From Philly Metro Workers Solidarity Alliance 

This Saturday we will travel with our co-workers to No Kings protests, some to City Hall, some to Harrisburg, and some to DC. 

As WSA, of course we will be there with our calls for an end to racism and the class system, and an end to genocide – resistance to fascism without mere reformism. We stand for working-class revolution from below! 

While the cause we bring is more radical than the event the organizers are broadcasting, it’s crucial for us to be there.

The idea of boycotting or dismissing a mass mobilization for democracy against fascism, does not appeal to us. We want to be IN our workplace and present our views, and WITH our co-workers at Saturday’s protests. For some this will be the first protest they ever attend. Among workers at higher risk, in this time of repressive danger, their willingness to attend a protest is courageous. 

We stand internationally with our comrades in the International Workers Association as we deal with this global authoritarian movement, this international threat to immigrant workers and erosion of rights. May the voice of workers this Saturday speak out in solidarity with all at risk, and call for transformation! 

Online Gathering: Thursday, May First, 8:30 pm EDT

You are warmly invited to our Fourth Annual May Day Online Event, This Thursday, May First, 8: 30 pm EDT

Hosted by Greater Chicago WSA (Workers Solidarity Alliance, Anarchist-Syndicalist, friends with IWA)

This Jitsi link will get you into the meeting –

(Contact us if you have trouble getting in)

https://meet.jit.si/WSAMayDay2024

A short program :

Opening Song By Martin Traphagan

Annual One Minute May Day Speech, by Piper

Tariffs Divide Us, The Struggle Unites !

Relaxed Report backs from May Day, and our current crisis

See you there !

From Workers Solidarity Alliance, Labor Committee. 

  Revolutionary unionists have always stood for the solidarity of the global working class, rejecting every attempt by the ruling class to divide us—whether through borders, race, gender, or any other means of exploitation. The idea that workers in any one country have interests in common with their bosses is a lie designed to keep us from recognizing our true power. The recent trade war policies of the fascist U.S. President Trump, which sought to pit U.S. workers against workers in other nations through tariffs, were just one example of how those in power manipulate workers for their own gain. When ruling classes in other countries retaliate, it is nothing more than a struggle between competing capitalists—none of whom serve the interests of the working class. Meanwhile, their economic and political systems continue to brutalize migrant workers, exploit marginalized laborers, and uphold structures of oppression that harm all but the wealthiest few.

Any attempt to rally workers behind protectionist policies—whether by right-wing nationalists or union bureaucrats like United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain—is a betrayal of true working-class solidarity, operating within a system that assumes the permanence of exploitation, seeking only to negotiate for slightly better conditions rather than challenging the system itself. It is no surprise, then, that they accept the logic of capitalist competition, framing economic struggles as battles between nations rather than between workers and bosses. If our unions are led by those willing to collaborate with the ruling class, then workers must build new structures of power—organizing outside the limits imposed by hierarchical union leadership and embracing direct action, mutual aid, and truly democratic decision-making in our workplaces, communities, and beyond.

At the same time, we reject the myth of “free trade” as a benevolent force. For centuries, imperialist powers—including the U.S., Russia, and China today—have used it as an ideological cover for the exploitation and plunder of workers in smaller, less powerful nations. The wealth hoarded by the ruling classes of imperialist nations is stolen from the labor and resources of the Global South, just as capitalism itself is built on the theft of Indigenous land, the unpaid labor of enslaved people, and the continued oppression of marginalized communities. Some workers in the imperial core may receive small material benefits from this exploitation, but we reject any suggestion that this justifies their complicity. The labor movement must refuse to be a tool of capitalist expansion, and those who try to convince workers that they share a common cause with their bosses—whether through nationalism or reformism—are enemies of true workers’ liberation.

Rather than being trapped in the false choice between “free trade” and protectionism, workers must demand a new world—one where resources and wealth are shared equitably, and decisions about production and distribution are made democratically by those most affected. A movement for workers’ liberation must be rooted in feminism, anti-racism, disability justice, environmental justice, and the struggle against all forms of oppression. Only through solidarity that recognizes the full humanity of all workers—across borders, genders, and identities—can we create a future beyond capitalism, where our labor serves our communities, not the profits of the ruling class.

Join us this Saturday at 3pm est, where founding member of WSA, and WSA’s first National Treasurer reflects on WSA’s history, and invites us to its future !

For info how to participate, write to us at

Philly-Metro-WSA@proton.me

we will check email just before the meeting, see you then !

Philly’s long time organizer and radical journalist will address the WSA’s 40th Anniversary Congress, with reflections on group democracy, journalism and anarcha-feminism! Helping us look to our future!

to attend, write to us at

philly-metro-wsa@proton.me

By Greater Chicago WSA 

The Workers Solidarity Alliance, a national organization of anarchist-syndicalists, will hold its National Congress on the weekend of Nov 22. 

