Across
the United States this week, new mayors and city council members are
being sworn in as the leaders of the cities that elected them in
November. The inaugurations of mayors draw local attention—and, in cases
like that of
, a good measure of national attention—but there is generally less focus on the city council members.
became mayor of Burlington, Vermont, thirty-three years ago, has
inspired a striking level of excitement. As officials moved the swearing
in for Sawant and
—Seattle’s first openly gay mayor—from the city council chambers to the much larger lobby of the city hall, local media
,
who in November upset a veteran council member with a campaign that
promise to fight for a $15-an-hour minimum wage. They also interviewed
other socialists, including
,
who was in Seattle to celebrate the event and to tell reporters,
“Kshama’s election has been a major event internationally. This has been
a huge encouragement because the United States is the citadel of world
capitalism.”
It’s a heady circumstance. But
,
the community college economics instructor and Occupy Seattle activist
who turned to electoral politics as part of a broader commitment to
movement building, kept it all in perspective.
“We’re going to be focusing on Seattle politics, obviously, because
that’s going to be our job for the next two years,” she explained in an
interview before taking her oath. “We will be focusing on city politics:
we will be in many ways initiating, in many ways participating in the
struggle for $15-an-hour; and other issues like housing and transit. But
the media attention gives us the opportunity to show the people that
there’s nothing unique about Seattle.”
Sawant argues that “the social conditions that have meant that people
are living in a circumstance of enormous inequality in the wealthiest
country in the world” are not distinct to Seattle. At a time when
“poverty is skyrocketing, housing is basically unaffordable” and
unemployment and under-employment are serious issues in communities
across the country, Sawant says it should not be surprising that “nearly
100,000 people voted for a socialist in Seattle."
Because of the strength of the vote she received, and the excitement
about her election, Sawant was able to influence Seattle politics even
before she took office. Last week, Mayor Murray ordered city
administrators to develop plans to pay all municipal employees at least
$15 per hour—a move that will lead to wage hikes for at least 600
Seattle workers. And Sawant will be working, on the council and if
necessary via a referendum push, to establish a city-wide $15-an-hour
base for workers.
“I would say that this is simply the first wave in a storm that is
about to be coming to the United States in [the form] of a demand for
social change,” argues the new council member. “When salon.com named me
one of the five political heroes of 2013, my first reaction was: ‘Why am
I there…?’ Why aren’t the fast-food workers who went out courageously
on one-day strikes all over the nation? They are the real political
heroes as far as I am concerned. And it is important to mention them
because they are signs that we are heading into a period of political
change.”
“This didn’t come out of nowhere. The conditions have been building
up for decades. They have been much worsened because of the recession,”
she says. “We saw Occupy happening, which broke the silence on
inequality. And I don’t think we should lose sight of [mass
mobilizations of workers in Wisconsin, Ohio and other states]…. It shows
you that there have been a series of events that tell us people are
getting fed up with accepting the status quo and want something
different.”
John Nichols is Washington correspondent for
The Nation
and associate editor of The Capital Times in Madison, Wisconsin. His
most recent book, co-authored with Robert W. McChesney is,
Dollarocracy: How the Money and Media Election Complex is Destroying America. Other books written with McChesney include:
The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution that Will Begin the World Again and
Tragedy & Farce: How the American Media Sell Wars, Spin Elections, and Destroy Democracy. Nichols' other books include:
The “S” Word: A Short History of an American Tradition,
Dick: The Man Who is President and
The Genius of Impeachment: The Founders' Cure for Royalism.
*************************
A Socialist Elected in Seattle: Kshama Sawant on Occupy, Fight for 15, Boeing’s "Economic Blackmail"
Democray Now
1/6/14
http://www.democracynow.org/2014/1/6/a_socialist_elected_in_seattle_kshama
Seattle has elected its first Socialist to city office in
generations. Kshama Sawant’s election to the Seattle City Council made
her one of a few Socialists to hold elected office in the country.
Sawant is an economics teacher and former Occupy Wall Street activist
who ran on a campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour. "The
important thing about running as a Socialist is, for one, to show that
there is a definite openness for clear alternatives, not only to the big
business parties, but the system that they represent, the capitalist
system," Sawant says. Seattle’s new mayor, Ed Murray, has announced
plans to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for all city employees.
Meanwhile, voters in the nearby community of SeaTac recently increased
the minimum wage for many local workers to $15. The vote suffered a
setback when a judge ruled last month that the raise does not apply to
workers at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, the area’s largest
employer. That ruling has been appealed. Murray and Sawant are being
sworn in today with record crowds expected at City Hall.
This is a rush transcript. Copy may not be in its final form.
AMY GOODMAN:
We turn now to Seattle, Washington, where a former Occupy Wall Street
activist is being sworn in today to the City Council. Kshama Sawant is
the first Socialist elected to the city office in Seattle in
generations.
