Authors: Ryan S. and Ethan BF.

Whereas:

• As socialists, we understand the right to bodily autonomy is necessary for the transformative future we want to create and live in. The struggle for the survival and expansion of reproductive rights as well as the fight to achieve liberation for transgender people is of critical importance for both the working class and those forced into surplus populations by capitalism. 
• There are many material needs and social conditions that must be met in order for all people to claim and practice these rights. These material needs cannot be met solely through private donations and these conditions cannot be created through the goodwill of individuals alone. 
• The delegates to the 2023 National DSA Convention passed “Resolution #21: A Fighting Campaign for Reproductive Rights and Trans Liberation,” and this fall the DSA National Political Committee will plan this campaign with the intention to coordinate with local chapters.
• Our ideological and class enemies have brought the fight to restrict bodily autonomy and free movement to every arena that they can because they have the power and will to do so. We agree with our comrades who wrote Resolution #21 that these attacks “are intrinsically linked to the capitalist system and are led by reactionary sections in society, encouraged by the ruling class, and implemented through state power.” We must build up our oppositional power on every front that we can.
• While many other states in the past two years have enacted bans on reproductive and trans healthcare and services—including North Dakota, South Dakota, and Iowa—the state of Minnesota has enacted new protections for people seeking abortions and gender-affirming care in our state and rewritten several statutes to remove restrictions or limitations on the provision of abortions.
• It is our duty to take advantage of these current conditions, it is our obligation to ensure that DFL doesn’t stop working on these issues after their victories, and it is our dream that the provision of all forms of care will one day be universal and free.

Be it resolved that:

• Twin Cities DSA commits to fight to expand the provision of reproductive and gender-affirming healthcare and services for residents of Minnesota and those traveling here seeking care, including the removal of financial, logistical, and social barriers. 
• Twin Cities DSA commits to joining the national DSA campaign that will launch in 2024 and will begin making preparations for collaboration and participation.
• Twin Cities DSA will hold a series of chapter-wide strategy meetings and forums in order to discuss our goals and potential actions, to identify our allies and antagonists, and to determine the expertise and capacity of our members across all working groups and committees.
• Formations within Twin Cities DSA commit to promote this campaign within our existing relationships with labor groups, socialists in elected office, other DSA chapters in our region, and grassroots activist organizations. TCDSA will, as able, assist the development of a new coalition and network of supporters focused on bodily autonomy in order to build collective power and reach and express the urgency of our demands.

Supplements

2023 DSA National Resolution #21: A Fighting Campaign for Reproductive Rights and Trans Liberation

2022 YDSA Resolution #14: For Abortion Rights, Bodily Autonomy, and Socialist Trans Liberation

Authors: Shane M, Brooke B, Sean M

Whereas, our chapter has grown in both membership and power over the last few years.

Whereas, our capacity and structures have not always been able to keep up with this growth.

Whereas, investment in our internal organizing capacities will be necessary to sustainably activate and mobilize both our inactive membership and new members.

Whereas, asynchronous communication on a single shared platform such as Slack would allow for more transparency and democratic participation by members, and effective moderation is essential for ease of use, security, and inclusivity.

Whereas, decisions and conversations among leadership are not always clear or visible to the wider chapter membership.

Whereas, our current electoral and labor strategies and structures have proven successful and well invested in, and dedicating resources to other key campaign opportunities as well can help grow our membership and organizational power, and connect TCDSA with a broader base of multiracial working class community members.

Whereas, climate change is the most significant crisis of our time, requires a concerted effort to address locally and globally, and provides an avenue for organizing that overlaps with key areas of interest such as labor, electoral, housing, transportation, public safety, health justice, racial justice, indigenous sovereignty, political education, land use, feminism, and general anti-capitalist struggle.

Therefore, our chapter will make our internal organizing committee a priority, will task and support the committee with efforts to connect with and activate our members for the many struggles to come in 2024, will task and support the committee with streamlining our onboarding processes to connect new members with ongoing chapter projects and campaigns, and will task and support the committee with devising strategies and programs to develop leaders and reduce member burnout.

Therefore, we will re-commit our 3 At Large Steering Committee roles to supporting the Internal Organizing Committee per the bylaws.

Therefore, the chapter Slack will be prioritized as the main communications platform, and use of Signal will be deprioritized and reserved for more sensitive communications. Moderation strategies of the chapter Slack will be developed and implemented by the chapter Techops committee.

Therefore, to increase Steering Committee transparency, discussions and communications surrounding chapter business in between steering committee meetings will be made in the Steering Committee Slack channel instead of on private channels such as signal (barring conversations of a sensitive nature that put member information or privacy in jeopardy).

Therefore, announcements of upcoming Steering Committee meetings will be made in a timely manner, no less than 48 hours beforehand and member attendance at Steering Committee meetings and member input for Steering Committee agendas will be encouraged and sought by a call for agenda items and a posting of the tentative agenda in advance of the meeting. Therefore, notes from Steering Committee meetings will be finalized and posted to the Chapter Wiki no more than 48 hours following a Steering Committee meeting.

