Category: Local

Organizing, Local, Unions, Labor, Monthly Round-UpLeave a comment

Monthly Round-Up – December 2025

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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. 5 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/ MADSA Adds a New Branch The chapter reported at our December General Membership Meeting that MADSA has nearly doubled in size since October 2024 – from 368 members then, to 643 members now! In … Continue reading Monthly Round-Up – December 2025

Anticapitalism, LocalLeave a comment

Seasons of Retail

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On stocking Christmas merchandise when it’s 80 degrees in October by OF I grew up in Southern Illinois, at the very tip where you’re closer to Memphis than Chicago. Thesummers of my youth were brutal and swampy: far worse than those my parents remembered, and god awful to my delicate sensibilities. Heat waves would hover over 100 degrees for days, only letting up after a cold front kept the tornado sirens running all night long. As such, summer became a season of indoor fun. My preferred pastimes were reading books, going to movies, and playing video games. I developed certain … Continue reading Seasons of Retail

abolition, City Gov, Local, OrganizingLeave a comment

Jail Communications Campaign Victory

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By the Jail Communications Coalition We fought hard, we fought smart, and we won! The Abolitionist Working Group and our community coalition for free jail communications campaigned against a 3-5 year, exploitative contract between the Dane County Sheriff and Smart Communications, which the Dane County Board of Supervisors voted to reject on September 18, 2025.  The contract would have meant continued financial exploitation of jail residents and their families, keeping human connection for those awaiting trial behind a paywall and denying jail residents physical mai through the dehumanizing and inefficient practice of mail scanning. We are celebrating and learning from … Continue reading Jail Communications Campaign Victory

Labor, Local, UnionsLeave a comment

OPEIU Local 39 Objects to Layoffs at America’s Credit Unions

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEMay 29, 2024 MADISON, WI – America’s Credit Unions (formerly “Credit Union National Association, Inc.”) has informed the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 39 of its intent to eliminate lay off up to 30% of the workforce at its headquarters in Madison. America’s Credit Unions is the result of the merger between Madison’s CUNA and its primary competitor, National Association of Federally-Insured Credit Unions (NAFCU). The Company filed a notice with the Department of Workforce Development on January 12, 2024, cc’ing City of Madison Mayor Satya Rhodes-Conway: “This is a difficult decision, and we appreciate … Continue reading OPEIU Local 39 Objects to Layoffs at America’s Credit Unions

Homelessness, housing, LocalLeave a comment

Porchlight Tenants Crash Charity Event to Warn Donors About Dangerous Living Conditions

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Madison Tenant Power Madison, WI – On Monday, Porchlight tenants and their housing allies crashed a charity event for Porchlight, Inc., the nonprofit that runs Porchlight Men’s Shelter, in order to warn potential donors about dangerous living conditions. One person wore a cockroach costume. Madison Wisconsin Homeless Union and Madison Tenant Power are calling attention to unsanitary and unsafe conditions in Porchlight properties in Madison, including: apartments full of cockroaches, bedbugs, and other pests; lack of bedding (tenants sleeping on the floor); and units that are not properly air conditioned or heated. Porchlight staff hang up the phone on housing advocates … Continue reading Porchlight Tenants Crash Charity Event to Warn Donors About Dangerous Living Conditions

Local, Organizing, RacismLeave a comment

UW-Madison YDSA Statement on the Ben Shapiro Protest

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By the Young Democratic Socialists of America at UW-Madison We all know the conservative shtick by now. The right-wing organizations on campuses across the nation invite inflammatory, hateful, and reactionary talking heads to promote their bigotry and cry victim each time a student protest is mounted against them. According to Nick Baker of YAF, our organization is “appalled that someone with different views than their own would be allowed to step foot on campus”. Seems like an inaccurate oversimplification of the situation, but what else would you expect? Because obviously it’s not about a simple difference of opinion. When Matt … Continue reading UW-Madison YDSA Statement on the Ben Shapiro Protest

housing, Local, tenants rightsLeave a comment

An Open Letter: Nationwide Developer Core Spaces Is Bad for Tenants and the Future of Affordable Housing in Madison

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By Madison Tenant Power This spring, Core Spaces (a Chicago-based developer with two “luxury” student housing developments in Madison and controversial proposals for two more) made national news for mass evicting thousands of tenants in Santa Barbara. These “renovictions” happened with little notice, leaving residents scrambling to find housing in their communities. In response, tenants in California founded the nationwide Core Spaces Tenant Association to fight back against the threat of mass displacement. Even as these tenants have worked to secure new legal protections against renovictions, Core Spaces has attempted to mislead tenants about the ordinances that apply to their … Continue reading An Open Letter: Nationwide Developer Core Spaces Is Bad for Tenants and the Future of Affordable Housing in Madison

Labor, Local, OrganizingLeave a comment

Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America stands in solidarity with striking TruStage workers

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Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America enthusiastically supports ongoing Unfair Labor Practices Strike of OPEIU Local 39, which represents 450 workers at TruStage (until recently known as CUNA Mutual Group), an insurance firm. Continue reading Madison Area Democratic Socialists of America stands in solidarity with striking TruStage workers