Marxist Unity Group Rules
Membership
Article 1. A member is one who joins the Marxist Unity Group through its admittance process, accepts its rules and points of unity, works to carry out the aims of the group, and regularly pays any required membership dues.
Article 2. Members must fulfill all tasks assigned to them, fight for the Marxist Unity Group's strategic objectives, and use the group's resources in a responsible manner. Members also have a right and a duty to study Marxism and develop the group’s political positions.
Organization
Article 3. The Marxist Unity Group bases its organizational principles on genuine democratic centralism. The part is subordinate to the whole, lower committees to higher, all committees to the Central Committee, and the Central Committee to the congress.
Article 4. Except where the rules state otherwise, in all organizational bodies decisions are taken by the majority of members participating in the meeting. Decisions may only be taken at meetings that have achieved quorum. Except where specified otherwise, a quorum shall be set at one-half the membership of the body in question. It is the right and the duty of members to participate in the meetings of the bodies of which they are a member and to openly state their views on all matters. In between meetings assigned tasks must be fulfilled.
Article 5. Organizational bodies are autonomous within their sphere of responsibility.
Article 6. Higher committees have the right to appoint representatives to participate in the meetings of lower bodies and establish relations with their members.
Article 7. During a particular action, members have the right to submit their views to higher committees up to the Central Committee for discussion and to publish them in the press. While acting fully by the principle of unity in action, members can oppose decisions taken by higher committees. That includes the right to organize to change the group's policy or its leadership.
Structure
Article 8. The Congress is the highest decision-making body of the Marxist Unity Group. The Congress considers reports, resolutions, proposed changes to the group’s rules, points of unity, and code of conduct, and all matters it considers relevant. The Congress is held annually and must be announced to members at least three months in advance.
Article 9. All members in good standing have the right to attend and vote at the Congress. The Central Committee may invite delegates to the Congress who have speaking but not voting rights. If more than one-third of the membership demands it, the Central Committee must convene an Extraordinary Congress. It shall be held within thirty (30) days, with at least fourteen (14) days notice given to all members. Business will be limited to the items in the call for the Extraordinary Congress. An Extraordinary Congress can also be called by a majority decision of the Central Committee.
Article 10. A General Meeting is the highest decision-making body between Congresses. A General Meeting considers reports, resolutions, and all matters it considers relevant, but it cannot propose changes to the group’s rules, points of unity, and code of conduct. The Central Committee shall set a regular meeting schedule for General Meetings and promptly make that schedule, and all subsequent meeting minutes, available to the membership.
Article 11. All members in good standing have the right to attend and vote at a General Meeting. The Central Committee may invite guests to a General Meeting who have speaking but not voting rights. If more than one-fifth of the membership demands it, the Central Committee must convene an Extraordinary General Meeting. It should be held within fifteen (15) days, with at least seven (7) days notice given to all members. An Extraordinary General Meeting can also be called by a majority decision of the Central Committee.
Article 12. The Central Committee is the highest decision-making body between General Meetings. The Central Committee considers reports, resolutions, and all matters it considers relevant, but it cannot propose changes to the group’s rules, points of unity, and code of conduct. The Central Committee shall set a regular meeting schedule for itself and promptly make that schedule, and all subsequent meeting minutes, available to the membership.
Article 13. The Central Committee shall be composed of five (5) initial members, unless otherwise decided by vote of the Congress. Elections to the Central Committee shall be conducted via a single transferable vote. All members in good standing have the right to stand for election to the Central Committee. The Central Committee may nominate up to two (2) additional members, and must hold a special election for vacancies. Nominees and candidates for vacancies must be confirmed as full Central Committee members, with voting rights, upon an affirmative or winning vote initiated at a General Meeting. If more than one-third of the Central Committee membership demands it, the Central Committee must convene an extraordinary meeting of the Central Committee. It should be held within three days.
Article 14. The Central Committee should not consist entirely of white, cis men. If an elected Central Committee does not meet these standards, it will use the nomination process as outlined in Article 13 as necessary to adhere to this policy in a reasonable time frame. The Central Committee may coordinate with established committees to assist in any training or special development necessary to develop members toward qualification to serve on the Central Committee.
Article 15. The Congress, a General Meeting, and the Central Committee have the power to establish and dissolve organizational bodies, such as cells and committees. Cells are organized at the level of a DSA chapter/s where three or more members of the group are active. Committees are organized based on a specific task or issue.
Discipline
Article 16. Members may be disciplined for violations of the group’s rules, organizational discipline, and code of conduct in accordance with the procedures laid out in the code of conduct.
Article 17. Any member who is subject to disciplinary procedures has the right to appeal to higher bodies, including the congress.