Therefore, we will continue with our current successful electoral and labor strategies and will align our current electoral and labor strategies with passed National Convention Resolutions “National Electoral Committee 2023 Consensus Resolution” as amended and “National Labor Commission 2023 Consensus Resolution” as amended.

Therefore, we will prioritize and invest in a Holistic Housing First Campaign composed of support of Tenant Organizing, support for the Gertrude Brown Community Land Trust campaign underway by the chapter Street Corps Working Group, and support for electoral policies centered on placing a moratorium on encampment sweeps, disempowering large landlord companies, rent control, and supporting pathways to public housing and tenant ownership of housing. Work will align with the passed “Housing Justice Commission 2023 Consensus Resolution” passed at the National Convention.

Therefore, our chapter will prioritize the ongoing work of the Environmental Justice Working Group, centered around shutting down the HERC, and the Twin Cities Boulevard (Re-Imagining I-94), as well as deepening existing solidarity with East Phillips, involving campaigns which aim to reduce pollution, rectify historical and present environmental racism, and allow us to collaborate with local communities that are most impacted and marginalized to cooperatively improve their material conditions while reducing the Twin Cities’ overall impact on climate change.

Author: David A

Moving towards collective ownership and decommodification of housing; housing as a human right

Whereas: housing and land ownership are critical sites of class struggle. The Twin Cities has a housing crisis where thousands are unhoused and tens of thousands more are in fear of losing housing, while many tens of thousands more are in dangerous and unsafe substandard housing. While many Americans own their own homes, the vast majority of urban and rural land is owned by very few. Financialization of housing by the likes of Vanguard, Blackrock and Black Stone has allowed rent seekers in the owning and even middle class to extract wealth from our neighbors, friends, and selves. 

Whereas: more workers face the housing crisis together and in the same way than many other critical material issues, making it a valuable and critical site for organizing.

Whereas: one of the greatest threats the ruling class brings to bear on all of us is “if you don’t work hard enough, pay your debts, be the model worker, we’ll make you homeless;” many thousands of Twin Cities residents struggle to access or find new housing thanks to credit scores, current incomes, old convictions, housing discrimination, and generational and racial wealth gaps, making this threat even more dire for a large portion of Twin Cities workers.

Whereas: all people deserve safe, stable, beautiful housing. All people deserve access to commons and direction and democratic governance rights in their living area and surroundings. 

Whereas: facing unfolding climate catastrophe, securing land and housing and strong housing rights for working people is a meaningful way to do long term harm mitigation and better prepare us to absorb future waves of climate or social issue refugees and internally displaced persons

Whereas: when given good options, all people would prefer clean, safe, beautiful, locally owned and directed housing to rent-seeker, slumlord, or private-equity controlled housing. 

Whereas: a broad coalition passed strong rent control in St. Paul in 2021 and city council went directly against the will of the voters leaving the policy gutted. Effective decommodifying policies need a strong base of activated renters and workers behind them. 

Whereas: rent control and a right to housing, land, and the commons is a rhetorical shift that moved thousands towards socialism, away from the cruel implicit US agreement that profits for private owners come before anyone’s right to personal security or property. 

Whereas: TCDSA members and other activists have made strides across the metro in tenant organizing

Be it resolved: TCDSA members and allied tenant leaders will engage in a series of Emergency Tenant Organizing Committee cohorts to build tenant organizing skills in the Twin Cities. Together we will work towards a goal of four or more organizing committees at rental buildings across the Twin Cities metro. Simultaneously, DSA members will continue to be active in our neighborhood organizations and local nonprofits to push meaningful decommodifying steps and facilitate more and greater tenant-driven, tenant-centric, base-building and organizing. DSA members will also work to intersect and build solidarity between local houseless organizing efforts underway by our chapter such as the Gertrude Brown Community Land Trust effort with tenant organizing efforts, in order to build the largest possible coalition of housing conscious community members to fight for the right to housing in the Twin Cities. Through this work we will build a stronger base of multiracial working class socialists, and stand in solidarity as an organization with our many immigrant neighbors and neighbors of color.

The long term goal will be to create a metro-wide tenants union with the power to vie for tenants’ rights and meaningful rights to exceptional, deeply affordable public and social housing for all. We also will work with our DSA legislators to shift public spending towards public and socially owned, democratically controlled, permanently affordable housing, and away from the toxic, corporatist public-private partnerships with bad actors like Dominium. We will develop capacity to self-govern land and housing for the long term goal of shifting land ownership broadly to the people, away from private rent-seeking landlords and private equity firms. The long term goal is a Twin Cities where everyone is housed, everyone has freedom of choice in exceptional cooperative, social, and publicly owned housing and the private market is forced to provide exceptional, safe, affordable housing to compete with the wonderful socialist options available. 

