Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) member AP reports on the opening and first sessions of YDSA’s Red Hot Summer organizer training.
A YDSA Banner at a Protest (https://y.dsausa.org/the-activist/a-brief-history-of-ydsa/)
Introduction
Red Hot Summer (RHS) is a program organized by the Young Democratic Socialists of America (YDSA) to invigorate interest in the fight for socialism amongst young workers who are dissatisfied with deteriorating working conditions. Specifically, this is tackled via the trade union movement, which has seen some high profile victories recently (one notable example being the current movement at Amazon, albeit CPUSA played a role with its rise). As a young socialist, I’m particularly interested in becoming more involved with the labor movement, as it’s one of the most important aspects of socialist politics. Therefore, I participated in this program. The following is a report on RHS’s opening sessions based on my own observations.
My Experiences at Launch
The initial session, held on June 7th, was the official launch of the RHS. The program consisted mainly of a panel of guest speakers, the three most prominent being Sara Nelson (Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, part of the AFL-CIO), Hasan Piker (a famous socialist Twitch streamer), and Jaz Brisack (an organizer with SBUX Workers United). Other speakers were also present, including other Starbucks organizers from Dartmouth University (an Ivy League institution). The opening speech was made by Nelson. Nelson provided a detailed description of her experiences organizing flight attendants. These workers face a variety of difficulties in their often stressful and hostile work environments, primarily as a result of the disgusting amount of sexism they experience. This is a particularly prevalent issue with women and feminine presenting workers, as airline service work is usually seen as a “woman’s job.”
Additionally, the first session placed an emphasis upon student-worker organizing, including workers within the direct administration of the university, as well as workers who are organizing in nearby workplaces (restaurants, cafeterias, etc). One example of this was an attendee named Ian Scott, currently a sophomore at Dartmouth College. Scott talked about how the university is, in his own words, an old and established institution– naturally, this comes with the implications it does. From corrupt, reactionary deals to disregarding student democracy, Scott elaborated on the fact that with a union Dartmouth student-workers were able to further their demands. The most important (and most positive) aspect of the talk was about the Dartmouth union’s connection to Palestinian liberation. Scott positively cited the campaign against South African apartheid, explicitly connecting it to action against Israeli settler-colonialism and identifying the latter as a major struggle of our generation. This is objectively a positive sign, as even in our infancy we are trying to connect labor struggles with those against imperialism and militarism. Socialism is an international force, and if we want to see socialism everyone and everything must be red and free. Therefore, international solidarity with these key struggles is necessary for young socialists and workers in the US. While DSA has, at times, faltered on this commitment, such as with the Bowman Affair, I believe that Scott’s centering of these struggles is a positive sign of our renewed commitment towards internationalism as a whole.
In my opinion, another crucial panel, held in response to a question being raised by an audience member who has feelings of anxiety with regards to labor organizing, was led by Jaz Brisack. Brisack stated that the process of organizing builds ties between workers. From friendship to mutual interest to solidarity, a communal feeling is developed through organization, and this consequently makes dealing with managers, bosses, and capitalists less intimidating. This will be key towards constructing a new generation of organizers and socialists, as ultimately we are picking up the pieces of where the older generation either failed or was crushed.
Examples of intimidation were provided as well, with university organizers from Columbia describing the intimidation tactics used by universities to engage in union busting. One notable example was the bluff usage of lawyers in strategic manners to intimidate student organizers. Similarly, another panel by Rebecca Roskill (herself an organizer of students at Columbia University) described the importance of unions as teeth, a sentiment that had been echoed earlier. Roskill stated that unions are able to decisively challenge capital while also still viewing protests as important and necessary to achieve progressive and socialist goals. However, the need for a party was not mentioned much, which may throw a wrench into achieving these goals, since political intervention is important to build a socialist base in any country.
The most comprehensive panel which I personally enjoyed was from Charlie Muller, a student organizer at Kenyon College, whose goal is to reform the union of which he is currently a member. Muller called for participation within unions to help further the cause, but refused to present pure unionism as an end in itself– unionism of class struggle and socialism should be the goal instead, and that the socialist movement needs to merge with labor as a whole. The union bureaucracy was also explicitly named in this panel, with clear cut demands for democratization and transparency within unions for a better unionism to be created so that capitalism can be fought. Similarly, there was a strong emphasis on the labor rank-and-file, as they are the social and political base of any sort of trade union. A “bottom up” approach is needed to truly create a strong form of unionism. This is a positive step, and we, as socialists, need to unilaterally endorse attempts to combat bureaucratization and aim for increased democratization of such institutions.