KSHAMA SAWANT:
We have shown that it’s possible to succeed as an independent,
grassroots, openly Socialist campaign, not taking any money from big
business, not currying favor with the establishment parties of big
business, having an unapologetic campaign platform for improving the
living standards of Seattle’s working people, and rejecting the business
as usual. This moment belongs to that way of organizing.
AMY GOODMAN:
Kshama Sawant has also played a pivotal role in the Fight for 15
movement, the campaign to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour in the
Seattle area. Voters in the nearby community of SeaTac recently
increased the minimum wage for many local workers to $15. While that
vote is being challenged in the courts, Seattle’s new mayor, Ed Murray,
has just announced plans to raise the minimum wage to $15 an hour for
all city employees.
We go now to Seattle, where we’re joined by Kshama Sawant, newly
elected Socialist city councilmember of the Seattle City Council, member
of Socialist Alternative. She is also a teacher and a union activist.
Welcome to
Democracy Now! and congratulations, Kshama. Can you talk about what today means—today, your inauguration?
KSHAMA SAWANT: Thank you, Amy, for having me here.
Today’s inauguration really is an absolutely
historic moment for working-class politics, and to understand—to really
feel the moment that this is a turning point in the history of the
United States. And I don’t mean just the election of a Socialist in city
council, but everything that you have been mentioning—the Occupy
movement, the movement to legalize marijuana use, marriage equality—this
is all an indication that the people in this country are extremely
frustrated and angry and outraged at the status quo, at the deepening
income inequality, poverty, the political dysfunction of the Democratic
Party and the Republican Party, and there’s this deep search for
alternatives. And the fact that we have been victorious in this
grassroots campaign is really an indication that people are ready to
start moving forward, moving into struggle. And so, the real question
is: How are we, on the left—how are we going to take up this
responsibility of organizing the vast numbers of people, especially
young people, for whom there is no future? And how are we going to
present those alternatives?
AMY GOODMAN: Why did you decide to run as a Socialist, Kshama?
KSHAMA SAWANT:
The first thing is, I’m a member of Socialist Alternative, which is a
nationwide organization of social and economic justice activists. And
that, by itself, presents a really different way of organizing politics
and political actions where it is not simply up to me as some sort of
superstar, but really a democratic decision among large numbers of
people, saying, "You know, year after year we are asked to vote for
Democrats or Republicans, and nothing changes. Wall Street is making
historically high profits since the recession broke out, and the burden
of the recession has fallen squarely on the shoulders of ordinary
working people. How do we come out of this? What is the way forward?"
And presenting a different type of electoral politics was extremely
important to me and to everybody else who was involved in this campaign.
And there were hundreds of people who worked on this campaign.
And the important thing about running as a
Socialist is, you know, for one, to show that there is a definite
openness for clear alternatives, not only to the big business parties,
but the system that they represent, the capitalist system. And if you
look at recent polls, they show that people, especially young people,
are much more open to socialism than you would find out from the
corporate media. People are also fed up with the political dysfunction.
Sixty percent of Americans recently said that they are looking for a
political alternative to the Democrats and Republicans. And, you know,
everybody says, "Well, don’t you have to vote for Democrats, because
otherwise the evil Republicans will come in?" And, of course, it’s
absolutely correct that, you know, Republicans and the right wing need
to be, you know, defeated, but at the same time it is important to
recognize that the reason the right wing, the tea party and the
Republicans gain any sort of ascendancy over the American people is
because the Democrats do not present an alternative. The tea party arose
because of Obama’s administration’s failure to deal with the outrage
against the bank bailouts, and the tea party channeled it. So, really,
it’s up to us to present a different way of doing that, to really show
that working people can fight for ourselves.
It’s not simply about electoral politics. The
electoral arena is one avenue where we can, you know, gain a hold, you
know, occupy the space, so to say. But really the question is: How are
we going to organize overall? How are we going to have a mass movement
that will challenge the status quo of capitalism?
AMY GOODMAN:
You were involved in the campaign to have the minimum wage increased to
$15 an hour. I want to play highlights from news coverage of a recent
march by the Fight for 15 campaign in the Seattle area.
REPORTER: After the yes vote in SeaTac, there’s a lot of energy behind this cause.
DALLAS BRAZIER:
The cost for, you know, basic necessities for everyday things that you
need, sometimes you just don’t have enough on the wages that we make
now.
WORKER 1: I’m out here for everyone. I’m out here for me, my family, my children. I’m out here for our future—all future generations.
REPORTER: Fifteen dollars an hour would change her family’s life.
WORKER 2: Will be great—pay bills off, medical bills, go back to school.
WORKER 3: I mean, I wouldn’t have to work two jobs.
