Kshama Sawant, a member of Socialist Alternative in Seattle, has an incredible record that shows what can be achieved as a socialist city councillor with a class-struggle approach to politics. Using the city council seat as a platform to lead mass campaigns against the rich establishment powers in Seattle and Washington State, Kshama and Socialist Alternative were able to win a number of impressive victories for the working class. These include the first major US city with a $15 minimum wage; an Amazon Tax directed at big business and used to fund affordable housing; important renters rights, and the first sanctuary city to protect those fleeing draconian anti-abortion laws in over a dozen states where abortion is now illegal.
Crucially, these victories were not won through negotiations and compromise with the representatives of big business and property owners on city council. Instead, Kshama and Socialist Alternative built mass campaigns of working people outside of the city council chambers, to put pressure on the other councillors. This is key to the class-struggle approach of socialist politics on city council: victories are won by leveraging the power of the working class to put pressure on the establishment politicians, while directly opposing those who use their big money influence to try and buy votes.
Winning the Fight for $15
When Kshama was first elected in 2013, the campaign centred around the bold demand for a $15 minimum wage. At that time, no major city in the US or Canada had a $15 minimum wage and during the campaign the corporate media portrayed it as “utopian.” This clear and concrete demand was a major draw for working-class voters who had previously “checked out” of politics altogether. After the election, big corporations, hiding behind “mom and pop” businesses, claimed it would destroy jobs. The corporate Democrats on council and some of the more conservative union leaders claimed that a $15 minimum wage for Seattle was “unwinnable” and therefore wanted a compromise increase with the corporations. But Kshama and Socialist Alternative launched the grassroots 15 Now campaign, in collaboration with progressive labour unions. This campaign included neighbourhood action groups, marches, and a democratic conference attended by hundreds of working-class people who voted on decisions for how to direct the movement.
Some labour leaders, who initially said they supported the $15 minimum wage demand, preferred to work with the Democratic Party rather than working-class movements; they proposed even lowering the demand to $12. But Kshama and the 15 Now campaign stood their ground. It was clear public support for $15 was surging, with strong majority support in polls and large turnouts to rallies and marches. In the end, less than 6 months after Kshama was elected, the $15 minimum wage was passed unanimously by Seattle City council.
From Seattle, the fight for $15 spread across North America including to BC and Alberta, where it succeeded, and Ontario, which recently finally won $15. Almost every province and territory in Canada is already at $15 or more or has plans to reach $15 in the next two years. The victory in Seattle inspired a much wider movement.
Taxing Big Corporations
The campaign for the Amazon Tax was by comparison a much longer and more brutal struggle, and one waged directly against the richest man in the world, Jeff Bezos. In 2018, Socialist Alternative launched the Tax Amazon movement, demanding that Seattle stop being a tax haven for major corporations like Amazon and instead tax those corporations to pay for affordable housing in a city that is increasingly unaffordable for working people. Once again, Kshama and Socialist Alternative built a coalition of community groups and labour organizations to put pressure on city council to pass the tax. Once again, the labour movement was split between those who supported a militant class-struggle movement and those who supported a more conservative approach.
The campaign was successful in forcing the city council to unanimously pass a $47 million dollar per year big business tax, but the billionaire class immediately began mobilizing to repeal it. Under threats from Amazon executives, and with the support of conservative union leaders, Democrats on city council repealed the Amazon Tax less than a month later.
The following year, in 2019, Kshama’s seat was up for election, and big business and the Seattle Chamber of Commerce went on a major offensive to replace Kshama with a more “reliable” (read pro big-business) councillor. So desperate was Jeff Bezos to remove a militant socialist leader from office in his home city, Amazon spent an unprecedented $1.5 million to support pro-business candidates and Kshama’s opponents. But rather than accept this tidal wave of corporate cash as spelling inevitable defeat, Socialist Alternative was able to turn it into a powerful counteroffensive, exposing to working people how big business and Amazon were trying to buy city council. This “money bomb” backfired, and Kshama was re-elected to city council.
After her re-election, Kshama and Socialist Alternative pivoted to the renewed campaign for the Amazon Tax, including organizing and building for a mass Action Conference in coordination with progressive unions, community and political organizations, including environmental, tenant, and homeless advocacy groups. The campaign faced intense opposition from corporate Democrats on council, including Mayor Jenny Durkan who received $350,000 in donations from Amazon and threatened to veto the Amazon Tax.
The Tax Amazon movement continued to build through the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and then the unprecedented demonstrations in the wake of George Floyd’s murder in the summer of 2020. Under extreme pressure from the movement, realizing they could no longer reject the Amazon Tax, Democratic politicians tried to co-opt the movement and pass a watered-down tax. These were the same politicians who voted to repeal the first Amazon Tax just a couple of years earlier. Democrats were being forced to concede a tax by the power of the movement, but still Kshama introduced amendments, backed by the Tax Amazon campaign, to ensure that the working class got the strongest possible tax and to solidify the lesson that class-struggle methods were responsible for the victory.
