Joe Berry, delegate from AFT 2121 City College of San Francisco, member of HELU Outreach Committee and liaison with the National Labor Commission of DSA
The 2025 Democratic Socialists of America (DSA) Convention was held in Chicago at McCormick place August 7-10. DSA had invited over 20 allied organizations to come so TJ Acena, Jenna Chernega and Joe Berry attended as representatives from HELU. The Convention, where a new leadership was elected, was the largest in the history of the organization. There were 1,500 attendees and over 1,200 voting delegates, representing most of the 261 chapters in virtually all the states and over 80,000 members, up from 60,000 in 2024. From the perspective of this observer, the median age of attendees was under 30.
The recent victory in the New York City mayoral primary election of prominent DSA member Zohran Mamdani and its implications for organizing was a major topic of discussion, along with Palestine solidarity, but clearly also important was labor and labor strategy. For many people in DSA, labor is now seen as the door through which real change will come about in this country.
HELU Sec/Treas TJ Acena and Policy and Politics Sub-Committee Chair Jenna Chernega spoke to the Convention as part of the three-hour Saturday afternoon session with other allied organizations. Each presenter was asked first about their organization’s attitude toward a national labor action in 2028, as called for by UAW leader Shawn Fain, and second toward the development of a party independent of Republican or Democratic.
DSA’s invitation to “allied organizations” indicated the range and depth of possible strong alliances. This included Railway Workers United (RWU). RWU is like HELU in that it tries to bring together rank and file members of different railway worker unions to speak with one voice. Another cross-union organization is the Federal Unionists Network (FUN) which has become much more active following attacks by Trump. The Emergency Workplace Organizing Committee (EWOC) is already close to HELU. DSA has also been heavily involved in the Debt Collective, a founding organization of HELU. These were all represented on the platform.
DSA and HELU undoubtedly have a membership overlap because many DSA members work in higher ed and therefore are in unions in higher ed. However, DSA appears to carry the same weaknesses with regard to demographic makeup that HELU does, with regard to race, nationality and occupation, not so much gender.
Before the Convention, Joe Berry from the Outreach Committee and Sean O’Brien from the Steering Committee and Outreach chair met with leaders of the DSA National Labor Commission and planned for DSA national to set up a regular liaison with HELU.
Note: The quote “The kids are alright” is from Jeff Crosby’s article on the 1999 WTO demonstrations.