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Organize!

organize-iconWhether we are engaging in acts of resistance or creating new, alternative institutions, we need to create sustainable, democratic organizations that empower their members while also protecting against disruption. This section provides articles about effective organizing, creating democratic decision-making structures, building coalitions with other groups, and more. Visit the Resources Page for tools to assist your organizing efforts.

Fighting Privatization Is Good For Mental Health

September 19, 2024 Elena Gormley, In These Times. , , ,
This spring, Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson announced a dramatic change in the city’s mental health policy, promising to reopen public clinics shuttered for more than a decade. Today, my administration is taking extraordinary steps to reverse the course and expand our city’s systems of mental health,” Johnson said May 30, outside the Roseland Mental Health Center. ​“We are standing here on the Far South Side to make it clear that we are prioritizing those who have been left behind and discarded by previous administrations.” In addition to Roseland, the city plans to reopen two more public clinics, in the Pilsen and West Garfield Park neighborhoods.

Rail Crew, Environmental Justice Organizations Win Clean Air Rule

September 17, 2024 UE Union. , , , , ,
Rail crew drivers from UE Local 1077 joined environmental justice organizations in persuading the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD) board to pass a life-saving regulation for rail yards in the Inland Empire, Los Angeles County, and Orange County. In response to overwhelming public support, including a letter signed by the UE local and its allies, the rule passed unanimously at the board’s meeting in August. Rule 2306 will limit toxic emissions from the 25 rail yards in operation and any new rail yards built in the region. According to SCAQMD, “The rule is expected to reduce Nitrogen Oxides (NOx) emissions associated with freight rail yards by about 10.5 tons per day between 2027 to 2050.”

Trade Unions Find Their Place In Global Peace Efforts At ManiFiesta 2024

September 14, 2024 Ana Vracar, People's Dispatch. , , , , ,
At ManiFiesta 2024, the trade union square was buzzing with activity for two full days. Belgian labor activists preparing for a demonstration on September 16 to protest job cuts at Audi’s Brussels factory shared the space with union members from across Europe—Dutch, Italian, German, and French activists all exchanging struggles and strategies. Under the tents, the General Federation of Belgian Labour (ABVV-FGTB) and the Confederation of Christian Trade Unions (ACV-CSC), alongside the European Federation of Public Service Unions (EPSU), discussed campaigns to defend workers’ rights.

Humanity Must Choose A New Path To Avoid Rapid Ecological Breakdown

September 14, 2024 Greg Harman, Resilience. , , ,
Rapid City, S.D.—Humanity stands at a crossroads and must come together to realize dramatically different and supportive relationships with one another, the Earth, and all life on the planet, if we are to surmount cascading ecological and social crises now underway. That was the message of Arvol Looking Horse, the spiritual leader of the Lakota, Dakota, and Nakota peoples, who welcomed hundreds of attendees to the 12th World Wilderness Congress convening the last week of August in the Black Hills, or Hé Sapa in the Lakota language. Though these gatherings, dedicated to assessing and often resetting global conservation work, date back to the 1970s, this is the first such congress being convened by a tribal authority.

President Maduro Approves Creation Of The First Anti-Fascist International

September 13, 2024 TeleSUR English. , , , , , , ,
On Wednesday, Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro approved the creation of the Antifascist International, a movement aimed at uniting progressive and democratic forces around the world to counter the rise of fascism and the far right globally. He Also Condemned Attempts To Carry Out Coups Against Independent Governments In Bolivia, Honduras, And Nicaragua. During the closing of the “World Congress Against Fascism, Neo-Fascism, and Similar Expressions,” held in Caracas, he approved the new international body as a measure to confront the violence being generated by the far right in the South American nation.

ManiFiesta 2024 Brings New Energy To Activists And Movements

September 9, 2024 Ana Vračar, People's Dispatch. , , , , , , , ,
Over 15,000 people gathered in Ostend, Belgium, for ManiFiesta 2024, a two-day event of activism and solidarity. Inspired by speeches from global activists and union leaders, attendees left with a renewed drive to pursue mobilizations in different parts of Europe. Speaking at the central event of ManiFiesta, Raoul Hedebouw, president of the Workers’ Party of Belgium (PTB), set the tone by addressing growing inequalities and attacks on workers’ rights in Belgium, announcing a response from the party. A significant part of the event was also devoted to building solidarity with Palestine, with speakers such as Omar Barghouti, co-founder of the Boycott, Divestment, Sanctions (BDS) and climate justice activist Anuna De Wever Van Der Heyden emphasizing the importance of international support for Palestinian liberation.

Why More Doctors Are Joining Unions

September 8, 2024 Lambeth Hochwald, Medscape. , , , , ,
With huge shifts over the past decade in the way doctors are employed — half of all doctors now work for a health system or large medical group — the idea of unionizing is not only being explored but gaining traction within the profession. In fact, 8% of the physician workforce (or 70,000 physicians) belong to a union, according to statistics gathered in 2022. Exact numbers are hard to come by, and, interestingly, although the American Medical Association (AMA) " supports the right of physicians to engage in collective bargaining," the organization doesn't track union membership among physicians, according to an AMA spokesperson.

