Deliberating the Goods in Logistics Day School
The Day School’s programming included a panel of workers and organizers from Amazon warehouses, the ports, grocery warehouse truckers, and UPS drivers from across Southern California
In Los Angeles, in the parish hall of Koreatown’s Immanuel Presbyterian Church, a hundred socialists gathered on a sunny Saturday to end summer together in a way only comrades could – discussing the socio-economic impacts of Southern California’s supply chain.
Delivering the Goods: A Socialist Day School on Logistics was a collaborative effort between Inland Empire DSA, DSA Long Beach, and DSA Los Angeles. The event brought attendees from all three chapters together for the first time to talk about how different parts of the logistics sector—the ports of L.A. and Long Beach, warehouses, trucking, and more – impact our work as socialists and what opportunities for political intervention could be created with inter-chapter coordination.
The day’s programming started with a “Logistics 101” plenary, a presentation led by the political education chairs of each chapter to help members understand what the logistics sector is, its economic impact in Southern California, and why this matters to the project of building working class power. Facilitated breakouts came next, with comrades sharing their personal experiences as well as what work each chapter could offer in helping our organization leverage power in the supply chain. Members were encouraged to record their thoughts on an online recording tool they could access by scanning the barcode on their name tags – which were designed to look like UPS packing labels.
The marquee event of the day school was a labor panel that brought together workers from Amazon warehouses, UPS, grocery warehouses, and the ports in a sweeping discussion that covered working conditions, the impact of COVID on work, and the importance of confronting capital at the strategic choke points located in the logistics sector. A shared sentiment among the panelists included the need to see politics not just as a contest at the ballot box, but something to engage with at the workplace on a day-to-day basis. The panel ended with a standing ovation from the audience.
Later in the afternoon, a screening of the short film Cracked Jewel, directed by Inland Empire DSA member Becca Spence Dobias, exposed attendees to the ecological and community impacts of rampant warehouse development in the Inland Empire.
The day concluded with a one-on-one conversation with Christina Dunbar-Hester, a professor and journalist who discussed the overlap of environmental policy and the global supply chain. The interview touched on the main themes of her book Oil Beach: How Toxic Infrastructure Threatens Life in the Ports of Los Angeles and Beyond, with questions from the audience expanding the scope of the conversation to include how DSA can play a role in bridging the gap between climate justice movements and organized labor.
When planning began on this event several months ago, members of the organizing committee were hoping for a modest turnout that could help lay the foundation for further strategic collaboration among Southern California chapters. With the success of this event, organizers hope to include more members and chapters in planning future events that can help establish a forum for socialist discourse and political education on the West Coast.