IN THE SPOTLIGHT
SEIU Local 105 Kaiser Permanente Workers in Denver Prepare for an Impending Strike!
Part of a larger coalition of unions representing more than 80,000 Kaiser hospital workers has authorized a walkout that would begin in October.
Learn how to support your local healthcare professionals by getting in contact with the healthcare committee!
Denver DSA Activities and Events by Committee:
ECO-SOCIALISM
- Ecosoc passed resolutions endorsing the Ecosocialist Green New Deal to make climate and environmental justice chapter priorities.
- We will also be hosting a social hike on Sunday, September 15th. Check Slack or email ecosocialist.committee@denverdsa.org to get involved!
- Join our September meeting (9/28 at 2pm at the Decker Library Branch, Basement Meeting Room) for a workshop on committee priorities and campaigns.
ELECTORAL
- Our committee’s mission is to get democratic socialists elected to office and in June we did just that. We knocked over 7000 doors, raised over $6000 to play an integral role in getting Candi CdeBaca elected to Denver City Council D9. She landed in a runoff with incumbent, Albus Brooks, and won despite his hundreds of thousands of dollars from developers. Since taking office Candi has consistently discussed socialism in the media, given DSA credit for the work we did for her and even convinced city council to cancel contracts with private prison contractors (see above).
- November 2019 Election Endorsements:
- Julie Banuelos (Denver Schoolboard District 5)
- DSA members Radhika Nath (Denver Schoolboard District 1)
- Juan Marcano (Aurora City Council Ward 4).
Members of our chapter will be knocking doors, calling voters and writing postcards for our endorsed candidates every week in order to get them elected in November. If you’d like to get involved contact electoral.committee@denverdsa.org, or donate at the following websites if you are unable to volunteer:
Our next meeting is at Whittier Cafe (1710 E 25th Ave) at 6:30pm on September 12th. No previous electoral politics experience or knowledge is required, we are always happy to answer questions! If you’re new to electoral politics (or just the committee), if you’d like to get involved before the meeting or if you can’t make the meeting please feel free to contact the committee at the email address above and we can set up a time to chat!
HEALTHCARE
- SEIU Kaiser Permanente Strike (see above). If you want to get involved in strike support, attend this meeting on 9/18!
- Read about the recent lawsuit filed against UC Health to shed light on their profit seeking business model and the conflict of interest that exists with the co-owner of the Colorado Rockies Richard Monfort, who is also the chairman of the board of UC Health.
LABOR
- SEIU Kaiser Permanente Strike (see above). If you want to get involved in strike support, attend this meeting on 9/18!
- Are you working two or three gigs just to make rent? Do you never get paid on time? Are you frustrated that you don’t have a voice at work? You’re not alone.
Join Denver DSA this fall for “Scare the Boss,” a Halloween-themed workplace organizing bootcamp. We will be teaching how to have a complete organizing conversation, focusing on skills including agitation, storytelling, and inoculation, with some spooky fun thrown in.
Lunch will be served. The workshop is free, with a suggested donation of $5-10.
MUTUAL AID
- This summer, Mutual Aid worked to turn up the heat on Denver’s slumlords!
As a part of our Stomp Out Slumlords campaign, we continued our monthly eviction defense canvasses and began organizing tenants facing oppressive living conditions at a complex in Southeast Denver.
Over the course of four community meetings, tenants decided to create a petition to pressure management for change, and signature collection has begun! To support these efforts, DSA members have held nine canvasses, holding conversations with over 250 tenants. - If you’re interested in fighting for just housing in Denver, reach out to mutual.aid.committee@denverdsa.org!
POLITICAL EDUCATION
- Denver DSA’s new Marxism Reading Group will meet Thursday, September 19, at 8:30 – 10:30pm in the Tattered Cover Book Store (2526 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO 80206, USA)
- If interested in political education, please join the committee meetings on Sunday, September 22 from 7:00 – 9:00pm at King Center, 855 Lawrence Way, Denver, CO
SOCIALIST FEMINISM
Held our first Dish & Dish, an event where comrades can fellowship, break bread, and discuss socialist-feminist issues.
- Along with the Eco-Socialist Committee, Soc-Fem organized zero waste boxes for our chapter; these boxes include reusable plates, cups, bowls, and flatware.
- Continued our commitment to providing space for women, nonbinary, and trans folks to commiserate, fellowship, and organize within Denver DSA
- Began planning our support for the FAMLI Act – paid family and medical leave legislation that is crucial to improving the lives of working families in Colorado
- The Anti-oppression Reading Group will be discussing Silvia Federici’s Caliban and the Witch: Women, the Body, and Primitive Accumulation. If interested, meet us on Thursday, September 26 from 8:30 – 10:30pm at Tattered Cover Book Store 2526 E Colfax Ave, Denver, CO
TECH
Over the summer we’ve:
- Introduced a slack moderation working group to maintain the new guidelines
- Reorganized and consolidated some of the slack channels to better organize conversation
- Introduced a database manager website to maintain the childcare volunteer list
- Begun planning an office hours event for chapter members and coalition organizations to receive tech support
To get involved with Tech, contact info@denverdsa.org. To join slack, you can forward your membership receipt from national to that address as well.
Denver DSA 