Lastly, Hasan Piker was present during the stream. Many people in the stream were fans of Piker and were visibly excited when he arrived. He recognized his very different experiences as a streamer during his panel, calling himself just “a dickhead on the internet” and reaffirming his outside role as an ally towards left-wing efforts. It’s clear that a sort of alternative media and culture needs to be cultivated for the left as a whole. This is one example of it in action, though obviously we need to expand it further in scale.
Overall, generally positive and pleasant signs were present throughout the session and there was an immense amount of good and vibrant energy.
The First Official Meeting
The second session opened on June 21st and addressed similar themes to the first session. This included an explicit call for unionism to be focused specifically on class struggle and consciousness, as well as a focus on how deadly economism, or the belief that only workshop/economic concerns matter and nothing else, has been for the US labor movement. This is a great step for unions to take, but, in my opinion, we still need a concrete strategy for connecting trade unions to a party led effort. Nonetheless, calls to connect unionism to the struggles of marginalized groups and broader political goals were present. A concrete example of this was given with the struggle against anti-abortion legislation in Ireland, with strategic strikes being utilized to achieve liberalization of those laws in a deeply conservative country. Similarly, specific attention was paid towards the struggles of women, femme, and trans people within capitalist workplaces, as they are the targets of extreme discrimination. Overall, I agree with this, but I don’t believe that union structures will be enough. Working people require a common meeting hall to discuss these issues and fight for them, and a party is and has been the perfect institution for it. In spite of their flaws, these parties have continuously fought for workers rights and social justice.
Similarly, a common critique throughout the second session was made of the distinction between “productive-unproductive” labor, viewing it as something which allows for other jobs like domestic work to be devalued and not viewed as a core part of socialist organizing. The anecdotal experience of a worker within Columbia University was given too, specifically of how labor must and will connect itself towards wider feminist efforts. Broadly, I agree with this. Oftentimes the connotations these terms provide devalue the labor of women, especially in housework. There’s still some relevance for it (for example, we won’t have socialist stockbrokers under global socialism), but it is often heavily misused. Similarly, we need to prioritize direct attacks against patriarchy, authoritarian family structure, and misogynist culture, especially in the wake of the recent Roe v. Wade decision.
Another interesting point was raised regarding the dangers of new technology being used against labor. One case given was of an employee being fired by artificial intelligence, as she did not show up to work due to personal troubles, and the administration responsible for her did not look into it. Just for caring for her family, she was unjustly fired by an automated system. This isn’t far from the biases present in similar technology, and consequently this incident should be a point of concern for many socialists in the field. Generally, I think this is an issue we will have to contend with in the near future, and it is necessary that we begin to call for these technologies to be used in a peoples-focused manner in a socialist society rather than in the undemocratic, anti-worker manner in which they are currently being utilized.
Later on, an endorsement of the strategy of “salting” was given. Salting refers to the action of joining a job with the explicit intent of unionizing it. This opinion was reflected within the speakers list, with one speaker Caitlyn (I was not able to catch her last name, my apologies) describing her experience as a salt. Another interesting development that occurred was Caitlyn’s endorsement of helping out non-unionized workers, which is expected but still should be named as a positive action socialists should do. Similarly, she echoed, in her experience, the same psychological effects and benefits union organizing has provided her that were described in the previous sessions. According to her, organizing provided a sense of solidarity and confidence. As for my take, I think salting is unambiguously good. If Marxism came about because the intellectual tradition that Marx and Engels theorized merged with labor, we’re doing something similar here. Alongside this, I think it will further engage people in the struggle– reminding them what the true goal is, building character, and providing experience for young socialists like me. Salting is something that I would be interested in becoming involved with as soon as possible.
Another interesting aspect of the meeting were the comments from a Turkish student-worker involved in the union at Dartmouth, Caya Colakoglu. He described the tactics of intimidation taken against student-workers, especially those who were immigrants. Overall, a problem of intimidation exists for immigrant and undocumented workers. This stems from a lack of knowledge about labor laws and rights, and reveals that socialists need to combat this and reach out to immigrant labor in order to connect and intensify the struggle. Immigrant solidarity is unequivocally good. We sometimes have had issues with it as socialists, and it’s imperative we tackle this issue from the start. Let’s bury the failure to do so in the past once and for all.
Following this, breakout rooms were held. Depending on field, job, and other categories, attendees went to specific rooms to introduce themselves and share their thoughts. I participated in this during the session, describing myself, my current position, and my plans. A diverse environment was generally established throughout the rooms, especially mine, and it was a very positive action. Afterwards, the meeting ended and a Discord server was created for all participants to join.