Original Author: Kip H

Amendment Author: Sam G

Whereas Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America (TCDSA) has grown in size, stature, and visibility due to our commitment to focus our “big tent’s” limited resources on the Roof Depot Fight, Rent Control, union and union organizing fights and class struggle electoral campaigns – highly visible, and winnable, grassroots anti-capitalist campaigns with significant social forces involved. Our efforts have been aimed at building our multiracial working-class base while also strengthening working-class power across the metro and connecting otherwise relatively disconnected working-class movements in unions, housing, and environmental justice movements. We’ve concentrated on increasing our engagement with workers seeking to form unions and with rank and file union members to help all of them recognize, develop, and begin reclaiming their power. We’ve created infrastructure to bring in and support working-class folks by focusing on renters and rent control.  And we’ve deliberately built coalitions with working-class folks who are most impacted by climate change in the fight for environmental justice. 

Whereas – Twin Cities Democratic Socialists of America (TCDSA) comrades are fully engaged with a surging workers movement in the Twin Cities. In 2023, TCDSA comrades were in the middle of the UPS contract fight and the fight to unionize grad students at the U of M. We are playing an important part in advancing the movement toward a huge multi-industry strike and contract compression in 2024. We are helping to lead organizing efforts at Amazon, Delta Air Lines, Starbucks, the restaurant and brewery industry, and more. As socialists, we know that multiracial working-class leaders must lead the charge in our local and global challenge to capital. We are slowly but surely turning our organization’s focus toward the places where we meet these leaders and invite them into our ranks. This base-building has been our principal focus this past year, and it must continue.

Whereas – In the past year, by being focused and disciplined in our approach, TCDSA has risen dramatically in visibility and stature. We stand on the threshold of electing 5 TCDSA-endorsed candidates to the Minneapolis City Council (possibly as part of a progressive majority) and two  in St. Paul. Our state delegation has operated effectively to help pass a number of important laws, including those that complement our efforts in the labor and base building movements. We have established better communications channels with electeds to connect them fully with the fights on the ground. We were an integral part of an important victory at the Roof Depot. And while rent control did not pass in Minneapolis and was rolled back in St. Paul, we are well positioned to be a central part of a successful fight in 2024. The number of people following our social media has increased over 100% over this past year. Our internal organizing committee has been a source of strength for the chapter. We are on the brink of signing a lease for a new space.

Whereas – The coming year, 2024, will be an intense and action-packed year with escalated political conflict. Fascists will be emboldened because of the Trump presidential campaign leading to an explosive political situation in the U.S. Attacks on abortion rights, trans rights, immigrants, people of color, working class people and other marginalized and targeted identities will increase as the right attempts to dehumanize and isolate ever increasing numbers of human beings. The Biden campaign will provide no answers for working people. In fact, Biden and the Democratic Party will use all of their force to tamp down social movements and push working people into their Democratic Party electoral campaigns. Their neo-liberal approach will diffuse the working class’ ability to fight the bosses and fascists. Those who question Biden and the Democratic Party will be accused of supporting fascists and may be attacked by centrists and the mainstream left.  

Whereas at the 2023 DSA National Convention, delegates voted to authorize a national priority campaign to align with the 2024 presidential election that would emphasize the importance of both defending democracy and protecting civil rights from the Republican party, while also emphasizing our political independence from the centrists in the Democratic Party whose messaging and tactics are insufficient in addressing the threat of the emboldened far-right and ultimately only serve to benefit the ruling class.

Whereas – In the Twin Cities, the ruling class has noticed that we are picking fights with them and winning. Our narrative is popular with workers; the ruling class’ storyline is not. They are on their back foot with one move after another, but by no means defeated. This means they are exerting and will continue to exert ever-increasing pressure to crack us, discredit us or force us into serious errors. We saw this in the Roof Depot fight, with the ruling class trying to portray Indigenous and other activists as terrorists. We saw it with the Star Tribune attacks on TCDSA, and with All of Minneapolis many emails about dark money socialist donors.

Therefore – We must increase the number of workers, especially workers of color, who are members of TCDSA. Central to our long term success is daily contact and political work with workers on the job. There is no more important task than this for our chapter. Because of their direct relationship in opposition to capital and with very few ties to ruling class institutions, workers must be the leading force of social, economic and political movements against the ruling class. We can do this by recruiting more working class leaders who we meet as we engage in common fights with them. We can also do this by encouraging TCDSA and YDSA members who do not currently have union jobs or who are not engaged in an organizing drive to seek employment at sites where they can be union members or future union members. Our goal is to be part of building class struggle leadership teams at workplaces. That means we must have functioning working groups where we have clusters of members who can strategize together based on their workplace or sector. Building more presence at Amazon, Delta and other union drives will be key as well. All of our other good work will mean nothing if we do not have a strong base in the rank and file of the unions and working class in general. We will lose our political bearings over time without this connection.

