Basic Onboarding
- Slack
After becoming a member (saltlakedsa.org/join), you will be added to our internal communications. This is done manually, so it sometimes takes some time. If you have not gotten an email titled “…has invited you to work with them in Slack” after 7 days, email saltlakedsa@gmail.com.
For an overview of how to use Slack, see “Basic Resources.”
- DSA 101
Salt Lake DSA hosts one DSA 101 per month, which is a brief orientation to give anyone a basic understanding of what SLDSA is, how it works, and what we fight for. You do not need to be a member to attend a DSA 101. Find the next DSA 101 event on the events calendar saltlakedsa.org/events.
- 1 on 1 with a mentor
It’s a good idea to attend a 1 on 1 for a conversation with a more experienced SLDSA member early on. They can help connect your passions and skills to existing work going on in the chapter and answer any specific questions you have.
When you attend a DSA 101, a mentor or Membership Engagement Committee member will be in contact and help you set one of these up! However, you can also ask for a 1 on 1 by filling out this form.
- You’re in! Now what?
After that, you should be equipped to begin exploring what it means for you to be an activist in DSA. There is a lot to do and it can be overwhelming, you can always ask your mentor for guidance or ask questions on the Slack discussion channels. Here’s some things new members can get started on right away:
- Join a working group meeting
- Volunteer with a chapter wide or national campaign
- Attend a Political Development event to learn more about socialism
- Attend a monthly social to get to know other activists
- Attend the monthly General Meeting to vote on resolutions
- Discuss resolutions, issues, or ideas for action on the slack
How does Salt Lake DSA work?
Democratic, member led, socialist organizing…
The Democratic Socialists of America is not a volunteering program, charity, NGO, super PAC, or a typical non-profit. It is a movement that is composed of tens of thousands of activists, and expresses the democratic will of those members. There is not a board which makes unilateral decisions, uses paid staff to assign jobs to volunteers, and dictates the political direction of the movement.
This means that SLDSA’s power and ability is dependent on the mass participation of its members. This is important, not only because it allows the organization to be truly democratic (unlike the “Democratic” Party), but also because socialism is only attainable when the great majority of workers are actively fighting for it. It plays to one great strength of the working class; that we are the vast majority of society.
If you believe DSA should be doing something, our democracy is a vehicle for you to realize that will. Be involved, be convincing, and organize diligently.
How do I do something?
There is a learning curve to this kind of organizing. Every facet of capitalist society attempts to prevent workers from learning about socialist politics and the methods we use to organize and fight. We aren’t even used to being part of a real democracy. Before organizing, most of us just watch spectacle of capitalist two-party politics and occasionally vote.
To do something in SLDSA, it must be done democratically. An idea (called a resolution) is presented to membership at a General Meeting, we debate the issue, we vote on whether to adopt the idea, and then we implement the idea through volunteer effort.
This sounds simple enough, but it’s important to remember that implementing a campaign is incredibly difficult. People must be inspired to devote their limited time and energy to see it through. Just because it passes a vote doesn’t mean the fight is won. The next step is organizing the whole chapter around your idea. This means many conversations, arguments, meetings, and work before you’ll have a team to see your campaign through.
That is the essence of socialist organizing – building a dedicated organization with clear political direction to engage the broader masses.
What is the structure of Salt Lake DSA?
Basic Resources
Slack
Slack is our basic communications platform, so it’s important to understand how to use it effectively. You are added to some channels by default, and others (like #topic) are voluntarily joined. For a new member, we encourage people to leave notifications on for the #announcements channel to stay updated on new events, while checking the #disc channels on a regular basis to stay involved in discussion.
To manage notifications on Desktop, right click the channel and select “edit notifications.”
To manage notifications on Mobile, open the channel, tap the name of the channel at the top of the screen, and open the “Settings & details” menu. Under settings you will see the “Notifications” menu.
Once you’re involved in a specific working group (#wg-), we recommend leaving notifications on for that channel as well.
General Meetings
All major decisions are made at monthly General Meetings (GM) as often as possible. If the decision must be made urgently, the democratically selected Steering Committee (SC) is empowered to make a decision, but can be overturned by membership at the next GM.
Debate, voting, and procedural issues are handled using Roberts Rules of Order.