Final Thoughts
As someone who sympathizes with the positions of Marxist Unity Group internal to DSA, I’d like to present my thoughts on the RHS meetings so far. Generally, attendees recognized that unionism is a crucial aspect of the socialist movement. Marxism itself originated from the merger of the tradition of socialism and the interests of labor. Neither were built within one another nor did they magically become involved with each other. This conference is an important step towards ensuring that the Left can rebuild itself following its decline in the 1980s and 90s, especially in the United States. I also generally liked the fact that it was geared towards YDSA, as the youth have often been a base for socialism. We need to connect the efforts of students with workers and student-workers too if we want to rebuild socialism, and rebuild youth socialist politics as a whole.
We need a solid youth socialist movement in this country and we need to expand our presence as much as possible. In many socialist movements throughout history, especially the Russian Revolution, the base of socialist parties came from student activists who matured into their roles as socialists there. My ideal vision for youth politics is for a presence across high schools, universities, and trade schools that can unify students with workers struggles and civil rights struggles. The exact form this will take, I can’t necessarily say. But I do believe it has to happen if we want to see a successful effort for socialism here.
I also noticed that during the discussions the past mistakes of old unionism were openly acknowledged and actively fought against, if not outright demolished. In the past, trade unionism accomplished much. It improved the standards of living for millions of workers, pushed progressive reforms across every level of society, and helped to support the marginalized. At the same time, however, it sometimes led workers into very dark places. Occasionally, workers would even support conservative legislation, believing it would improve things. Socialists, from Karl Marx to Vladimir Lenin and many others, recognized this trend. Within the confines of more modern socialism, this was dubbed ‘economism.’ As described earlier, this term was used to refer to those who viewed workplace struggles alone as worthy of support. In his work What is to be Done, Vladimir Lenin distinguished between trade union consciousness and class consciousness, of which the latter would come with political intervention (in the form of a socialist party). RHS shows that there is some positive action being taken internally to DSA with regard to this. However, I agree with Lenin’s view: only a party can build the foundation to totally eradicate economism and capitalism.
Recognizing these past errors, every speaker and participant took steps to name them and crush them. And for those involved, they described the steps they are currently taking to eliminate them. This is undeniably good, every struggle and act of oppression is a class issue and every step taken to fight it is inherently socialist. Similarly, there was a clear commitment towards internationalism. As we all know, socialism will be an inherently global and international system if implemented. Collective control of society requires all workers, and for this to happen we need to care about the struggle of workers abroad too. The gestures towards Palestinian liberation against the brutal Israeli apartheid regime during the discussions are a clear and positive sign. Participants even suggested encouraging service workers to pull Israeli products from shelves. Another positive development, that if expanded further, holds the potential to disrupt the capitalist system in many ways.
Similarly, the emphasis placed upon the most exploited categories of workers was wonderful to see. The fact that gestures towards immigrant labor were present is a welcome development, as in the past US socialism and labor, unfortunately, made many errors regarding this question. It is imperative we build these ties, and already this was being done in the conference. We must keep expanding on these connections to immigrant workers and building them. The struggle of workers who are documented immigrants or even undocumented immigrants, who form a major part of the US agricultural workforce, are just as important as the struggles of those who are citizens of this country. It will be imperative to connect with these workers if we want to create a freer, fairer, democratic, and ultimately socialist society.
I also personally enjoyed the panel by Hasan Piker. Not necessarily because of him, nor because of the fact that I was on a stream with 30k people (technically), but mainly because his presence represents an important field many tend to neglect: media and culture. Communist and socialist parties in the past always developed alternative culture amongst workers, an example being older union culture in the US, such as the institutions the CIO built prior to McCarthyism and its anti-communist purges. To redevelop a sort of alternative media and culture, we have to adapt to the digital landscape of the 21st century. The internet is a clear part of this, and in this digital age we need podcasts, streams, etc. to challenge the cultural hegemony of capitalism.
From my perspective as a young socialist and student, I believe that the embryo for a dedicated, militant, and strong Left was present at RHS. We just need to strike the hammer while the iron’s hot. This means we need to make sure we have a common meeting hall for socialists, workers, and marginalized people: i.e. an independent socialist party. This will ensure we remain 100% committed to socialism, and validate the hard work we are putting in to fight for a socialist future here. There was a time when we were dependent on the Democrats, during the period of Browderism in the CPUSA. It didn’t end well. We should avoid that path as much as possible. We must struggle against pushes to move to the right and keep on marching towards a politically independent, relevant, and dedicated socialist movement. It used to be a common belief amongst many people in the US that the “reds” were the only ones who cared about their struggles: let’s make that a reality again and do our best to fight for a better society.
