{"id":4964,"date":"2021-12-19T21:00:51","date_gmt":"2021-12-20T02:00:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tempestmag.org\/v01_2020\/staging\/?p=4964"},"modified":"2021-12-24T20:34:42","modified_gmt":"2021-12-25T01:34:42","slug":"what-has-become-of-the-rank-and-file-strategy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tempestmag.org\/test02\/2021\/12\/what-has-become-of-the-rank-and-file-strategy\/","title":{"rendered":"What’s become of the rank and file strategy?"},"content":{"rendered":"

I<\/span>t has been two years since the 2019 Convention of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) passed Resolution 32<\/a>, committing the organization\u2019s Democratic Socialist Labor Commission to \u201cfocus on pursuing the rank and file strategy\u201d (hereinafter RFS). It is unclear how the delegates, or DSA\u2019s membership, perceived that commitment at the time\u2014the resolution only passed by a small margin after a debate that failed to clarify the issues. There was certainly no discussion, for example, of how the development of workplace leaders relates to the advancement of class consciousness\u2014a central purpose of the strategy as it has been pursued historically by socialists. But in any case, it is appropriate now to attempt an assessment of the mandated strategic focus.<\/p>\n

One might hope for a clear and candid assessment by the Democratic Socialist Labor Commission (DSLC)<\/a> itself, but that has not been forthcoming. In fact, the DSLC has neither created \u201cgeneral educational materials\u201d about the labor movement nor published the \u201cmaterials explaining the rank and file strategy and how members can participate\u201d, both of which the resolution required.<\/p>\n

No such assessment was presented to the 2021 DSA Convention. The DSLC\u2019s convention report<\/a> did mention the RFS and promised a forthcoming pamphlet about it, but did not cite 2019\u2019s Resolution 32 specifically, and any progress (for example) on \u201cjobs programs\u201d in the chapters. How, then, was the existence of the 2019 Resolution reflected at this year\u2019s convention? Delegates did pass Resolution 5<\/a> on labor work (as part of the \u201cconsent agenda\u201d), nominally including some of the constitutive points of the rank and file strategy. Was this a reaffirmation of the strategy?<\/p>\n

One of the \u201cresolved\u201d sections read:<\/p>\n

This convention affirms that DSA supports the organized efforts of rank-and-file workers, inside and outside of DSA, to transform their unions into militant and democratic vehicles of and for the multiracial working class at work, in the community, and in the political arena. Socialists in unions should aspire to become activists and eventually leaders in the workplace, including through shop floor organizing, bargaining, contract enforcement and, when possible, contesting for formal leadership. Additionally, DSA supports our members in building worker power on the job by taking initiative to politicize the workplace by going beyond bread-and-butter issues and tying workplace demands to whole community demands and campaigns and building possibilities for experiential solidarity.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The resolution also stated that networks of labor activists being created by the DSLC \u201cshould support job pipelines where they deem it strategic,\u201d a reference to the 2019 resolution\u2019s mandate to \u201chelp chapters create jobs programs\u201d. The more cautious language (\u201cwhere they deem it strategic\u201d) could reflect a difference in the approach to the drafting of these two resolutions. 2019\u2019s resolution was authored entirely by members of DSA\u2019s Bread and Roses (B&R) Caucus, while this year\u2019s resolution was \u201ccross-caucus\u201d hence the authors also included individuals who have been sharply critical of the suggestion that chapters should urge young members to get \u201crank and file\u201d jobs in unionized \u201cstrategic industries\u201d.<\/p>\n