Workers throughout the DMV turned out in force for the May Day Solidarity Rally yesterday and joined a mass picket outside The Occidental, one of several STARR restaurants where workers do not have a union contract. In the face of aggressive union busting tactics, workers at iconic restaurants such as Le Diplomate continue to organize to join UNITE HERE Local 25. MDC DSA’s Labor Working Group has been mobilizing community members to join the picket line and call on STARR to agree to a fair process for workers to decide on unionization free from threats and intimidation. Join the workers and Local 25 members who will be holding informational pickets at Le Diplomate this month.

As the corporate class continues to destroy our planet and the price of living in the District keeps rising, DC’s working class is demanding a solution. That is why the Metro DC DSA has organized a series of canvasses taking place every Sunday until May 25. Canvassers are collecting mass signatures to encourage the DC Council to create a Department of Social Housing to specifically fund and administer mixed-income public housing, where market rate units subsidize the affordable and deeply affordable units they live in. Interested comrades can sign up to canvass here.

Can’t canvass but want to get involved? MDC DSA’s new Green New Deal Working Group is meeting this weekend to discuss their long-term ecosocialist strategy for the formation. The meeting will convene leaders from the chapter’s four ecosocialist campaigns (We Power DC/public power, Social Housing, Public Transit, and Green Spaces) to discuss how comrades will collaborate and operate as a group, plan events in the next years, and organize together for ecosocialist campaigns. Meeting is Sunday, May 4th, 1:30 – 2:30pm at Cleveland Park Library. RSVP here.

DSA’s National Convention is coming up. This summer, hundreds of DSA members from across the US will be converging in Chicago to consider and vote on national resolutions, national bylaw changes, updates to the national platform, and National Political Committee leadership. Nominations are now open to fill the 46 delegates apportioned to the chapter for convention.

This Saturday, May 3, Metro DC DSA is holding a local political discussion at Cleveland Park Library from 2–4pm to talk through DSA’s structure, convention proposals, and national direction of the DSA. All range of members are invited to attend, whether you are a seasoned democratic socialist or a brand-new member. Early RSVP is requested; this will be a hybrid event.

Resolution and national bylaw amendment proposals are currently being submitted by democratic socialists across the US — members can find convention proposals, discussion boards, and platform proposals on the DSA Discussion Board’s Convention Hub. More information about convention proposals can also be found on the DSA website. Members of Metro DC DSA with Slack access can visit the #2025-national-convention channel to engage in debate, discussion, and solicitation surrounding the convention.

Individual MDC chapter members in support of using the Hare/STV method to elect delegates have been circulating this petition for consideration. Although alternative voting systems are allowed for consideration by the chapter, Article VI, Section 3 of the National DSA Constitution clarifies the modes by which adoption of the Hare system (STV) can be approved by the chapter, which includes a petition from ten percent (10%) of the chapter.

Did your electricity bill spike in January? Were your gas bills higher than ever this winter? You’re not alone. Utility bills are going up in the DMV due to asleep-at-the-wheel regulators, a regional grid that prioritizes fossil fuels over renewables, and for-profit utility monopolies rigging the system against ratepayers. On Thursday, join We Power DC, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, and Sunrise Movement DC for a seminar on exactly why utility bills are spiking in the District and what residents can do about it. RSVP here to join online.

Metro DC DSA’s Internationalism Working Group has been planning its Palestine Solidarity Walking Tour, which will explore sites connected to US imperialism, corporate greed, and the ongoing genocide against Palestinians. Chapter members or community allies interested in getting involved can sign up here.

The walking tour will be led by the Internationalism Working Group in partnership with Jewish Voice for Peace-DC Metro, Palestinian Youth Movement-DMV, and other local groups. The sites will cover the links between dark money and political repression, oil, and Israeli apartheid, and connect attendees to organizing efforts in the DMV to support boycott, divestment, and sanctions against Israel and to end the state’s genocide of the Palestinian people. The tour will meet at 12pm at Farragut Square and adjourn by 3pm after about one mile of walking to three or four sites around downtown DC. Afterwards, participants will be encouraged to attend the Arab American festival at Dew Drop Inn starting at 4pm. Sign up for event notices here.