Therefore – The 2024 contract compression will be a major area of class conflict. There may be thousands of workers on strike this spring and those workers will be consciously linking broad social demands to their own workplace and contract fights. This represents a qualitative leap forward for the union movement in the Twin Cities. Much of the chapter’s work should center around this. Concretely that means that our union working groups should be exploring every avenue to build solidarity with the unions that are on strike or involved in the action. Where we are members of those unions, we should be centrally involved. We can provide important mutual aid to this in the form of strike kitchens, marshaling and helping to raise money. Our members who are not in unions can help build community support, fundraise and attend actions related to 2024.

Therefore – We should continue to give strong support to our TCDSA endorsed City Council candidates to ensure all are re-elected or elected in 2023. We must continue to build our relationships with TCDSA electeds at all levels. Our electoral work can be an important area of our engagement as long as it serves building power for working class people, acts as a megaphone for building a new world and serves as a vehicle for reaching ever-increasing numbers of workers who are straining under the weight of capitalism. While some of our comrades may campaign for Biden, TCDSA’s messaging will center political independence through messaging in alignment with a national campaign on defending democracy subject to a national member-wide vote of approval. This campaign will put forward a positive democratic socialist program and provide critiques of both the right and centrist Democrats. Ahead of the vote, TCDSA members will be encouraged to engage in vociferous debate on the merits of the campaign. If the campaign is approved by the national member-wide vote, TCDSA will use the messaging of the national campaign to guide our external messaging on the 2024 election. If approved, TCDSA shall encourage our endorsed members in office to align with our messaging, while allowing for flexibility out of consideration for our chapter’s big tent.

Therefore – having an orientation to housing struggles, like rent control and tenant organizing will be key to creating deeper roots in working class communities and base building among those workers. Our rent control work can impact our tenant organizing and vice versa. Tenant organizing gives us another point of visibility and daily contact with the working class and brings us an opportunity for base building. Focusing on large landlords like Dominium will allow us to exert maximum pressure on the developer/landlord class and also deepen our connection to workers who rent and therefore are interested in rent control. We already have a number of comrades involved in this work, especially in St. Paul. If this resolution is approved, we should immediately begin building out our tenant organizing to establish tenant committees and develop leadership at key buildings and in key neighborhoods across the metro. 

The housing crisis in the Twin Cities will be a political flash point in the coming year, expressing itself in the fight for rent control, fights over development and around encampments of unhoused neighbors. Mutual aid projects such as the Gertrude Brown Community Land Trust can be woven into the fight for humane treatment of these neighbors, but the bulk of our efforts must be around the fight against encampment evictions and building a comprehensive municipal program built around “housing first”. This will take a heavy lift. We must work with our socialist electeds to advance this.  

Therefore – We are coming off an important victory at the Roof Depot. Our ability to help intertwine a variety of tactics from union work to direct action to legislative to mutual aid was central to this win. We were able to work well with Indigenous working class leaders and form important bonds that did not exist before. We can now take the lessons and skills learned in that important battle and bring them into the fight against the Hennepin Energy Recovery Center (HERC) in the same thoughtful way we did with the Roof Depot. This is the next frontline fight for environmental justice and a Green future in the Twin Cities. The ruling class has its sights set on the natural resources of Minnesota; water, copper, nickel etc. Winning fights at the Roof Depot and the HERC allows us to build the muscle we will need to fight extractivism and capitalism’s exploitation of Minnesota and the Earth. Building strong bonds with Indigenous leaders will be key to our success. We must also keep our eye and hand on the struggle that will develop against Smith and Bituminous and Rethinking I-94. 

Therefore – This Fall we must begin work on a Solidarity School that trains and educates a much broader level of leadership in a class struggle framework. It is our expectation that under the blows of intensifying capitalist attacks on labor, even more harsh racist, militaristic policing, threat of war and effects of climate change many more working class people and youth will be radicalized and will head towards TCDSA. We must be ready to bring them in, train them and ready them for the big political battles that are already unfolding and will continue to unfold. We must also train our current members in organizing techniques,  working class history, the solidarity method, and resisting elite capture. Combined with engagement in actual struggle, this will provide us with the leadership team we will need to take the ruling class on. Connected to this is a robust internal organizing effort that pays attention to recruitment, integration, retention and political education. 

Therefore – We must fully develop our Solidarity Culture. This means that disagreements and debate are a healthy part of our organization. In fact, the only way we can arrive at reasonable conclusions is through full discussion. Our debates must be respectful. We must practice active listening and be open to changing our minds. Our comradeship, common commitment to changing the world and implacable opposition to capitalist exploitation must be our starting point. The key to our success is building a strong team leadership. When more severe and personal conflicts arise, which they inevitably will, we need to have a strong grievance committee and conflict resolution structure. This is an essential part of shifting our culture. We have already begun (long overdue) to develop that structure, and commit to codifying and enacting a transitional version of a Conflict and Grievance Process and Committee in 2024 as a starting place. 