The final big business tax passed by city council raises over $200 million each year, more than four times as much as the original Amazon Tax. This campaign demonstrates how class-struggle methods can effectively win both victories and counterattacks, turning defeats into even bigger victories.
Fighting the Racist Right-Wing Recall
The following year, big business decided to try to use their “nuclear option” to remove Kshama: a petition to recall her from office. The ruling class designed the recall campaign to be as undemocratic as possible. Big business realized that they could not defeat a socialist candidate backed by the working class in a fair fight so they strove to stack the deck as much as they could in their favour. They were assisted by the Washington State Supreme Court, which did not rule on the truth of the allegations against Kshama and delayed its decision for months before ruling in favour of the right-wing recall. This resulted in outright lies appearing on the voters’ ballot. Further, the timing of the recall election was unprecedented: in rainy, cold December. Despite these seemingly unsurmountable barriers, Socialist Alternative, in collaboration with progressive unions and with the support of socialists around the country, was able to run one of the most impressive ground games Seattle has ever seen. They defeated the right-wing big business backed recall campaign. The Kshama Solidarity Campaign did not back down or give ground to the false charges of the recall campaign. They went on the offensive, polarizing the electorate along class lines and exposing the right wing and big business money that was bankrolling the recall campaign.
Winning a Renters’ Bill of Rights
Even while defending against the recall campaign, in city council Kshama never let up the pressure. While fighting to save the socialist city council seat, Kshama was able to introduce and pass significant renters’ rights legislation through council. The Renters’ Bill of Rights banned school-year evictions, secured tenants’ rights to renew leases to avoid eviction at the end of the term, and banned evictions for non-payment of rent during the pandemic. Throughout the campaign to fight the recall and after it, Kshama and Socialist Alternative continue to fight for more renters’ rights in Seattle, including the key goal of rent control, which is necessary to prevent the ongoing upward spiral of housing costs.
Achieving a Landmark Victory for Abortion Rights
In July, Kshama’s office achieved a landmark victory for people needing abortion. Her office led the fight to make Seattle the first abortion sanctuary city. Since the overturning of Roe V. Wade earlier this year, over a dozen states have automatically made abortion illegal. Becoming a sanctuary city means that Seattle police will be prohibited from arresting people who are criminalized by anti-abortion laws in states that have made abortion illegal or aiding the investigation of those cases. People can now live safely in Seattle without fear of being extradited on warrants relating to anti-abortion laws. Once again, this victory happened because of a major organizing campaign. Thousands of people signed a petition supporting the legislation and dozens of people spoke in favour of it during public comment at city council. Seattle’s example inspired activists in Dane County, Wisconsin, which is one of the trigger ban states where abortion was automatically made illegal. After socialist feminist activists in Dane County organized walkouts, Senate office sit-ins, and protests, they were able to get sanctuary legislation passed in collaboration with County Supervisor, Heidi Wegleitner.
Notably, the Democratic Party, liberal feminist organizations and NGOs like Planned Parenthood showed no leadership whatsoever in these fights. Instead, they were telling people to wait until the November midterms and vote for more Democrats, despite the complete lack of any action by the Democratic Party over the last 50 years to secure abortion rights. Grassroots socialist feminist organizations that are independent from any corporate or NGO influences are clearly the most effective fighters to defend democratic and civil rights, including the rights to bodily autonomy.
Building fighting working-class movements
Kshama Sawant is an incredibly skilled activist and fighter for working-class people, but the fact that she has been able to lead so many victorious campaigns from city council was not due to her personal qualities as a politician. Open socialists on city council will always face extreme pressure from representatives of the ruling class who will seek to water down working-class demands and co-opt working-class movements. Establishment politicians and big money representatives will be relentless, with a mixture of flattery and vicious maneuvering, to try to neutralize or even buy off working-class representatives. One of the main reasons Kshama is able to resist these pressures and garner the support of working-class movements is because of the political analysis and backing of Socialist Alternative. Socialist Alternative recognizes that big business and their politicians are not on the side of workers. In any struggle it is important to recognize and name the opponent — Amazon, Jeff Bezos, etc. Also crucial is an understanding that it is best to bargain from a position of strength. A successful campaign has bold, inspiring demands, which help to build support. A union, a campaign or a movement first needs to build its power. As a democratic and revolutionary socialist party, Socialist Alternative gives Kshama strength and keeps her accountable to working-class movements.
Kshama’s record stands in sharp contrast to the dozens of elected NDP politicians who do not build powerful movements or wage struggles to win bold demands. If the Canadian working class wants to have their own representatives like Kshama Sawant, they need to build the democratic and revolutionary socialist party that will produce them. Socialist Alternative Canada, the sister organization of Socialist Alternative in the US, is actively building such an organization here. Both parties are in solidarity with the International Socialist Alternative with affiliated sections around the world. We are active on the ground in Canada fighting in working-class campaigns and for demands including rent control in Vancouver. If you want to build the forces of revolutionary socialism in Canada, join Socialist Alternative!
Kshama Sawant is speaking in Vancouver at a COPE rally:
6:30 pm, Sunday, October 2
Russian Hall, 600 Campbell Avenue