Montgomery County comrades: Gather with fellow socialists at the Montgomery County DSA Branch General Body Meeting this Sunday, May 4 from 2 to 4:30pm. The meeting will take place in-person at the Rockville library and online on Zoom; RSVP here.

The GBM takes place as the branch is set to prepare for the upcoming Tenant Summit on Saturday, May 17 from 10am – 4pm at the Unitarian Universalist Congregation of Rockville. At the summit, renters from across Maryland are coming together to build tenant power with workshops, strategy sessions, and bold plans to win safe, affordable housing for all. This event is co-hosted by Montgomery County DSA, and is also being coordinated by Progressive Maryland, Housing Justice Montgomery, Everyday Canvassing, and CASA. Maryland tenants can RSVP for the tenant summit here.

Don’t do socialism alone. This summer, Metro DC DSA is assembling 12 distinct reading and discussion groups on socialism, anti-capitalism, future fiction, and more for the people of DC, Montgomery County, PG County, and Northern Virginia. The chapter’s reading groups provide an opportunity to learn in a group setting, and help members develop their organizing and knowledge alongside comrades. Topics range from a viewing and discussion group for the Andor TV series; fiction connected to Palestine and anti-fascist organizing; theoretical analyses on the chapter’s Abolition, Social Housing, and Internationalist campaigns; and much more. Locals can find out more about each group here and sign up for the reading groups here.

Everyone new to Metro DC DSA is invited to apply to join the Summer 2025 New Member Community Cohort. The group will participate in Wednesday night sessions for three weeks starting June 4 at MLK Library in DC. Participants will cover foundational organizing concepts, creating a meaningful framework for socialism, and how to become an active member in DSA. At least one session will be followed by a social hour, and comrades in the cohort will be signing up together for direct actions throughout the month. Applications are due by May 26.

On May 10, from 2-4:30pm, Korea Peace Now! and the Metro DC DSA Internationalism Working Group are hosting an in-person screening and discussion of WARMerica’s Fate 2, a South Korean documentary by filmmaker Kim Cheol-min. The event, set to take place at the Petworth Neighborhood Library, will give attendees the opportunity to discuss US economic and military dominance in a quickly changing, multipolar world. RSVP for WARMerica screening here.

Plus — Metro DC DSA is a co-sponsor of the Labor Heritage Foundation’s month-long Labor FilmFest this May. Don’t miss out on a dozen powerful films about workers and their stories — including LILLY, NINE TO FIVE, and STRIKE — screening at the AFI Silver Theatre during the 25th edition of the annual festival. The screenings will reveal powerful storytelling that honors the dignity, struggle, and spirit of working people. Click here for films, trailers, and tickets. The MDC DSA Labor Working Group has been given a limited number of FREE TICKETS which will be distributed to DSA members who attend labor actions in the coming weeks.

Want to fight fascism from the heart of the empire? Join DSA and fight to build socialism! Our next new member orientation, live and in person is Thursday, May 8, 7–8pm. The next virtual orientation is Wednesday, May 21, 7–8pm.

Want to stay updated? MDC DSA members are encouraged to join our all-member Slack for real-time info on working group and campaign events, convo, and inspiration. Email [email protected] with your most recent DSA dues receipt to get Slack access. Weekly Updates, like the one you are reading, are scheduled and emailed on Fridays; current and past Updates are on the web here. Not subscribed? DSA member or not, sign up to get the Update here. The MDC Dispatch is the chapter’s new video news series, published on the first and third Sunday of each month. Subscribe to our YouTube channel and submit your Update or Dispatch suggestions or DMV scandal tips to our tip line.

The Washington Socialist, published since the 1970s, offers in-depth analytical/opinion articles on a quarterly schedule; the Spring 2025 quarterly issue now leads the queue. Check out our indexed and searchable archiveto see what we write — and what you can write. Anyone, MDC DSA member or not, interested in contributing to the Washington Socialist can email submissions or questions to [email protected].

UAW reform caucus dissolves in factional split: Unite All Workers for Democracy (UAWD) — a longtime UAW reform caucus that helped catapult current UAW President Shawn Fain into power — was dissolved at the group’s quarterly online membership meeting on April 27th. The dissolution came from a vote (160 to 137) that alleged an inability for different blocs to reconcile its approach. Both the majority and minority blocs of the UAW issued statements on the matter, although the minority bloc has also alleged the dissolution violates the caucus’s bylaws.

