Thursday, September 26
6:00 pm
Indianapolis Liberation Center
While the City-County Council deliberates on the proposed budget for 2025, working and oppressed people already know it does not work for us. How many working and oppressed people directly contributed to shaping the budget of the city in which we live and work? What does our lack of control over the budget say about worker power in Indianapolis today?
At this month’s PSL Indianapolis Liberation Forum, we’ll discuss the details of the budget and provide a larger historical and political context to help understand why the interests of the vast majority are nearly absent from not only the budget, but the discussions surrounding it. We’ll discuss what a real worker’s democracy could look like and how we have organized locally and nationally to build a new system.
We’re excited to host special guest speaker Michael Torres, President of AFSCME Local 3395. Torres will discuss the founding of the Library Workers’ Union, which started in 2006 and continues struggling against a corrupt and illegitimate CEO and Board majority.
We’ll also learn about the formation of the first modern international workers’ organization, the International Workingmen’s Association (or The First International). Examining the formation and demise of the First International reveals key lessons as we continue organizing for people’s power in Indianapolis.
After the presentations, we’ll present our own 2025 Indianapolis Budget proposal and engage in a discussion about what a real workers’ democracy, on the local and national level, could look like!
Featured photo: A PSL member speaks at a 2021 Library Workers’ Union and Indianapolis Liberation Center rally that was part of a successful struggle to remove racist and anti-worker CEO Jackie Nytes. Credit: Indianapolis Liberation Center.