Therefore – Abortion rights are not currently under assault in Minnesota. While our trans and queer comrades still experience structural and interpersonal discrimination and violence, trans rights are not under attack in the same way as in states like Florida. We are a sanctuary state and that will present opportunities to help defend trans rights and abortion rights. Some comrades are working toward establishing a working group that specifically aids trans DSA comrades who come as political refugees from Red States. We should take an affirmative attitude toward this and keep a close eye on this and be looking for ways to join fights of broader forces at the first opportunity.   

Therefore – Mutual aid is an important part of building working class power for enhancing our class’ ability to fight the boss, the landlord or the state. It is a tool in service of class struggle. An example might be building infrastructure to support a strike kitchen for the 2024 contract compression. Another example might be having a brake light clinic in a neighborhood where we are fighting against the HERC as a way of engaging in discussions around the issue. We also want to expand the number of comrades who are trained and able to participate in marshaling and other defense activities, especially with the likelihood of fascist attacks in 2024. The work of the Street Corps Working Group must intersect mutual aid and community defense efforts with chapter priorities, ensure efforts go beyond charity, and ensure their projects build working class power.

Therefore – while is not a chapter priority, building our ties with socialists and revolutionaries in other countries is something we must always encourage and take an affirmative attitude toward. We have comrades in our chapter who have considerable international connections and we should take advantage of that where we can.

Author: Samuel D

Whereas, Twin Cities DSA is not a political party but an independent political organization; and

Whereas, the 2022 TCDSA annual convention passed a resolution (Resolution 3 – On the direction for the future of TCDSA) which clarified the chapter’s political goals, including in the electoral sphere, emphasizing “[e]ndorsing candidates who will be accountable to TCDSA… who will be building the socialist project and not dragging us toward the left wing of the DFL”; and

Whereas, the 2023 DSA national convention passed a resolution (Consensus Resolution #6, as amended) which commits to making electoral politics a priority for the next two years, continuing its approach of “tactically contesting partisan elections on the Democratic ballot line and other lines where viable,” and “strengthen[ing] our already existing organization independence from the Democratic Party” while recognizing that not all left-wing and labor coalition partners embrace the DSA’s party-like project; and

Whereas, the Farmer-Labor Party was an explicitly democratic socialist party, it was the most successful third party in U.S. history, and its successor Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL) Party retains many of the grassroots democratic governance structures of the FL, including the precinct caucus; and

Whereas, For many socialists in Minnesota, their political home is in the DFL, and they are endeavoring to bring to the fight for socialism directly to the party and not leave this arena uncontested; and

Whereas, DFL delegate roles require a limited time commitment yet hold a lot of power; and

Whereas, DSA members across multiple chapters have a winning record supporting democratic socialist candidates in DFL endorsement conventions and/or blocking the party’s endorsement of opposing candidates; and

Whereas, DFL precinct caucuses and conventions are an opportunity to recruit unorganized leftist Democrats across the state into DSA; and

Whereas, base Democratic party and independent voters are in search of a political alternative, specifically a populist and coherent political agenda that addresses the economic and social alienation of the neoliberal capitalist economic order, and a majority these voters support socialist policies even if they reject socialism as a political identity; and 

Whereas, DSA provides this political alternative: the table is set to heighten and expose the contradictions within the Democratic party, flex the popular support of DSA’s political agenda, and earn the trust and loyalty of a disaffected constituency by literally meeting them where they are; and

Whereas, Irrespective of divergent approaches to the Democratic Party (such as realignment, dirty break, clean break, etc.), exercising power in the existing political party structure serves the short-term electoral objectives of TCDSA and also develops the experience and analysis to hone the long-term objectives and strategy of DSA vis a vis the capitalist two-party system; Therefore, be it

Resolved, That TCDSA encourages its members to participate in the Minnesota DFL Party’s precinct caucuses on Tuesday, February 27, 2024; and be it further

Resolved, That in the course of caucus participation, members are encouraged to:

• Run for delegate positions to support candidates endorsed by TCDSA
• Vote for fellow socialists and aligned progressives to elected positions such as delegates, committee members, and party leadership
• Form Democratic Socialist subcaucuses where viable and vote en bloc in pursuit of strategic goals, such as to block party endorsement of candidates antagonistic to pro-working class policies
• Identify two or more socialist DFLers at their precinct caucus who are not TCDSA members and invite them to get involved with the chapter
• Consider selectively running for roles in the DFL which will support socialist and labor organizing goals but will not detract from or compete with building DSA; and be it further

Resolved, That TCDSA expects its 2024 endorsed candidates running on the DFL ballot line to encourage their supporters to strategically engage in the DFL caucus/convention process as listed above in pursuit of chapter and national DSA goals.

Author: Celeste R

Proposed amendment to Bylaw Section 7.

