Campaigns
No Automated License Plate Readers (ALPR)s
This is a pressure campaign on Austin City Hall to convince city council that automated license plate readers (ALPRs) have no place in Austin. Though billed as a public safety boondoggle, in effect they serve as massive data farming and mass surveillance platforms that are ripe for abuse by the police.
Sign the petition and learn more about the campaign at the campaign website.
Trans + Intersex Rights & Bodily Autonomy (TIRBA)
This campaign aims to protect trans and intersex rights in the workplace by assisting unions, fight transphobic policies, and provide mutual aid to threatened communities. Campaign meetings are on 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of every month! You can find RSVPs on our calendar at austindsa.org/events
Labor For an Arms Embargo
Our chapter passed a resolution to create a local implementation of the national Labor for an Arms Embargo campaign. On paper, the goal is simple: Israel’s genocide of the Palestinian people is only possible because America supplies all the weapons and bombs. Therefore, to stop the killing, stop the flow of arms to Israel, and the only ones who can fulfill that demand, as of now, is Congress. This campaign is still in the building phase, but if you are interested in participating, please join our #campaign-lfae channel on slack! (join slack here)
Austin Against Apartheid (AAA)
This campaign unites businesses and customers in a boycott campaign, taking its lead from No Appetite 4 Apartheid and the national Boycott, Divestments, and Sanctions (BDS) campaign calling for freedom, justice, and equality for the Palestinian people.
Learn more and sign the pledge at their campaign website: www.austinagainstapartheid.com
Andrew Hairston for Justice of the Peace pct. 1
This is an electoral campaign to get Andrew Hairston, a cadre member of Austin DSA, elected to the position of Justice of the Peace for Travis County, Precinct 1. He is running to use the discretionary powers of the court to break the school-to-prison pipeline, put an end to unjust evictions by greedy landlords, and establish a tradition of dignity and compassion for the working class. Our chapter does weekly canvasses for this campaign. You can find the next one on www.austindsa.org/events, and also visit the campaign website at https://www.hairstonforpeace.com
Homes 4 All
This campaign aims to influence Austin’s 2026 Bond Election to prioritize and dedicate as much money as possible for green, permanent and deeply affordable housing to provide an affordable place to live for the people in our society who need it the most desperately. You can learn more about this campaign and how to get involved on their campaign page here.
Vax Drive
Inform the public about where they can obtain COVID-19 vaccines and how they can get them. You can visit our site here: https://www.austindsa.org/covid
Committees and Subcommittees
Austin DSA would not be able to function as it is without our standing committees. Whereas campaigns tend to be focused around specific, time-bound issues, committees are long-standing and tend to be organized around broad areas of interest. Many of them are also involved in the day-to-day running of the chapter, and can be great avenues for involvement for new members
Logistics and Planning
This committee does a lot of planning. It manages chapter supplies and planning the logistics for our general body meetings as well as the chapter convention. If you’re into event-planning, this is the committee for you!
Political Education
The Poli-Ed committee handles the Chapter’s political education and policy research. Our chapter does a lot of stuff, but it’s important to know why we do the things we do. This committee holds regular sessions that dive into a multitude of topics relevant to the socialist project, whether that’s the history of the labor movement or theoretical foundations for different leftist tendencies. Join the next poli-ed committee meeting, which are all posted on our calendar at www.austindsa.org/events!
Safety
As our chapter grows larger, and as the nation slips further into the endgame of late-state capitalism, which is fascism, we need to make sure our members feel and are safe when we engage in the important work that we do. Learn vital skills in de-escalation, administering first aid and CPR, and how to be prepared in emergent situations. Join our slack server and find us in the #committee-safety channel!
Electoral
This committee manages the endorsement process for candidates running for office and organizes actions and campaigns to turn out votes for those we endorse. For our chapter, an endorsement is more than just a logo that candidates get to put on their social media and campaign mailers. It’s a serious commitment by our chapter to turn out our members and get them to knock doors on the weekends, doing the actual person-to-person and grassroots organizing that real democracy is rooted in. We are quite proud of the wins that we’ve been able to accomplish in our chapter: Jose Garza as District Attorney, Andrew Gonzales as Austin Independent School District Trustee, and Mike Siegel as city councilman for District 7.
For the 2026 Democratic Primary, our chapter has endorsed Andrew Hairston for Justice of the Peace Precinct 1. Refer to that campaign in the section above for more information and learn how to get involved!
Labor
A strong, united and liberated working class is the end goal of the socialist project. The labor committee is responsible with maintaining relationships with organized labor in Austin and supporting their efforts, along with implementing the rank-and-file strategy to reform organized labor in this country, which has been under systemic attack by capital for decades after the wins of the New Deal.
We are currently supporting Starbucks Workers United (SBWU) in their strike and ask people to sign the No Contract, No Coffee pledge here!
Communications
What it says on the tin. This committee is responsible for communicating chapter business to the general public, via our social media handles and our newsletter.
This committee is also responsible for producing episodes of our podcast, ATX BatCast, which you can listen to on YouTube or Spotify.
Information Technology (IT)
With all the technology out in the world these days, our chapter would not be able to function without the work that our IT committee puts in to manage all of the technology infrastructure our chapter depends on. If you like working on technology-related projects, we could use your help! Join our slack server and join the #committee-computing channel.
Membership Engagement
This committee really puts the social in socialism. Our chapter places a lot of emphasis on having a good time while we’re doing good work. This committee plans a lot of our social events, such as our regular happy hours, but it also makes sure that members who want to get plugged into things get plugged into things they’re interested in. If you’re a new member, come to one of our General Body Meetings and ask about the Rose Buddies program, where you can get mentored and introduced to our chapter by a more established member!