A New Model For Worker-Led Organizing

September 8, 2024 Eric Blanc, New Labor Forum. , , ,
Tens of millions of workers in the United States want a union at their workplace, but do not have one.[1] This unfortunate state of affairs is normally blamed on external obstacles such as our country’s broken labor law regime. But there are also significant internal obstacles within the labor movement that prevent it from scaling up to meet the widespread demand for workplace representation.

Ballot Initiatives Activate Voters, Change The Landscape

August 31, 2024 Chris Melody Fields Figueredo, Portside. , , ,
As we head into the Fall and the critical final stage of the 2024 election, a large contingent of voters are grappling with feelings of fear, uncertainty, and disillusionment. While the recent shift in the presidential race has helped galvanize a new generation of voters and evoke a sense of hope and excitement, it hasn’t quieted all of the anxieties that have built up over the last several years. We are mobilizing people to vote at a time when more than 80% of adults in the US don’t believe their elected officials care what they think and alarmingly, roughly one-third of Americans say an authoritarian leader or military regime would be a good way of governing.

Bridging Political Divides Through Solidarity

August 29, 2024 Katy Habr, Labor Notes. , , ,
How should unions engage with members drawn to right-wing, anti-worker politics and candidates? One union trying to tackle this disconnect is the Communications Workers (CWA). Steve Lawton, former president of CWA Local 1102 in New York (now merged with Local 1101), has been heavily involved with political education through his work as a local leader and in the District 1 political department. In this interview he discusses organizing in a union with many Trump-supporting members, how to talk with members about immigration, and strategies for organizing and building solidarity across political divides.

Radical Municipalism Is Paving The Way For Direct Democracy In LA

August 24, 2024 Justin A. Davis, Waging Nonviolence. , , , , , , ,
Home to almost 10 million residents in 2022, Los Angeles County can sometimes seem like a vast political paradox. Known as a quintessential example of urban sprawl, it is also the most overcrowded county in America. Over the past 20 years, robust grassroots organizing built multiracial movements for organized labor, immigrant rights and housing justice while electing multiple self-identified leftists to L.A. City Council. At the same time, brutal overpolicing, ethics scandals and rising gentrification have been constant challenges for organizers and activists there. This summer, L.A.’s controversial efforts to reduce homelessness have reentered the national spotlight.

US And Israeli Military Resisters Reach Out To US Service Members

August 20, 2024 John Catalinotto, Workers World. , , , , ,
Israeli and U.S. military resisters held a zoom news conference Aug. 15 to publicize a call to active duty U.S. service members to declare their opposition to the Israeli massacres in Gaza – and U.S. complicity with what many people consider genocide. In Israel, there is an establishment-manufactured consensus supporting the criminal war and a massive group of fascist settlers. The individual Israeli “refuseniks” who participated in the news conference were those who had earlier declared themselves Conscientious Objectors to participating in the ongoing military occupation of Palestinian lands. They refuse participation in the current genocide and encouraged U.S. service members to also take this position.

The Quiet, Local Success Of The Israel Divestment Movement

August 18, 2024 Marianne Dhenin, Next City. , , , ,
The United States has historically provided hundreds of billions of dollars in foreign aid to Israel. The flow of taxpayer funds to Israel’s military has only increased since Israeli forces launched an attack on Gaza in October 2023, in which as many as 186,000 Palestinians have been killed, according to an estimate published in The Lancet in July 2024. Beyond the federal dollars funding the ongoing attack on Gaza, there are also investments made on the state and municipal levels to support Israel’s violence against Palestinians. “The ethnic cleansing and horrors that we’re witnessing being carried out by the Israeli government are deeply entangled in material support from the United States, and that happens on multiple levels,” says Jay Saper, an organizer with Jewish Voice for Peace (JVP) in New York City.

Hundreds Converge For 44th Annual Earth First! Gathering

August 16, 2024 Sean Summers, Unicorn Riot. , , ,
Walking up the path to the Kirkridge Retreat Center outside Bangor, Pennsylvania in early July, you may have sensed something was afoot. Cars with license plates from far-flung states lined the driveway and wild-haired twenty-somethings mingled with kids, tweens and adults in their 30s, 40s and beyond. A hand painted cardboard sign reading simply “EF!” would have directed you, with an arrow pointing to the activity. A blend of laughter, music, and fragments of conversations about climate catastrophe quickly sets the tone before you reach a folding table strewn with literature, hand sanitizer, masks and snacks. “Welcome,” a smiling volunteer would greet you. “Are you here for Earth First?”

Meat Packing Factory: “If We Unite As Workers, We Have The Power”

August 16, 2024 Isabela Escalona, Workday Magazine. , , , ,
Dina Velasquez Escalante is a poultry worker in southwest Minnesota. She spends her workdays inspecting the chicken millions of Americans eat every day. She looks for tumors, stray bones and organs, and removes bile. After six years of hard work and cultivating expertise on almost every position on the line, she’s now in the laboratory testing samples of poultry to ensure the highest quality. As a union steward with the United Food and Commercial Workers International Union (UFCW) Local 663 at Butterfield Foods in Butterfield, Minnesota, Escalante is also tasked with ensuring her fellow workers receive fair treatment and safety on the line.
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