Section 7. Arbitration or Mediation

TCDSA shall maintain a Grievance Committee. If a conflict should arise within TCDSA between any members or entities, or between a TCDSA member or entity and a person or organization outside of TCDSA another member or entity, the Grievance Committee shall assess the conflict and provide recommendations to the parties, which may include a referral to an independent mediator.  that threatens to harm TCDSA or prevent it from accomplishing its aims, the Steering Committee is empowered to first attempt mediation between the parties. If the Steering Committee itself is one of the entities involved, or if it fails to mediate the conflict, it shall seek the services of an independent mediator to resolve the conflict.

DSA Conflict and Grievance Policy

Draft last updated: September 2nd, 2023

Note: This policy draws extensively off the previous process adopted by the chapter in 2019. The previous process represents an enormous and well-researched body of work and contains many valuable recommendations which are not currently within the capacity or scope of TCDSA. Members are encouraged to review the previous process, as well as any members creating future versions of conflict and grievance processes.

Core Values

1. Capitalism survives by dividing the working class. The systems of oppression that maintain capitalism push working class people towards conflict. As we work to dismantle capitalism and the systems of oppression that maintain it, we encounter these dynamics. 
2. Historical and personal trauma impacts all of us in different ways, and can manifest in our interpersonal relationships. 
3. Harmful acts can have a devastating, often traumatizing impact on victims. A common experience of survivors is feeling out of control, so a grievance process should give the victim control. People responding to a grievance should listen to a victim and respect their wishes. 
4. People who cause harm are not monsters. All people are capable of harming other people intentionally or inadvertently. We maintain this perspective while taking protective and corrective actions to prioritize meeting the needs of victims, survivors, and people who are harmed.
5. Grievance Committee members and chapter leadership have particular responsibility for approaching the challenges of conflict and grievance with a thoughtful, calm, and comradely approach. 
6. All members of TCDSA have a role in ensuring that every other member feels safe, and is safe, in the chapter. 
7. Education has the potential to help address the causes of conflict. All TCDSA members are encouraged to seek political education on topics including, but not limited to: Systems of oppression rooted in race, sex, and class; historical trauma, including the first harms (colonization and chattel slavery); trauma theory; mental health; foundations of healthy relationships; self-awareness and self-care; communication styles; restorative justice.

Policy Goals 

1. Provide a clear and transparent set of standards and processes that TCDSA members as well as the public can refer to. 
2. Provide members with resources to de-escalate tension and resolve small conflicts before they grow.
3. Have a standardized, transparent set of actions that members can use in cases of grievance and/or conflict. 
4. Reduce state intervention in conflict. 
5. Use restorative rather than punitive models of addressing conflict and violence.
6. Define TCDSA’s role in restorative justice and conflict mediation within realistic capacity and scope. 
7. Establish a functioning TCDSA Grievance Committee that can grow and develop.
8. Act as a guiding document for the Grievance Committee.

Scope of the Policy

1. The Conflict and Grievance Policy is the guiding document for the Grievance Committee. The Grievance Committee is the body responsible for implementing the Grievance Policy. 
2. The Conflict and Grievance Policy includes two major sections: policies related to conflict internal to TCDSA (amongst members, leaders, work groups, and/or branches) and policies related to conflict external to TCDSA (conflict within adjacent organizations or between TCDSA members/bodies and external organizations).
3. The conflict and grievance process is not designed to address harms that relate solely to the personal lives of TCDSA members and do not impact the work of TCDSA as an organization.
4. Restorative justice processes and conflict mediation are specialized skills. Some conflicts and grievances are best handled by referrals to professional and/or highly experienced restorative justice practitioners, conflict mediators, mental health professionals, or other experts. 

Grievance Committee

1. The Grievance Committee consists of one chair and four members. The Grievance Committee is elected every year at the same time and uses the same processes as chapter leadership. 
2. Grievance Committee members will serve for one-year terms with no limit in the number of terms. 
3. If a Grievance Committee member is a party in a conflict or grievance, they will recuse themself from any consideration of that issue as described in the process. 
4. The Grievance Committee will maintain total confidentiality related to every part of a conflict or grievance, except as authorized specifically by the person bringing forward the conflict or grievance as described in the process. 
5. The Grievance Committee will keep internal notes. To respect confidentiality, these notes will not be available on Slack or wiki. 
6. The Grievance Committee may give updates to the Steering Committee in closed sessions or open sessions as necessary. Either party may request that the Grievance Committee present to the Steering Committee. 
7. Any TCDSA member may petition the Steering Committee for the removal of a Grievance Committee member. When such a petition is received, the Steering Committee and the Grievance Committee will have a joint meeting within one month and hold a vote on whether or not to remove the Grievance Committee member. A petition to remove a Grievance Committee member requires two-thirds of the combined Steering Committee and Grievance Committee. The vote will be included in Steering Committee minutes available to chapter members, and the member petitioner will be immediately notified of the outcome by a member of the Steering Committee or Grievance Committee. 
8. The Recording Secretary maintains an up-to-date list of Grievance Committee members and their status, which must be available to the membership at all times. The list must also contain at least one way to contact each member (Slack, email, phone, etc).

