Peter Lucas worked on the Zohran Mamdani campaign and is a member of Democratic Socialists of America in New York City.
This Pride Month, amid a wave of protests targeting LGBTQ-friendly brands, Starbucks workers say they’ve been asked to take down Pride decorations. Workers say it’s part of a larger trend of undermining and demoralizing baristas, who are unionizing nationwide.
Philadelphia voters head to the polls today. All eyes are on progressive mayoral challenger Helen Gym. But longtime union organizer Seth Anderson-Oberman is also part of a suite of left-wing challengers on the city council.
Howard Brown Health Center is well known as an LGBTQ-focused health provider and a stalwart Chicago progressive institution. Workers say that on the heels of their recent unionization, management is laying off 60 workers.
Students at over 50 schools across 30 states are walking out of class this week for abortion rights.
The Democratic Socialists of America ran more than a dozen candidates across three states in electoral primaries yesterday. Ten have proceeded to the general — a strong showing for an electoral project that many fear has been placed on the defensive.
Billionaire Howard Schultz returned as CEO of Starbucks to stop worker organizing in his company. But baristas at the New York City Reserve Roastery aren’t budging.
The Sacramento school district is pleading poverty in the face of demands for more student support and a pay raise to keep up with inflation. Teachers and school workers aren’t buying the district’s excuses — and now they’re on strike to change its priorities.
Roughly 350 non-tenure-track and adjunct professors at Howard University, one of the nation’s most important historically black universities, are demanding fairer compensation and better job security. If no agreement is reached by Wednesday, they’ll strike.
In a pro–Bernie Sanders district with a strong union presence, a son of immigrant street vendors seeks election to LA City Council. Hugo Soto-Martinez wants “to create a new society: a world with good union jobs, universal health care, and affordable housing.”
Over 10,000 John Deere workers have voted to authorize a strike, with 99 percent voting yes. “We are making these shareholders billions of dollars while we are fighting for peanuts.”
We should all cheer on strikes like the recently ended Hunts Point Teamsters walk off in the Bronx. But there’s no substitute for socialists actually showing up on the picket lines to provide tangible material support and engage with striking workers.
Zohran Mamdani, a Democratic Socialists of America–backed candidate for New York’s state assembly, has officially won his race. His campaign shows us what a serious socialist electoral bid looks like: class-conscious politics, an uncompromising program, and deep face-to-face organizing. There should be many more like it.