For a number of years, members of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) have been debating our organization’s strategic orientation to the labor movement. Recently the Groundwork caucus newsletter Building Up published a series of articles titled “Laying the Groundwork for a Class Alignment Labor Strategy,” by Daniel C (Louisville DSA), Lyra (Chicago DSA), and Sumter A (Atlanta DSA). The Class Alignment Strategy is meant to be an avenue for building a “left-labor coalition affiliated with DSA” and to be a new way of doing labor work in DSA that moves beyond past expressions (such as the Rank-and-File Strategy passed at convention, the Partyist Labor Strategy of the Marxist Unity Group, and past orientations towards labor).
In a very brief summary, the authors propose the following for DSA’s labor work:
- DSA chapter labor committees should sort their members into “labor circles” by the sector they are employed in, unionized or not, and connect them to other workers nationally and locally. They should also coordinate with the Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) and DSA’s Workers Organizing Workers (WOW) program.
- DSA should have national rank-and-file networks for industries and organizing targets, with DSA members actively organizing in them, like the existing Amazon salting program.
- DSA union staffers and DSA union members should create “DSA sections” within their unions to make them “more militant, more democratic, and left-wing.” The “sections” would decide the best course for making this happen (reform caucus, socialist caucus, or supporting current leadership).
- DSA should support greater coordination between chapter and national labor and electoral structures (including the creation of Socialists in Labor committees akin to the Socialists in Office committees).
The DSA “sections” will organize not only to politicize their unions but also to win investments in new organizing, including encouraging unions to affiliate with EWOC for new organizing. “Already aligned unions” like UNITE HERE, the United Teachers Los Angeles (UTLA), and the Chicago Teachers Union (CTU) should be the first on board. The strategy also calls for creating “municipal left-labor blocs” where allied unions and DSA should cross-endorse candidates, support each other’s campaigns, organize for “transformative non-reformist reforms,” and coordinate with union leadership. All of this is but a very brief summary of a rather comprehensive platform for labor that should be given some credit.
Los Angeles as the “Model”
However, according to the authors, we need not stay in the realm of theory, for we have a fine example of the “Class Alignment Strategy” working in practice in our very own chapter in Los Angeles. The authors cite the chapter’s use of the UTLA offices (or “skyscraper,” as the authors call it) for so-called “leadership meetings” and the most prominent DSA socialists in office in Los Angeles being an organizer from UNITE HERE Local 11. In fact, they say, the collaboration between leadership and membership of DSA and in these unions is so strong that we often endorse the same candidates for office and work on the same campaigns as UTLA and UNITE HERE. To quote the authors, “Los Angeles’s DSA-UNITE HERE-UTLA alliance is a real-world example of a left-labor bloc rooted in the multiracial working class.”
The authors say that we also already have labor circles within our own labor committee, where workers are able to come together by industry and workshop how to organize in their unions/workplaces and as DSA members with common ideas. This might all sound amazing, if it were true.
DSA-LA does not constitute a sizable, influential part of the “left-labor bloc” the authors describe. More often than not, the “bloc” just means coordination between DSA leaders and union leaders (or more truthfully, union staff). Outside of one or two relatively active labor circles, the labor work within the chapter effectively consists of occasional strike support and following the programs of UNITE HERE/UTLA and the needs of our socialists in office. In this article, we’ll focus on the efficacy of our labor committee, in particular the labor circles structure and our relationship to UNITE HERE Local 11 and UTLA.
The Reality of DSA-LA’s Labor Work
As celebrated as it is in the article, the DSA-LA Labor Committee has not functioned as robustly or consistently as it should. Despite having two co-chairs and two coordinators, its work has largely been limited to sporadic strike support and periodic turnout of members to UTLA, UNITE HERE, or other union-sponsored actions.