The organization was founded 40 years ago, and this Congress will also be a celebration. WSA is currently working on a ‘40th anniversary of WSA’ issue of its publication, Ideas & Action # 18. 

This will be the WSA’s first congress to be held online.

“We are presented with some creative challenges,” said member Hanna Waldman. “We have a lot of democratic procedure to move through, so how to pull this all off with a Zoom conference, is new territory for us.” 

Since just before the pandemic, WSA committees such as its Labor Committee and International Committee, began to hold meetings by Zoom as a way of increasing participation. 

Member Danielle K added “A whole Congress online will be very different than just a committee— it’s all the committees and the coordinating committee and two local Branches. How to we make this lively and dynamic? How do we make this ‘embodied,’ not just boxes on a screen? But it’s a challenge we’re ready for!” 

In addition to the reports, proposals, and voting, the Congress will include two public events as part of its celebration. On Thursday night, Nov 21, Suzy Subways, a well-known Philadelphia organizer, will be the guest speaker. Suzy will talk on “Group Democracy, Journalism and Anarcha-Feminism.” 

Saturday, Nov 23, the organization will offer a history workshop with one of its founders, long-time organizer and writer Steve Rabinowitz, who is currently serving as a delegate on the Coordinating Committee. Steve will present on “WSA, Past and Future.” 

For updated information on the public talk and history workshop, please contact WSA’s Philadelphia area Branch: 

philly-metro-wsa@proton.me

By Philly Metro WSA 

At three different worksites, WSA members wrote short invitations to take part in solidarity actions for the fight against wage theft; each invitation  included an accessible intro to the history of the IWA-AIT. The Invitations were tailor-made to the co workers at each workplace. 

One of the invitations read in part:

“Many of us here have been in the US workforce for years, even decades. We’ve had the experience of having a boss not pay us what we were due, or trying to withhold benefits. We’ve heard from our families’ bad experiences, or we’ve had friends or co-workers who’ve had to go through this. Now is an opportunity for each of us in our own work situation to educate ourselves about how to act in solidarity when these situations come up! 

“The world’s oldest anarcho-syndicalist international, the IWA-AIT, invites us to be part of an international week of action against unpaid wages, Oct 16- 22.  Several of us here are excited to be part of this, and we plan to do a workshop on how we can teach ourselves about this issue, how we can act in solidarity, and how we can be ready to advocate for our friends and family when things happen!” 

Coworkers, comrades, and fellow labor activists—wishing you a restful Labor Day weekend!

In keeping with our radical political traditions, we put our activist energies into May Day, not Labor Day. This doesn’t mean that we haven’t been craving a rest from the bone-aching grind of our labor. In our WSA branch, we are furniture movers, home workers, pink collar assistants, and healthcare workers. We all need a rest from exhaustion. This three day weekend is needed to recover.

Labor Day was fought for and won by workers. But we also know that this is far from enough. It’s a drop in the bucket.

Labor Day, with its parades and picnics, took the shape of a more capitalism-friendly alternative to the more radical May Day that was characterized by street protests and strikes.

While we focus our eyes on May Day, you will still see us with friends at local Labor Day events, re-affirming the community aspects of our work lives. We need to recuperate in preparation for amplifying workplace voices and building relationships. As we know, building relationships is the heart of organizing. So, strike up the grill. But tomorrow, we build the General Strike ! 

From Philly Metro WSA 

“We are committed to building a future rooted in a classless and stateless society, where we, as working people, create workplace and community democracies that prioritize human needs over profits for the few. Our vision is a world free from the social oppressions of racism, sexism, and queerphobia. Through our revolutionary unions, we will transform the nature of work, paving the way to our collective liberation.”

From Greater Chicago WSA 

By Greater Chicago WSA

Reprinted from WSA Discussion Bulletin # 75

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Wednesday, May first, at 8 30 pm EDT, workers from around  the country and Canada gathered for our third annual May Day online event. 

The recent passing of our beloved Clarissa, who was pivotal in the first two years of our evening May Day, was frequently mentioned through the gathering. 

The opening song, by Martin Traphagen, ‘Arrival,’  was inspired by Clarissa. 

The third annual May Day Speech, this year delivered by Rebecca Croog, vividly described the impact that Clarissa had on her work:  “As I find my way into this work, I am visited multiple times a day by the memory and spirit of our Comrade Clarissa, who we recently lost to long covid. I can hear her encouraging us: 

‘Don’t mourn, organize!’ I can feel her galvanizing us: ‘Let’s build coalitions! Let’s make this moment bigger and bigger!’ Gathered together as an anarcha-syndicalist community, let’s invite her in to remind us: ‘ALL BUILDS TO THE GENERAL STRIKE’ 

Rest in power, Clarissa! Free Palestine!”