AMY GOODMAN:
That was coverage of the whole campaign for the minimum wage to be
increased to $15. You have been an integral part of that. Explain what’s
happened, both at SeaTac and Seattle.
KSHAMA SAWANT:
Yes, this really started with, you know, the growing discontent against
economic inequality and the abysmal standard of living and the race to
the bottom that is being meted out to the vast majority of people,
especially the younger-generation low-wage workers. And as you all have
covered on Democracy Now!, December 5th of 2012 was a pivotal
day, when fast-food workers walked out in New York City—very
courageously, might I say—to take a stand on $15 an hour and the right
to unionize without retaliation. And that movement for $15 an hour has
really captured the imagination of people all around the country. And as
you mentioned, the SeaTac initiative last year in 2013 went through.
You know, people voted in a majority to give $15 an hour to all the
workers there, especially the airport workers. And in Seattle, we, our
campaign, Socialist Alternative’s campaign, has been campaigning, from
day one, for $15 an hour for all workers in Seattle. We’ve also been
campaigning for affordable housing and for taxing the wealthy to provide
funding for transit and education. And now this battle has come full
force to Seattle. You mentioned the mayor, in the third day of his term,
talking about $15 an hour for 600 city employees. We’re saying that
this is a positive step forward, and it really reflects how much
groundswell of support there has been. The movement has really been
building up.
And I would urge everybody to go to
15now.org. That is
15now.org.
That’s the website we have launched. It’s a grassroots campaign that we
are starting to mobilize in Seattle to fight for 15 in 2014. And I
would urge all your viewers and listeners to go to the website,
volunteer, sign up to help out. Please give your financial
contributions. It doesn’t matter whether you are in Seattle or not. This
is the epicenter of $15 an hour, and we need the support of everybody
all around the country.
And, you know, I think it’s important to see
how dramatically different the political terrain here is today since
before Occupy. Before Occupy, there was a lot of, you know,
disenchantment and a sort of a feeling of demoralization. Occupy ended
the silence on inequality, and really it put capitalism at front and
center, you know, the question of the fact that we need a system change.
And what’s happening in Seattle is—you know, in a sense, it’s not
unique, in the sense that the social conditions that are preparing
people to jump into struggle are—exist everywhere in the country. What’s
different about Seattle is that the workers and labor activists in
SeaTac went forward with this ballot initiative, and Socialist
Alternative and its supporters had the audacity to challenge the
Democratic Party establishment and go forward with what is now a
victorious campaign for a Socialist in city council. And that’s an
example, a seed, for something that can be carried over. And so I would
urge everybody to support us.
AMY GOODMAN:
Kshama, very quickly, in your state, in Washington, the 30,000-member
union of machinists has narrowly accepted a new contract from Boeing
that includes major concessions on pensions, healthcare benefits, wage
growth. Can you talk about this? The union had rejected Boeing’s
previous offer by like two-thirds in November.
KSHAMA SAWANT:
Yes, and, in fact, people—for people who have been following the news,
you will know that Boeing workers, the workers in the state of
Washington, have been extremely courageous, and we’ve been in solidarity
with them in rejecting the really—this is economic blackmail by the
Boeing CEOs. And they have extracted tens of billions of dollars of
subsidies from the state. And this is yet another example of why we need
an alternative to the Democrats and Republicans. You know, the
Democrats have colluded as much as the Republicans in the state
Legislature, totally sold out the Boeing workers and urging them to
accept this really—this real assault on their living standards. And
it’s—
AMY GOODMAN: Washington approved the largest corporate tax break by a state to a single corporation in U.S. history.
KSHAMA SAWANT: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: That’s quite astounding.
KSHAMA SAWANT: Yes.
AMY GOODMAN: Finally, what would you say, Kshama, to people who want to run on a third-party platform, like you did as a Socialist?
KSHAMA SAWANT:
I would say that it is very possible. There is an openness. And, in
fact, I would go farther than that. I would say, look at our campaign.
Look at Lorain County, Ohio, where 24 labor activists were elected on
independent left labor ticket, not Democrats or Republicans. And, most
importantly, this would be an abdication of responsibility of us on the
left if we did not challenge the two-party system. This is a challenge
for the left and the labor movement.
AMY GOODMAN:
Kshama Sawant, we’re going to have to leave it there. I thank you so
much for being with us, the newly elected Socialist city councilmember
of Seattle’s City Council. She’s being sworn in today.
******************
Updated: 1:00 p.m. Monday, Jan. 6, 2014 | Posted: 5:22 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 5, 2014
Tension brewing between city leaders before Seattle's biggest inauguration
KIROTV
SEATTLE —
The stage is set and a record number of people are expected to witness the Monday
inauguration of Seattle's first openly-gay mayor and the only socialist City Council member.