The only effective and active labor circle is Hollywood Labor, which focuses on the entertainment industry. There are K-12, higher education, and non-profit labor circles, which, based on the calendar and our own experiences, meet very infrequently and exist in group chats, if at all. Entry into any of these labor circles and knowledge of their existence is obfuscated through DSA-LA’s convoluted website and lack of clear communication. Or, perhaps you might be able to learn of them through word of mouth or at one of the quarterly general membership meetings of the Labor Committee. Obviously, it takes active and engaged members to make these structures work, but there has seemingly been no comprehensive effort to resolve this issue for years.
As for the chapter’s relationship to UNITE HERE Local 11 and UTLA, the chapter’s orientation is effectively to simply follow what the unions do, with no input or political analysis of our own. We support their political campaigns and actions, and we work in various progressive coalitions with them and other non-profits and unions, such as the May Day Coalition, the Keep LA Housed coalition, and the Fair Games Coalition around the World Cup and the 2028 Olympics. With UTLA, we have co-endorsed two current LA school board members, Karla Griego and Rocio Rivas (who have varying approval among UTLA members).
Yes, we do have many active DSA members who are rank-and-file UTLA members and push their union to be more militant in bargaining and on the shop floor. With UNITE HERE Local 11, the dynamic is much different. We have supported Local 11’s strikes and actions and successfully helped their ballot initiative to increase the minimum wage for hospitality workers in LA for the 2028 Olympics (a controversial move for other organizations in the area). But there is no direct connection with rank-and-file members, aside from the usual salting recruitment Local 11 does through DSA and other activist spaces. DSA-LA’s strongest connection to the local is Hugo Soto-Martinez, the endorsed city councilor who was previously a long-time staff organizer with Local 11.
So, through our electeds and community coalitions, our labor program is essentially go-with-the-flow of plans made by major players like UNITE HERE Local 11 and UTLA to send them our members as resources and support their campaigns, and not a comprehensive, dynamic, or reciprocal relationship as the authors claim.
I would like to live in the world the authors describe, where we have close ties with some of the biggest, most progressive unions in the area, and we work in tandem as equal partners in creating a more equitable and just Los Angeles. I would love to see DSA members coming together as workers in their industries and coordinating their organizing skills to change their workplaces and communities. This is just not the case yet — and we do ourselves a disservice if we hold up weak or even counterproductive examples that then become our model.
What a Real Model Would Require
If we want Los Angeles to be held up as a model for DSA’s labor strategy, then let’s have the model be truly grounded in building working class power through organized rank-and-file workers who can act democratically, independently, and at scale. We should build our labor work from the shop floor up and reform the functionality of the labor circles. Instead of functioning as an occasional discussion group, they should become vehicles for identifying workplace leaders, coordinating mentorship and political education, and giving members the tools to become trusted organizers in their own unions and workplaces. Without clear entry points, strong leaders, and political expectations, these passive structures will continue to exist in name only.
Our relationship to local unions must shift from follower to participant, and it is crucial that we not mistake access for power. Solidarity can not simply mean being a volunteer pool to turn out bodies when union leadership calls. Real solidarity and partnership requires sustained relationships between rank-and-file members developed through struggle. This should not be mistaken for the status quo where our relationships are mediated through staff and coalitions and political alignment is assumed through proximity. Power in our view is measured by whether workers can organize their co-workers, win workplace fights against the bosses, and create deep democratic structures that can sustain workplace militancy.
As Bread & Roses members we support the goal of a left-labor coalition but we believe that the coalition must be built through shop floor struggle and deep rank-and-file organization. If Los Angeles is to become a true model of DSA’s labor work it should not be because of friendly relationships with staff or electing former union organizers to office, but because DSA organizers helped organize a deep bench of worker organizers across industries who can fight and win on the shop floor first that then carry that power into the political and social arena. The kind of working-class power we need in this moment should not be limited to formal coalitions and endorsements but forged through struggle and a true labor-to-neighbor connection, where organized workers and members of our communities act together to resist. The task ahead is not easy, but we should not shy away from hard work; instead we should approach it soberly and confidently, committing ourselves to the organizing headfirst and not claim any easy victories.