As attendance increased, speakers reported on recent health care labor struggles, and one of the founding members of WSA, Steve Rabinowitz, read from the history of the Haymarket Martyrs, specifically the words of August Spies. 

After the formal program, attendees shared news of May Day events and Gaza actions in their areas, from Philadelphia, Asheville, Greater Chicago WSA and other cities. 

Comrade Greg McGee shared breaking news of attacks on the Ceasefire Gaza encampment at Columbia University. 

Rebecca shared news of her work with Jewish Voice for Peace, recent union drives, and workers  standing up for Gaza. 

At one point everyone joined in singing happy birthday to our comrade Alexandra, who is a May Day baby!!

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As the meeting wound further down, comrades stayed for more informal discussion. Comrade Mitchell, (WSA zone 2 delegate in Oregon), asked what anarchist-syndicalists make of Rosa Luxembourg. This led to an energetic discussion on how anarchists can build relationships with anti-authoritarian Marxists, such as council communists and anti-state Marxists, outlining how Luxembourg’s work prefigured councilism, lamenting how Trotskyist groups have claimed her. Like later councilists, her criticism of anarchists seemed to be more that, at that moment, they were disorganized and had little capacity, different from criticism of organized libertarian communism itself. 

By this point there were a few brave and sleepy comrades engaging in this conversion, and there were warm goodbyes. And for annual attendees not part of WSA, there were hopes to see everyone on May Day 2025! 

Below is Martin’s opening song ‘Arrival’, in honor of Clarissa –

 By Rebecca Croog, An interview series with Sachio Ko-yin.

“In order to have a society where workers manage themselves collectively, we need all of our best group process skills. To have a culture that values all voices and all people equally in decision-making, we need to practice ways of working together that don’t reproduce oppression. Deliberation takes practice!”  Clairssa Rogers 

On March 13th, 2024, our dear comrade Clarissa Rogers, longtime anarchist organizer and theorist, made her transition after a hard-fought battle with Long COVID. To honor her and as a service to the anarchist movement, we are sharing a series of interviews we did together about Clarissa’s anarchist theorizing and research. Our hope, as was Clarissa’s, is that her ideas and her overall journey as a working class theorist will inspire and galvanize other working class people to seize intellectual power and pursue collective education as part of liberation struggle. 

The question of “who is the working class?” heavily motivated Clarissa’s theory work. As an anarcha-syndicalist, Clarissa brought an intersectional lens to this inquiry, meaning that she was committed to hearing  and theorizing with the vast number of women, queer people, Black folks, and other non-white workers that make up the working class–groups that traditional anarcho-syndicalism largely ignored, to the great detriment of the movement itself. With this framework always at the fore, Clarissa developed a number of specific concepts, which we explore in detail throughout these interviews. These include: the philosophical implications of anarchist decisionmaking tactics, small group sociology of anarchist communities, anarchist pedagogy and worker self education, working class intellectualism, critical theory of anarchist group processes, and many more. 

In Part One of this series, we set the scene, through a discussion of Clarissa’s arrival to Philadelphia in the late 90’s , a golden era of West Philly Anarchism. 

We want to offer a disclaimer about the imperfection of memory as it relates to this project. Many of the experiences and conversations that Sachio recounts in these interviews happened decades ago, and these first interviews were conducitd while Sachio was arranging for Clarissa’s memorial and literary estate. We are well aware that many other comrades had the honor of participating in Clarissa’s intellectual journey. We invite plenty of space for corrections, additions, and clarifications. This is a first draft, a living project, as Clarissa herself remains a living memory to us all.

Part One: Setting the Scene – Clarissa in Anarchist West Philly

Rebecca: I thought it could be good to start very broadly, by asking you to tell me the story of how you and Clarissa first met. I know it was in 2003 in West Philly. Where exactly were you and what do you remember about that initial interaction?

Sachio: Alright so to provide some context, I’d come to Philly right as the anti-war movement was ramping up. I remember that there was a meeting of this nice United Nations group, Earth Charter Citizens. And they had on their agenda to talk about the possibility of building a coalition for the anti-war movement in Philly. So I don’t know if they really intended for that meeting to be a coalition meeting, but I jumped on the opportunity. I was new to the city, but I called up all of the Philly organizers I had met so far, and everyone who knew anyone who was doing anti-war work. I wanted to find anyone who might be interested, and to try to get as many groups as possible into that Earth Charter Citizens Group meeting. So we ended up with this giant–these poor Earth Charter Citizens–this giant room full of the Philadelphia left, pacifists, anarchists, Stalinists, free market republicans, and assorted quirky people. So that started the ball rolling of me doing facilitation in Philly. For about two or three meetings, I was trying to facilitate discussion about how the organizers were going to build a coalition.