Working Groups
Any member can be involved in any and all working groups (WGs), they are not exclusive or require special membership. WGs are just ways to organize different kinds of work into different meetings. These bodies can execute on ideas that have been voted on by the whole chapter and are internally democratic for the purpose of interpreting a resolution as issues come up. WGs usually meet bi-weekly, but this is not always the case. Check the events calendar or the appropriate slack channel (starting with #wg-) for more information.
Committees
Some information and access is more restricted. Access to our member’s personal information, social media, bank account, and other resources obviously cannot be shared with every single person who joins SLDSA. Committees are elected by members or appointed by elected leaders to fulfill administrative functions which require access to this type of information. If you want to join a committee, you can ask the committee to vote on adding you. The administrative committees are Communications, Membership Engagement, Technology, Finance, and Socialist Sprouts (childcare).
You can also run for the Steering Committee at our annual local convention, which at this time has 7 seats. You cannot be appointed to this committee, only elected by membership. The SC’s primary function is to ensure that all administrative tasks are being fulfilled so work can move forward. They also make urgent decisions between GMs and speak for the organization publicly. Any decision made by the SC can be overturned by a vote of the general membership.
Events Calendar
The events calendar on the website is probably the easiest way to track events and meetings. You can link the calendar to your own Google calendar.
Political Development
Socialism is a science, and science is hard. Many new activists want to spend some time learning and reading before they jump into more concrete organizing work. Online there’s many conflicting ideas, vitriolic attacks on different organizations, staunch proponents of various sects, and reading lists that would take years to finish. The best way to learn is with others, with a mix of experienced and newer activists, engaging in good faith mutual development. Salt Lake DSA and the national DSA have a variety of political development events you can attend, as well as more informal opportunities to ask questions and discuss ideas with more veteran socialist organizers.
For our local political development, we have our regular Socialist Night School series. This is our flagship public facing educational program which involves reading a few short readings ahead of the event and then discussing the texts with others in a guided discussion.
We also attend the 4thR book club, which is more member oriented and focused on whole book discussions on revolutionary theory. This is a more in depth experience, but still approachable for new activists. Post in the #wg-poli-dev channel for details.
Bylaws
The rules of our organization, subject to change by ⅔ majority vote, can be found here.
It is not necessary to have memorized all the bylaws, but it’s useful to have read through them once so you can reference them when the need arises.
Harassment and Grievance Officers
Nationally the organization adopted this policy to handle interpersonal disputes and prevent harassment in the organization. If you feel as though you have been subjected to inappropriate behavior or harassment, please do not hesitate to reach out to the Harassment & Grievance Officers (HGOs) and any information shared will be secure and only disclosed with your written consent.
Email the HGOs at saltlakedsa.hgo@gmail.com
If you have concerns that the chapter HGOs can not be impartial, they were involved in the harassment, or your case has not been attended to, you may always contact the national HGO to carry out the grievance.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why am I not on Slack?
If you have joined but did not receive an invite to the Slack, email saltlakedsa@gmail.com and we’ll get it resolved ASAP.
I’m a member of DSA who just moved to Utah, how do I transfer my membership?
Fill out this form and we’ll get it resolved ASAP.
I’m in Utah but outside of the Salt Lake area, am I in this chapter?
Salt Lake DSA’s area includes the entirety of Utah, but the majority of our members are in the Salt Lake area. When there is sufficient interest and member density in other sections of Utah, those DSA members may form a separate DSA chapter. For the time being, all DSA members in Utah are members of the Salt Lake DSA chapter. If you are too far to participate in our events, consider working on a national committee.
How should I vote this election cycle?
Historically our membership has not been interested in creating voting guides for the public or our members. This could change, but typically members do not spend time analyzing every local race to identify the “most left” candidate. Rather, we focus on building power so we can run socialist candidates.
Can SLDSA help me unionize my workplace?
Organizing your workplace is one of the most important things you can do as a socialist activist. We have a number of members who’ve won union elections and can give you some advice on how to get started. However, no one can do the work for you and your coworkers. Unions will hire someone whose sole job is to help organize one single new workplace for multiple years. This is just to emphasize that our members can advise you, but we cannot do the work for you. Check out the EWOC program for more specific support and advice on how to organize.
Will SLDSA endorse my campaign for public office?
Maybe! If you’re not a long time member of SLDSA, you may be surprised to find we do not just endorse the most progressive candidate in every race (at least not historically, members could vote to change that). However you can email saltlakedsa@gmail.com and we can start the process of discussing an endorsement with all members.