A
push for a $15 minimum wage was at the center of Ed Murray and Kshama
Sawant's campaigns. That fight, however, may be creating friction among
the new leaders.
Murray announced an executive order to raise the minimum wage of city workers to $15 an hour.
The Seattle Times asked Sawant what she thought. She is quoted as
saying Murray's move shows the Mayor's Office is "feeling the pressure
from below to act on the rhetoric from the campaign," according to the
Seattle Times.
That didn't sit well with Murray.
Before
the pomp and circumstance gets underway in the lobby of Seattle City
Hall, fireworks may be brewing among the city's newest leaders.
On
Sunday, Murray took to social media to share an email he sent to
Sawant, expressing his "disappointment" in her words to the Seattle
Times.
Sawant got right to business Monday morning attending her first City Council briefing, where she spoke briefly.
"The mayor's income inequality advisory committee will be meeting this Wednesday," she told fellow council members.
The briefing was a preview of the first city council meeting scheduled later in the day.
Neither Sawant nor her staff member would answer any questions following the briefing.
She is expected to address the media after the
inauguration at 3:30 p.m.
******************
Murray talks innovation; Sawant raises defiant fist at inauguration
Seattle Times staff reporter
Originally published January 6, 2014 at 9:21 PM | Page modified January 7, 2014 at 9:36 PM
In a ceremony that featured calls for class struggle and an appeal to
political pragmatism, Mayor Ed Murray, socialist Councilmember Kshama
Sawant and other elected city officials were sworn in at City Hall on
Monday.
Many in the standing-room-only crowd of about 1,000 cheered and waved
signs supporting a $15 minimum wage, the signature issue of Sawant and
her supporters. But there also were many longtime friends and colleagues
of Murray, Seattle’s first openly gay mayor and a veteran of almost two
decades in the state Legislature. They greeted his arrival with a
sustained standing ovation.
After Sawant took the oath of office, administered by Washington
State Labor Council Vice President Nicole Grant, both women turned to
the audience and raised clenched fists, a gesture that seemed to signal
defiance of politics as usual and solidarity with working people.
In her remarks, Sawant, a former Seattle community college economics
instructor, denounced the “glittering fortunes of the super wealthy” in
the city, saying they came at the expense of working people, the poor
and unemployed whose lives, she said, “grow more difficult by the day.”
To an audience that included many Democratic Party activists and
Murray backers, she accused Democratic and Republican politicians of
serving the interests of big business, and said, “We have the obscene
spectacle of the average corporate CEO getting $7,000 an hour, while the
lowest-paid workers are called presumptuous in their demand for just
$15.”
In contrast, Murray said Seattle is known globally for its
entrepreneurship, creativity and innovation, and he pledged to find new
ways to “partner with our business community so that we remain among the
most economically competitive cities in the world.”
Murray pledged to make city government work to improve people’s
lives, including addressing wage disparity and housing affordability. He
also pledged to make Seattle’s Police Department a model of urban
policing for the nation.
Murray spent the hours leading up to the inauguration in a series of
symbolic public appearances. He breakfasted with homeless women and
children at Mary’s Place, an emergency shelter. He and his staff and
department directors toured the race exhibit at the Pacific Science
Center. He attended Mass at the Seattle University chapel.
Murray took the oath of office from former governor and ambassador to
China Gary Locke, on a Gaelic bible held by Murray’s husband, Michael
Shiosaki.
The inaugural festivities also included a song by the LGBT choral group Diverse Harmony, and
a poem by Washington poet laureate Kathleen Flenniken,
who described a city where traffic could be brought to a stop by
glaring sun as well as by icy roads. In a reference to former Mayor Greg
Nickels and the city’s botched response to a bad snowstorm, the poet
turned to Murray as she said, “Mr. Mayor, don’t plow your own street
first.”
Some in the audience arrived almost two hours early to get a seat, or
a place to stand, in City Hall. Parul Shah, a Sawant supporter, came
from the Eastside with her 9-year-old daughter.
“I believe in what she stands for and I’m excited that the city believes in the same thing,” Shah said.
Claudia Gorbman, who was one of the first same-sex couples to wed at
City Hall when it became legal in December 2012, said she came early to
see Murray, a prime architect of marriage equality and gay rights in the
state, get sworn in.
She also said she was intrigued by Sawant.
“Her uncompromising intelligence and idealism will be a shot in the
arm for Seattle politics and will bring some important changes,” she
predicted.
Also sworn in Monday were Councilmembers Mike O’Brien, Nick Licata and Sally Bagshaw, and City Attorney Pete Holmes.
After taking the oath of office from his sons, Elliott and Wyatt,
O’Brien told the packed crowd, “I can feel the energy in the room. It’s
going to be an exciting two years.”
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