The faultlines are not easily analyzable, even within the DSA. As reported by Working Mass, a publication of Boston DSA, socialists active in different labor formations and caucuses in the DSA were found on different sides of the split. Read more reporting/perspectives in Labor Notes and in Tempest.

Unpacking Trump’s Attack on Federal Sector Unions — “Rendering collective bargaining inapplicable to the vast majority of federal workers, combined with the administration’s other attacks on the civil service, would leave the federal workforce in its weakest position in a century.” What are the stakes and the odds that Trump’s attempt to strip collective bargaining rights from federal unions might prevail? All you need to know about this threat to one of TrumpWorld’s most effective opponents. From Lawfare via Portside.

Our comrade David Schwartzman has published a paper, “A Science-based Ecosocialist Strategy for Climate Security,” that addresses how the obstacles to keeping future warming to no more than the 1.5 degree target can be overcome. He stresses that strategy is imperative to guide transnational political struggle, to first defeat fossil capital while creating a Global Green New Deal. In his critique of Degrowth, he recognizes its value in unveiling the extractivist agenda of green capital but argues that the latter must be brought into a broad coalition to defeat fossil capital and its political instruments.

Emerging From a Collective Silence, Universities Organize to Fight Trump — A recent group statement showed that the nation’s academic leaders, at first reluctant to oppose the president’s moves, are beginning to unite. In an unusual show of unity considering the wide swathe of interests that includes ivy leagues, community colleges, and public schools — among others — the statement reads: “As leaders of America’s colleges, universities, and scholarly societies, we speak with one voice against the unprecedented government overreach and political interference now endangering American higher education. We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses. We will always seek effective and fair financial practices, but we must reject the coercive use of public research funding.” Note: All of the major schools in the DMV — AU, GW, Georgetown, UMCP and several other UM system schools — appear to have signed. GMU (AKA Koch U.) appears to be absent from the list.

May Day is about workers struggles — and nurses at GW hospital are involved in a struggle now. Two pro-union nurses were fired as part of the hospital’s union-busting campaign. Read more in GW Hatchet, an independent student newspaper.

May Day actions are part of a long chain — the history of the holiday and connection to workers organizing for their rights. Robert Ross, one of the founders of SDS in a time long ago, writes of that past in Stansbury Forum. The article is appropriately titled: “May Day 2025: The current installment of an annual remembrance”

Friday, May 2
6:30pm | NoVA DSA GameNite

Saturday, May 3
2 – 4pm | 2025 Convention: Chapterwide Discussion
2 – 4pm | Wheatpasting for Incarcerated Poets Event
3 – 5pm | DC Labor Chorus Spring Concert: Stand Up, Fight Back!

Sunday, May 4
1:30 – 2:30pm | Green New Deal Working Group Meeting
2 – 4:30pm | Montgomery County Branch May General Body Meeting
7 – 8pm | NoVA Electoral Monthly Working Group Meeting

Tuesday, May 6
6 – 7pm | NoVA Medicare for All Working Group Meeting

Wednesday, May 7
5:30 – 8pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate

Thursday, May 8
11:30am – 2pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate
6:15 – 7:30pm | NoVA Branch Monthly Organizing Meeting
7 – 8pm | Why You Should Join DSA: New Member Orientation (in-person)
7 – 8:15pm | How utilities profit from inflating your bill – seminar with WePower DC, others

Saturday, May 10
2 – 4:30 PM | WARMerica’s Fate 2 documentary screening

Sunday, May 11
11am – 1:30pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate

Monday, May 12
7 – 8pm | DC Abolition Working Group Biweekly Meeting

Tuesday, May 13
6:30pm | Labor Working Group May Meeting

Wednesday, May 14
5 – 8pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate
6:30pm | SOS Anti-Eviction Canvas Planning Meeting

Thursday, May 15
11:30am – 2pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate

Friday, May 16
5 – 8pm | Informational Picket at Le Diplomate

Saturday, May 17
12pm | DC Palestine Solidarity Walking Tour + Action
1:30pm | SOS Anti-Eviction Canvas

Sunday, May 18
2 – 4:30pm | Metro DC DSA May General Body Meeting
3 – 5pm | Poetry with Ketu