This article was written by a member of Metro DC DSA. Opinions expressed here do not reflect the views or opinion of the chapter, but that of the writer. The author is running on the Springs of Revolution slate for the DSA National Political Committee.
JUST AS A UNION carries out the core of its work on the shop floor and in local union halls, our DSA chapters contest power through local organizing. Our national organization is only as strong as our locals. Our national organization will itself become stronger as our locals grow into anchors of our communities. That principle motivated me to co-author a resolution to be considered next month at DSA’s national convention titled “Locals-First DSA: Increase Dues Income for Locals and Stabilize National Budget.” This resolution is a flagship component of the Springs of Revolution platform, which understands that the health of our chapters is critical to all DSA’s endeavors.
In Metro DC DSA, we have many powerful organizing projects that our active membership drives forward. We are proud to be building a regional Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee that can support nascent union organizing campaigns. Metro DC DSA’s Stomp Out Slumlords campaign is well known for its effective tenant organizing program. Our Abolition Working Group is a valued member of the local coalition fighting criminalization and is building deeper relationships with incarcerated comrades to organize together for systemic change. Our Palestine solidarity work is closely allied with boycott and divestment efforts in the region, and we are building our direct action muscles as we confront the politicians backing genocide in the heart of empire.
This local work is the primary focus of DSA members, and we do it with a sense of responsibility for our actions because we are a member-led political organization. We are largely self-sufficient. When we reach out to our national body, it is generally with a specific need we have articulated to ourselves based on our locally developed strategy.
If local DSA chapters have access to a greater share of our collective resources, we can more effectively build on the foundation of our local organizing. But today, locals receive an effective dues share of only 21%! This is out of step with many democratic unions and socialist parties; for example, the United Auto Workers sends 38% of dues to locals, the Communications Workers of America 60%, and Partido dos Trabalhadores in Brazil 85%. As DSA grows and pursues sustainability as a mass organization, it is vital that we equip chapters with the necessary resources to fulfill their potential and the incentives to expand our membership.
Rather than continually pushing chapters to do more local fundraising for basic operations, which takes time away from campaigns and membership recruitment, we should take a more balanced approach with our dues income. This would also enable chapters to focus more fundraising energy on mutual aid infrastructure in our communities, locally and globally.
With increased resources, chapters can advance socialist organization by making our work accessible, visible, and welcoming. As we point out in the resolution, “increased chapter funds allow chapters to launch tailored programs to increase member engagement and equity such as initiatives to provide transportation access (e.g., transit fee reimbursements), tech support, childcare, and professionally translated chapter resources.”
Metro DC DSA’s chapter formations envision many good uses for increased resources, but we haven’t had enough funds to have those discussions in practical terms. Even in a chapter as big as Metro DC DSA, we are not as ambitious as we could be if we had double the funds. For example, we don’t have an office space, which could help our chapter achieve greater visibility in the community and overall logistical effectiveness. We have some budget set aside for translation, but not enough. And we do not have childcare regularly at our meetings and events. These costs could quickly add up to our current annual income of about $55,000. Chapters around the country will relate to having just shy enough in reserves to take their organizing to the next level.
One member of our chapter has eloquently called on MDC DSA to orient our work more intentionally towards our working-class neighbors. We could realistically pursue this member-led plan of action if we had increased funds. With limited cash, there are limits to how many rent strikes you can assist with, how many interpreters and childcare co-ops you can hire, how many mass meetings you can host. These are mass movement imperatives that require mass movement resources.
To be clear, the Locals-First vision does not diminish the importance of national coordination and infrastructure. Our resolution does not anticipate staff cuts, and our financial model shows how we have designed the transition from 20% to 40% of dues going to locals over the course of two years and added an increased reserves requirement to ensure the organization is on financially solid ground. We value many aspects of our national organization — national staff who support compliance and finances, digital infrastructure and resources, nuts-and-bolts trainings for our members, potential to run national campaigns together, sharing of knowledge across chapters through national bodies and networks. The DSA national organization works at a larger scale and maximizes the power of our member-led organization. But as we grow, we must build a sustainable division of resources so chapters are less likely to blink in and out of existence and more able to plant their feet and invite in our neighbors. (We oppose the proposed amendment to this resolution, which undermines its intent by reducing the size of the increase in dues share to chapters and adds unnecessary new bureaucracy by directing some dues to statewide formations.)
Ultimately, for our national organization to be effective, we must take a bottom-up orientation to building DSA that powers our mass organizing across all facets of our work. Like stewards are among the most important positions in a union, we know that our local organizers are the key to our success, and our work should focus on equipping those organizers with the direct resources needed to carry forward our program through empowered locals. DSA chapters across the country are ready to take on this important work, and the Locals-First resolution will make that possible.