So it was after one of those meetings that I was on the 36 trolley, the one that goes into West Philly, riding right along Baltimore Ave, and along that route, someone came up, and it was Clarissa Rogers! I’d never met her before and she came right up to me and said, “you were at the meeting last night. YOU are a good facilitator!” And I said, “thank you so much!.” She told me that facilitation was her main thing, and said, “you probably know my friend Daniel Hunter” and I said “oh yes Daniel Hunter!” so we ended up making a connection. 

Rebecca: Wow, so if facilitation was Clarissa’s main thing and you were newer to it, her compliment must have felt like a high honor! What happened next?

Sachio: Yes, exactly! So what happened next is that Clarissa invited me over to her place to discuss a bunch of  projects that were coming out of that coalition. The Coalition, by the way, came to be known as PRAWN (Philadelphia Regional Anti-War Network), a very funny acronym, but that’s what we were–we were PRAWN. And so that work, that was my first experience of radical West Philly! And there were so many things happening at once at the time, so much excitement. So, I of course took Clarissa up on her offer, and went right over to her place, and it turned out to be one of this group of anarchist houses that existed at the time. 

Rebecca: Ooh cool! As you know, I am so eager to talk about the geographies of West Philadelphia and anarchism as part of this interview, especially because you, me, and Clarissa all share a love of critical geography. Take me into that world!

Sachio: So Clarissa was living in one of these anarchist houses, and hers was called “the Cindergarden.” The name was like, ya know if you take cinder blocks and turn them into a garden you have Cindergarden… Cindergarden was right down the street from another anarchist house called “Not Squat.” It was called that because squats don’t have permission to exist, but all of these houses were actually part of the Land Trust that was left over from the Movement for a New Society. So it was “Not Squat” like “THIS IS NOT A SQUAT,” but it was like a squat, it was like a squat where they had permission. So right there was Cindergarden, there was Clarissa, and there was a whole giant community of these punk anti-globalization activists running all over the place working on projects, living in community, having all sorts of personal drama, and sitting around strumming the guitar late at night. These were my first impressions… the walls were crumbling down and when you took a step on the floor, I remember, you may just have to be careful that you don’t fall through the floor. That was my recollection. 

So Clarissa meets with me there, she introduces me to a bunch of people, and we’re sitting down and we’re working on something related to peacekeeping. More specifically, what we were working on was helping out the peace keeping trainer Dion Loreman. For some context, Dion Loreman was a member of the Movement for a New Society back in the 80s, which was this giant nonviolent anarchist organization in Philly that prefigured a lot of anarchist history that came later after that–I mean obviously anarchism in Philly goes all the way back to the 19th century…

Rebecca: How did the rest of the West Philly anarchists feel about the peacekeeping trainings? 

Sachio: Yes, this whole idea of ‘peacekeeping’ seemed controversial in the West Philly scene. Clarissa was helping me navigate some of this controversy, because she felt that when you have a giant demonstration, the more we can be coordinated and in communication with each other, and deal with conflict on our own, the more we can keep the police from having an excuse to jump in and try to mediate our conflicts for us. So, some folks in the West Philly  movement were very skeptical about this, they called us the “self appointed peacekeepers.” Clarissa was so crucial at that time in really helping me understand the local culture and helping me reach out to the West Philly activists. 

And of course I had tons of history questions, about how this whole anti-authoritarian community in West Philly had come into existence. I had just come from Central Pennsylvania, where I did two and a half years for an antinuclear weapons protest. And when I was there, there was this guy named Eric from Williamsport, a fellow anarchist, who was moving to Philly at the time, and said something like “Sachi, you gotta come to Philly. All the anarchists are moving to Philly, from all over the place, it’s really happening!” So I had already gotten some idea that there was a really big burgeoning new infrastructure of a very DIY antiglobalization movement. 

Rebecca: This is SO you and Clarissa, to be diving right into all of these questions about the culture and structure of an activist community you were a part of, figuring out how to build coalitions and accomplish goals amidst various internal conflicts and tensions. 

Sachio: Right, exactly! So in my first conversations with Clarissa about Cindergarden, I had so many questions about … what is going on here? What does anarchism mean here? How do you guys make decisions? And Rebecca, you and I of course  have had so many conversations about infrastructure anywhere we go, infrastructure in a region, of course, because we are critical geography partners… well oh boy I had questions about infrastructure in this very specific anarchist West Philly area! So those questions took up much of our conversation, and Clarissa was very happy to map it all out for me, she was very excited to talk about it. So that was my first experience with Clarissa, and it was immediately clear to me that Clarissa and I would become comrades in anarchist organizing, but also someone I could do anarchist theorizing with, and later, social science with. And as you point out, this initial conversation fits right in with everything that was to come.

Stay tuned for our next piece in this series, which begins with a discussion of Clarissa’s quirky coinage of “planarchy” and how it relates to her thinking around social anarchism, anarcha-syndicalism, and anarchist tactics.