Process

1. Get it to the Grievance Committee. The Grievance Committee is the body responsible for implementing the Conflict and Grievance Policy. Using a centralized and standardized approach helps promote parity and build infrastructure that can be evaluated and developed over time.
   
   A person who experiences harm or is involved in conflict can:
   • Send a direct message to any Grievance Committee member on Slack. 
   • Post in the Grievance Committee Slack channel requesting a meeting.
   • Send a direct message to any member of the Steering Committee, who will bring it to the Grievance Committee.

 
A member bringing forward a conflict or grievance may specify if there are members of the Grievance Committee who they would like to be recused from discussion of their matter. Such requests will be respected.

Members who experience conflict, grievance, or interpersonal tension are encouraged to bring such concerns to the Grievance Committee as soon as possible to maximize the chance of de-escalating a conflict before it grows.

A person who is not experiencing harm or involved in conflict themselves but has observed conflict occurring or suspects conflict may be occuring may also reach out to the Grievance Committee. Members are encouraged to exercise extreme discretion before taking any actions regarding matters they are not personally involved in.

If a member of the Grievance Committee is made aware of a possible conflict or grievance, they should reach out to people who may have been victims to identify whether or not the TCDSA grievance process is an appropriate next step.

2. The Grievance Committee confirms the scope of the issue in writing. Miscommunication or lack of communication is the basis of many conflicts or conflict escalations. Before taking any action, the Grievance Committee will present a written statement to the person who brought forward the conflict or grievance summarizing information such as:
   • The nature of the conflict, grievance, or concern.
   • Basic context for understanding the issue. 
   • The goals or wishes of the person bringing the issue forward. 
   • Who the Grievance Committee is or is not authorized to speak with about the matter and any other needs around confidentiality or discretion. 
   • Any relevant factors that could impact the timeline for the Grievance Committee’s work. 

The person bringing forward the conflict or grievance must approve that the written summary is accurate before the Grievance Committee can proceed.

3. The Grievance Committee meets to assess the situation. The meeting should happen within the timeline parameters in the written summary. The Grievance Committee will:
   • Review the summary of the conflict or grievance. 
   • Take time for immediate processing, clarification, and emotional grounding. 
   • Discuss any necessary recusals for a member of the Grievance Committee who is a party in the conflict or grievance, or feels unable to be part of handling a conflict or grievance.
   • Identify if the conflict is an internal or external conflict. 
   • Refer to the Internal Conflict Policies and External Conflict Policies. 
   • Invite other TCDSA members into confidential conversations. 
   • Discuss the matter and come up with a written set of recommendations. This may take multiple meetings. 
4. The Grievance Committee and the person who brought forward the conflict or grievance will agree on a plan.
   • The Grievance Committee sends the written recommendations to the person who brought the conflict or grievance forward. 
   • The Grievance Committee will set up a meeting with the person who brought the conflict or grievance forward to discuss the recommendations. 
   • The person who brought the conflict or grievance forward and the Grievance Committee will work together on a written plan that outlines the steps that will be taken. This may take multiple meetings. Other relevant individuals may join these conversations pending the consent of both the Grievance Committee and the person who brought the conflict or grievance forward. 
   • The Grievance Committee will vote on the plan. The plan must receive support from 3 of the 5 members of the Grievance Committee as well as from the person who brought the conflict or grievance forward. 
   • In extreme cases, the Grievance Committee may decide to take steps that the person bringing forward the conflict or grievance does not want if they believe it is necessary to ensure the safety of the chapter. The Grievance Committee must have a written explanation for any such actions that is available to the person who brought forward the conflict or grievance. The Grievance Committee should use extreme discretion in taking any actions without the consent of the person bringing forward the conflict or grievance. 
5. The Grievance Committee will support the completion of the plan.
   • The Grievance Committee will set regular check-in meetings with the person who brought the conflict or grievance forward to assess the completion of the plan. 
   • The Grievance Committee can offer all possible logistical or emotional support that is helpful to complete the action items. 
   • The Grievance Committee is encouraged to use due diligence and patience, and move the issue towards closure as quickly as is reasonable and useful.
6. Once the plan is complete or moving in a satisfactory direction, the matter can be closed.
   • Closing the matter requires support from 3 of the 5 members of the Grievance Committee as well as from the person who brought the conflict or grievance forward. 

External Conflict Policies

1. TCDSA does not litigate or investigate disputes regarding sexual harassment, labor violations, or other forms of conflict in external organizations.
2. In the case of active worker- or survivor-led boycotts, protests, actions, or other organized responses, TCDSA will follow the demands of the workers or victims provided they align with Democratic Socialist values. This could include supporting and amplifying organized actions like demands letters, informational pickets, strikes, and petitions. 
3. TCDSA cannot substitute itself for a clear or current demand from workers or survivors. “Call-outs” or other communications that exist to spread information without a clear and organized demand can be used for internal assessment or awareness, but will not be publicly shared on TCDSA platforms.
4. If there is not a clear or current demand from workers or survivors but significant concerns still exist, TCDSA will continue to engage with the organization while maintaining a healthy distance by:
5. Not accepting direct financial donations.
6. Not holding joint events.
7. Not extending invitations to speak at general meetings.
8. Not sharing social media from the individual or organization accused of causing harm. 

