Our first meeting went off with only a few hitches! Thank you to everyone that attended.
Unfortunately we had a few technical issues with our internet connection. They were entirely my fault; I should have known trying to host two laptops on my personal hotspot would have been too much. Luckily we were able to access a (paid) Xfinity hotspot to smooth things out, but we will need to figure out a free long term solution.
We had hoped to record the meeting and provide a transcript instead of minutes, but that did not work out with all the lag during the zoom call. I’ll provide a brief summary of the votes that took place below. We should have a SOP for meeting minutes following Roberts Rules using this guide before the next meeting.
Meeting Notes
You can see the slides from the meeting here. Please check the notes under the slides for more context.
Dues
Dues will be minimum $10/month, with a waiver for anyone experiencing financial problems. It is important we do not like the ability to pay dues impact people’s ability to become members.
@HipGnosis brought up adding a sliding scale, depending on income in the future and cited IWW’s model.
@anon26178869 suggested we should have a cash only method of collecting payments. Many people do not have credit cards or bank accounts so online payments methods only would not be feasible.
@WCU_Steering should have a proposal to address both points by the next General Meeting.
General Meeting Dates
General Meetings will be the second Thursday and fourth Monday of every month. Thursday meetings will be hybrid and Monday meetings will be virtual only.
Interim Steering Committee
Thank you to the people who stepped up to be interim steering committee members. We still have a lot of paperwork to do to get WCU up and running. We will make a thread in the Steering Committee category and will attempt to conduct Steering Committee business there so we are being as transparent as possible.
First reading of Bylaws
We presented a few of the key points in the bylaws in the meeting. Full bylaws can be found here. Please review them before the next meeting. We will ask membership to approve them then.
Reading Group
Membership approved a Reading Group covering the ABC’s of Capitalism by Vivek Chibber. There are three ~40 page pamphlets that cover the basics of capitalism and class struggle.
It is meant for people who are new to the left, but it should also give everyone a better understanding of how to approach the topic with people who haven’t been in left circles for several years.
I’ll make a new thread for the reading group in the WCU non-member section and link to the PDF there. We asked everyone to read the first 25 pages. First meetings will be June 1 and June 2 5:30-6:30 (two sessions to give flexibility).
Strike Ready Pledge
Membership also approved a Strike Ready Pledge. We should promote this on social media as well as ask members of the public to sign the pledge (even if they are not WCU members yet).
I pledge my support to union workers who are standing up for their rights and demanding better working conditions, fair wages, and respect in the workplace. In light of the recent increase in striking workers and labor militancy, it’s crucial for us to stand together in solidarity. If any union decides to strike, I will be prepared to support them in their fight for a better world. I commit to never crossing a picket line and to always stand with my fellow workers.
If anyone has any questions about the meeting, please comment below.