Socialists Without Borders
On January 31, Socialist Without Borders received the first call to begin organizing in San Francisco for May 1st—International Workers’ Day—a tradition that has been upheld in the city, as well as across the country, since the massive mobilization of immigrant workers in 2006. Over the years, this effort has involved many local actors, diverse political stances, and varying outcomes. Still, it has always represented an opportunity to organize and take to the streets in solidarity with the international struggle for workers’ rights. This time, the role of convenor was assumed by Mission Action (formerly known as Dolores Street Community Services), as has been the case for the past three years.
The first meeting was held on February 6, 2025, with participation from several nonprofit organizations, interested individuals, a representative from the Labor Council (San Francisco’s Central Labor Council), and two socialist organizations: the Party for Socialism and Liberation (PSL) and us, Socialists Without Borders. A couple of more meetings took place, during which it was decided to hold a march and establish that resolutions within this body would be adopted by a simple majority.
On February 27, 2025, two proposals for the march route and political program were presented. By majority decision, it was agreed that the march would start at 24th Street and proceed to the Immigration offices, passing by the Israeli consulate. The political program would include demands to stop deportations and all attacks against immigrants, as well as a declaration of solidarity with the liberation of Palestine.
Everything seemed clear. The next meeting, however, was unexpectedly suspended by the Mission Action representative without any consultation with the other participants in the effort! They informed everyone that… it was canceled because they would be working with the Labor Council to finalize the political demands and define the action route!!
We must call things by their name: First, this was a bureaucratic decision to ignore and discard the collective agreements already made by the coalition. Second, a “negotiation” was initiated with the Labor Council representative, who had previously expressed disagreement with mentioning undocumented immigrants, deportations, or Palestine—even opposing the slogan “U.S. Hands Off Gaza,” arguing that the U.S. should intervene there. According to them, we should not “divide the workers,” and it was best to limit ourselves to defending “workers in general,” focusing solely on bread-and-butter issues—that is, a bare-minimum unionist program.
Later, an email announced that, as a result of this “negotiation” with the Labor Council, there would be no march—only a rally at the Civic Center. It was also stated that, to avoid dividing workers, there would be no mention of the undocumented, deportations, or Palestine. And if we agreed, we were to quickly send our endorsement to have the name of the organizations included in the flyer!
Immediately, the participating organizations, one after another, sent their endorsements without a word of protest or questioning of the process.
Only Socialists Without Borders and a union worker from UCSF voiced opposition to this unilateral bureaucratic action. There was no response from the other participants or from the person responsible for discarding the agreements and negotiating behind closed doors with the Labor Council—except for an attack by a leader of the Left Party (who had previously abstained from discussions), claiming that withdrawal from the coalition and their complaint about Mission Action’s actions were nothing more than an expression of frustration from the leader of Socialists Without Borders for not getting her way. There was also no objection from the Party for Socialism and Liberation, Labor for Palestine, the Arab Resource & Organizing Center, or the community service organizations.
The imposed “new program” is little more than an abstract collection of vague demands, stating: “Workers’ Rights, Immigrant Rights, Same Struggle, One Fight”… All this, on the eve of the arbitrary detention of pro-Palestinian activist Mahmoud Khalil and the deportation of Venezuelan workers to El Salvador’s prisons!
How do we explain what happened?
It is clear that the government, at all levels, is imposing an atmosphere of intimidation and open and veiled threats against any one who wants to fight back. The national Democratic Party’s effort to fragment struggles is also evident. Those in the coalition who chose to act bureaucratically are responding first and foremost to their own interests, not those of the community. We know how necessary it is to fight now, but they prefer to hide behind empty phrases that commit to nothing—thereby maintaining a semblance of credibility while facilitating the co-optation of the movement by the Democratic Party, on which their funding depends.
None of us is unaware that we are living under a new reality under Trump’s presidency: trade wars, political persecution, mass and selective deportations, destruction of educational, environmental, artistic, and health institutions, austerity, and privatization plans, etc. But this is merely a continuation of what previous administrations have done—including support for the Zionist state of Israel against the Palestinian people.
It is undeniable that the entire world is spiraling into destruction and social decay, most brutally evidenced by the ravages of climate change and the resurgence of previously eradicated diseases, such as the measles outbreak.
There is no doubt that capitalism is leading us to the abyss, and the only way out is a process of permanent revolution toward socialism—a struggle for the revolutionary transformation of society in every fight and at every moment. But this is impossible without revolutionary leadership. Without this determination and conscious practice, there will be no way to reverse the race toward extinction.
And this is where our biggest problem lies! How do we build that leadership? How do we convince ourselves and each other that this is the way out? How do we build independent organizations that always stand on the side of the working class and the oppressed? We need organizations that do not surrender, that do not stay silent, that do not back down, that do not maneuver, that do not betray, that are willing to collaborate honestly, and that strive to deepen and expand the democratic participation of their members, workers, and fighters.
The key lies in the struggle for the power of workers and the oppressed. Only through an organized, democratic struggle are programs tested and refined; political leaders are tested and replaced when they prove incapable of fighting for the deep changes human society needs to survive.
The unionist mindset of limiting struggles to bread-and-butter issues will be swept away by mobilizations—especially when these bread-and-butter issues are limited to unionized workers who already have better wages and benefits than the rest. The struggle against Trump alone deceives the broader working class by pretending that things were fine under Democratic leadership—as if we were not in a race against time to stop the runaway train of capitalism in its decline. Accepting or refusing to challenge the bureaucratic actions of those who proclaim themselves movement leaders will lead us to failure, over and over again.
To stop the genocide of the Palestinian people, wars, deportations, famines, the destruction of the planet, etc., etc., we must end the dictatorship of capitalists in every corner of the world. And for that, revolutionary leadership is vital—leadership that is not intimidated or dazzled by the representatives of capital and their agents, such as the union bureaucracy.