Internal Conflict Policies

1. The Grievance Committee recommends actions that prioritize the safety and wellbeing of victims, survivors, and people who have been hurt. 
2. If there is any physical danger to anyone, the Grievance Committee recommends any necessary steps to mitigate that danger. 
3. If there is any danger to TCDSA data, account access, or finances, the Grievance Committee recommends any necessary steps to mitigate that danger. 
4. The Grievance Committee does not litigate or investigate accusations, rather focuses on ensuring the safety and wellbeing of people who have been harmed or are involved in conflict. 
5. Actions that can be helpful towards promoting safety include, but are not limited to:
   • Identifying supportive spaces or resources inside or outside of TCDSA, such as support groups or affinity groups.
   • Establishing a boundary by mutual agreement, such as not attending the same meetings or only communicating about TCDSA-related work. 
   • Removing a TCDSA member from a particular branch or work group.
   • Removing a TCDSA member from a position of leadership, calling a special election and/or appointing an interim leader.
   • Revoking membership. In this case, the Grievance Committee will notify the Steering Committee, and then DSA’s national office. The party whose membership was revoked can appeal the revocation by contacting the national office as per Resolution 33, section 3b: Appeals process in DSA’s National Expulsion and Appeals Procedure.
   • Referral to professionals such as domestic abuse advocates, safety planning experts, etc.
6. Actions that can be helpful towards promoting wellbeing and conflict de-escalation overall include, but are not limited to:
   • Obtaining therapy or mental health resources for impacted people. 
   • Identifying supportive spaces or resources inside or outside of TCDSA, such as support groups or affinity groups.
   • Education on topics like sexism, racism, and other systems of oppression and how they manifest. 
   • Contracting with a restorative justice practitioner.

Author: Amelia M

a. The Co-chairs shall be the chief executives of the TCDSA and shall serve as spokespersons when one is required. Co-chair responsibilities include:

Drafting agendas for Steering Committee and chapter meetings, with input from Steering Committee members

Facilitating Steering Committee and chapter meetings

Approving contents of the chapter newsletter before each edition is sent, or delegating to other Steering Committee members

b. No more than one co-chair may be a cisgender male man at any given time.

Section 8. Members at Large (three)

a. The three Members at Large shall represent the views of all members (at-large) on the Steering Committee. Member-at-Large responsibilities include:

Scheduling chapter meetings, with assistance and input from the Steering Committee and Tech-Ops Committee

Working with Steering Committee to plan, give notice of, and set up chapter meetings

In the lead time before chapter meetings, facilitating ride-sharing and working to enhance turnout to the meetings

Participation on (chairing optionally) the Internal Organizing Committee, or convening an Internal Organizing Working Group if the Internal Organizing Committee does not exist

Sharing joint responsibility with the Member Data Coordinator of the lists of current members

At general membership meetings, as part of the initial business on every agenda, the chairs will introduce the Members at Large and give out their contact information so that members will know whom to contact if they need representation or want to give feedback. Members at Large may optionally make a report at the membership meeting but are not required to do so as other officers.

b. At least one Member at Large must not be a cisgender male man at any given time.

c. All Members at Large will serve as representatives of the interests of the entire membership body, with a special duty to represent any minority or marginalized groups within the membership.
Section 7. Political Education Committee a. The Political Education Committee shall have three (3) co-facilitators, with no more than one identifying as cisgender white male man.

Authors: Revmira B, Tim J, Mara K

Rationale 

Whereas: DSA is a big tent, multi-tendency organization where members hold political beliefs across a wide left spectrum

Whereas: the national convention is the highest decision-making body of DSA and should reflect the many tendencies of its members

Whereas: proportional voting methods will ensure that the varied tendencies of a voting body will be represented in elected bodies, while approval voting methods can elect large slates with a plurality and deny representation of other tendencies

Therefore be it resolved: future delegate elections to the national convention must be conducted using a proportional voting method such as Scottish Single Transferable Vote (STV).

Bylaw Change

Item IV. Delegates to DSA National Conventions

Section 1. Nomination and election of delegates

TCDSA shall hold an election for delegates to each National Convention called by DSA. Nominations will be made in the same manner as nominations for officers. Voting will take place at a Regular Membership meeting. Delegate elections will be conducted using a proportional voting method, such as Scottish Single Transferable Vote (STV). 

Co-sign this proposal here.

Co-signed by 2023 DSA Convention delegates: 

Michael W

Bol B

Ari G-S

Brooke B

Samuel D

Austin B

Josh K

Tim J

Mara K

Revmira B