rising uses the civic process to build political power for and with BIPOC, working-class, immigrant, and formerly incarcerated community members to bring about systemic change.”
Whereas, Oakland Rising Action is a social welfare organization 501(c)(4) whose values align with East Bay DSA’s, such as “... halting displacement and addressing gentrification is critical and central to ensuring that working-class, immigrant and communities of color will be able to remain in Oakland. … progressive elected officials who will push for strong tenant and working class homeowner protections … Secondly, we believe that Oakland’s approach to public safety needs to advance multiple strategies at once ...”
Whereas, Oakland Rising Action is hosting its annual Party & Townie Awards on July 13, 2023, and honoring the following Townie recipients for their outstanding contributions to lifting up racial, economic and environmental justice in The Town:
- Townie of the Year: Saabir Lockett
- Culture Maker Townie: Sogorea Te’ Land Trust
- Government Official Townie: Councilmember Carroll Fife (East Bay DSA member)
- Local Business Townie: Mandela Grocery
Whereas, The lowest cost co-host opportunity for the Awards event is $250 for 2 entry tickets and opportunity to fly East Bay DSA banner
Therefore, be it resolved that the Chapter will purchase one $250 “ally” for 2 entry tickets and opportunity to fly East Bay DSA banner