Monthly Round-Up

Monthly Round-Up – March 2026

By a Comrade

This article is written by a DSA member and does not formally represent the views of MADSA as a whole or its subgroups. 

Welcome to Vol. 8 of the monthly round-up! The content in this publication overlaps significantly with our DSA newsletter and monthly General Membership Meetings. To sign up for the newsletter or check out an upcoming General Membership Meeting, visit: https://madison-dsa.org/events/

This photo depicts approximately 40 Madison DSA convention attendees with their fists raised. They are in a room with wood paneled walls.

MADSA Annual Convention a Success

The chapter held our annual convention on the evening of Friday March 20th and the full day of Saturday, March 21st. MADSA members elected new leadership for the coming year, voted to continue many working groups, and debated and passed resolutions that will shape how the chapter does its work this year and beyond. Below are 3 key themes from this year’s convention.

1. Organizing Everyday People, Especially Labor

This convention passed several exciting proposals around mobilizing everyday worker power. One was a major resolution setting clear goals around a “rank and file” worker organizing strategy. In short, key goals include: increasing organizing discussions in people’s unionized and non-unionized workplaces; taking specific actions to help existing unions become more active and socialist; taking steps towards a mass labor action on May 1, and building further potential for mass labor actions; and leveraging MADSA’s worker power for building new unions, pulling existing union members towards socialism, and building coalitions within and between unions. The resolution emphasizes a move away from convincing formal labor leadership, and towards supporting rank-and-file workers in taking concrete steps for socialist organizing in their specific context.

The convention also ratified a Community Defense Working Group, which will be taking the main role in guiding MADSA’s STRIKE ICE OUT actions. The group will emphasize community education, non-violent neighborhood mobilizing, mutual aid, and strike preparation. Specific goals for the working group include providing materials and trainings, doing administrative tasks for maintaining neighborhood group chats across the city, encouraging in-person meetings between neighbors, disseminating information from other reliable sources (Voces, MTI, and Comite Sin Fronteras), supporting tenant organizing, and helping build towards a May 1st major labor action / general strike.

2. Electoral Work

Members voted to continue the Program Working Group, which is developing a formal platform with the key viewpoints and priorities of MADSA as a chapter. This work will be helpful in guiding MADSA’s collaboration with political candidates, and when deciding how to prioritize projects in the face of unprecedented growth in membership. 

Members also passed a resolution to build DSA’s capacity as an independent political party. The resolution included a continuation of this past year’s electoral work, while also adding features like additional political education in the “off-season,” and collaboration with the Labor Working Group around research and explicit support of policy that improves labor rights.

Lastly, members passed a resolution reaffirming the chapter’s commitment to Palestinian liberation and anti-Zionism. This resolution mandates that any program, platform, and/or candidates endorsed by MADSA “must support the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions (BDS) movement, refrain from any and all affiliation with the Israeli government or Zionist lobby groups, pledge to oppose legislation that harms Palestinians and support legislation that supports Palestinian liberation.”

3. Improving Chapter Functions

Lastly, several convention items focused on improving the running of our chapter. A spirited discussion took place around the accessibility of meetings. One particular area of concern has been disability access, including – but not limited to – variable masking requirements at different meetings. Another topic was improving support for working parents within the chapter, who face additional barriers to participating in regular meetings. On Saturday, members discussed a proposal and an amendment around accessibility issues, and they ultimately decided to table the final vote until the April general membership meeting.

Several resolutions did pass related to the running of the chapter, including: 

  • Changes to certain chapter rules and processes, including standing meeting rules;
  • Creating a cohort model for welcoming and onboarding new members to the chapter;
  • Creating some editorial practices and increased structure for Red Madison, to improve responsiveness and to foster more participation in the publication. 

A resolution around creating a process for formal coalition-building with external groups did not pass, after significant discussion and debate. 

MADSA Attends “No Kings”

This image depicts Madison DSA members at the recent No Kings protest. Some prominent signs say, "No ICE, No Wars, No Billionaires," and "Money for People's Needs, not endless wars and ice!"

Members of the chapter recently attended the No Kings protest on March 28th, with the goal of being a visible socialist presence, handing out materials, and talking to interested crowd members about action steps for being politically engaged and effective. In preparation for the march, MADSA had organizing meetings, an art build on 3/27, and a crowd canvassing training emphasizing “NO ICE, NO WAR, NO BILLIONAIRES!” 

Several MADSA members gave speeches at the protest! You can see them here, and shorter clips will be posted on Instagram in the coming week.

ICE Out Efforts Continue

MADSA continues to coordinate information about trainings and events, and neighborhood group chats, via the Strike Out ICE hub. Check it out here, and keep your eyes out for the newsletter in your inbox! 

A major next step in the process is the Madison Worker’s Assembly on April 4th. This is an opportunity for the community to come together and reflect on goals and strategies for mass labor action.

Additional Organizing

This image is a promotional poster for the affordable housing panel from March 27th. It shows Ryan Clancy, Juliana Bennett, Bobby Gronert, Heidi Wegleitner, and Tex from Dane County Homeless Justice Initiative.

Other important efforts this month included the following:

  • Labor Working Group hosted a Strike Studies event on 3/2; the next one is on April 6th.
  • MADSA hosted a panel discussion titled Against Empire: A Socialist Conversation on Imperialism on 3/26 – a topic that is especially relevant given current events.
  • MADSA held an Affordable Housing Panel, featuring local organizers and elected officials on 3/27 – video here!
  • The Program Working Group had an event on one of the planks in MADSA’s developing platform – public transit! This took place on 3/31.
  • There was a one-off reading group on 3/23 focusing on two short texts by Alexandra Kollontai, focusing on the intersection of Marxism and feminism. 

    And coming soon:

    • MADSA is starting to prepare for another Queer Liberation March, with a meeting planned for 4/4.
    • DSA made plans to attend the upcoming May Day Strong Solidarity School, preparing for a May 1st day of mass labor action / general strike – this is scheduled for April 11th.

    Social Events

    We continue hosting recurring social events – DSA 101, Coffee with Comrades, and the Rosebuddies program. MADSA Run Club is making a return on Sundays as the weather warms up!

    Protest Song of the Month

    For this month’s song, have a 1913 tune by Joe Hill, We Will Sing One Song.

    And that concludes our monthly round-up!

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