The Democratic Socialists of America is focused on the pursuit of justice. Health and disability justice are core to our mission to build a more equitable society focused on the needs of everyone. To that end, we acknowledge the failures of the Capitalist system and the need to build our own culture of safety to keep our membership safe. These rules have been developed by speaking with immunocompromised members, reading the scientific literature on COVID transmission, and our 24 months of hosting events in San Diego.
- If you are organizing an event, prioritize finding an outdoor venue. This is important to prevent the spread of COVID, especially when eating or drinking.
- If you are feeling ill or unwell, do not attend in-person events. Do not put your comrades in danger! There will always be future events.
- Every chapter decision making meeting will have absentee voting and a hybrid option for sick or disabled comrades to participate remotely.
- For outdoor events with small chapter attendances, masks will be provided by event organizers. Masking is expected when entering a bathroom or low-airflow environment.
- At indoor events, masks will be provided at the door of N95-quality or higher. Members will be expected to wear them when not speaking to the gathered assembly or eating. Eating outdoors should be prioritized to mitigate COVID transmission.
- At direct actions or protests, masks will be provided by leaders and expected. This is important for both operational security and general health: BMC and Lancet publications recommend masking in events where you cannot ensure distance or are limited in knowing the health of people around you.
- Attending events by other orgs, leaders are expected to provide masks when event conforms to one of the elevated risk scenarios above.
We have a duty to keep our membership safe. As COVID-19 enters an endemic state, it is impossible to fully eliminate risk without also impacting our work building our community power, supporting striking workers, door-to-door canvassing, or organizing tenant unions. We can manage and mitigate this risk. These 7 points will allow us to keep our membership safe and build the working-class power needed to win Health Justice.