Article 18. The expulsion of a member from the Central Committee must be agreed upon by a two-thirds majority of its full membership.
Admittance and Dues
Article 19. The Central Committee shall determine the admittance process and the level of membership dues, but the congress may review and alter these decisions. Dispensation can be negotiated in particular cases by the basic committees, but have to be ratified by the Central Committee.
Code of Conduct
Members of Marxist Unity Group should remember that both online and in person they will be seen as representing the faction. While we don’t seek to police each other’s behavior at all times, we should strive to collectively keep ourselves broadly held to these principles. Both in online interactions and in person, members should aim for the following:
1) Always avoid chauvinist tendencies in personal interactions, give space for women, gender/sexual minorities and non-white comrades to speak and prevent your voice from personally dominating political spaces.
2) “No investigation, no right to speak.”Try not to make generalizations about things you don’t really know—especially about other DSA factions. Treat members of other socialist factions-- both inside and outside of DSA-- as comrades in the struggle for socialism regardless of how poor we think their strategy is--both in person and online. Keep arguments and disagreements over principled political differences rather than personal mudslinging, etc. When you do have a principled position, never be afraid to respectfully share it: contribute to our political development by making it known to all.
3) Stay committed to our vision and principles as broadly laid out in our Points of Unity. Practice organizational discipline by helping to implement the decisions that we make together democratically, as Marxist Unity Group membership and the elected Central Committee.
Rule Violations
Marxist Unity Arbiters (as outlined in the following section) will deem potential Code of Conduct violations to be either major or minor. No more than one should be a man unless there aren’t enough non-men willing to take the position. In this situation the second chair will be held provisionally until gender parity can be achieved.
Major offenses refer to:
a. Breach of discipline:
Endangering organizational security.
Obstructing organizational work.
Refusing to assist with agreed-upon tasks.
Abandoning Marxist Unity Group’s principles and revolutionary vision as broadly envisioned in our Points of Unity.
b. All forms of physical, sexual, and domestic violence.
c. Behavior presenting a clear safety threat to members of the group.
d. Inappropriate or unprofessional behavior that makes other members feel so uncomfortable that they are reluctant to participate in the group.
e. Behavior that causes immediate and substantial dysfunction at wider DSA meetings and events.
f. Repeatedly committing minor offenses after receiving clear warnings from Arbiters or other Marxist Unity Group members.
Minor offenses refer to any problematic behavior that brings discredit to our organization or violates our Code of Conduct, but does not present an immediate threat to members’ safety, and does not cause severe disruption to the functioning of the group.
Only major offenses are grounds for suspension, expulsion, and other formal disciplinary measures. Minor offenses should be resolved through informal dialogue and mediation. If an offending party refuses to resolve their behavior, their offense may be reclassified as major.
Grievance Policy
Marxist Unity recognizes that it does not have the resources to create a miniature judicial system and fully investigate crimes against its members. However, our faction cannot function effectively unless all of its members are treated with dignity and respect. To make sure this is the case, we have established the following procedure to resolve conflicts and maintain internal discipline.
Marxist Unity members will elect two people by single transferable vote to serve as Arbiters for simultaneous one-year terms, acting as neutral investigators in cases of interpersonal conflict or breach of discipline. If necessary, Arbiters may facilitate a disciplinary process against members who violate National DSA’s Harassment Policy and Codes of Conduct or Marxist Unity’s Code of Conduct.
These individuals must not be members of the Central Committee or occupy any other leadership position within the group.
At the request of any member or the Central Committee, an Arbiter can attempt to resolve an issue or conflict by consulting with all parties and coming to a mutually agreed-upon resolution, or if necessary by pursuing disciplinary action.
a. Although Arbiters are encouraged to work together, either may pursue a case independently of the other.
b. If an Arbiter has personal entanglements or other limitations making it impossible for them to treat both parties fairly and impartially, they must recuse themselves from the case and defer to the other Arbiter
c. If both Arbiters need to recuse themselves from the process, they must find a temporary solution to the underlying conflict, and then present the issue to the chapter’s membership at the next General Body Meeting. By majority vote, the chapter will designate two people to temporarily take their place, resolving the case as ad hoc Arbiters.
d. If one Arbiter has a grievance with the other Arbiter, they will inform the Central Committee. The Central Committeewill inform general membership so that one or more ad hoc Arbiters can be selected by membership.
e. When the case concerns breaches of discipline or otherwise public misbehavior, Arbiters should share information and coordinate with the Central Committee to the greatest extent possible.
f. All arbitration should be documented in writing.
If efforts at mutual resolution fail or the accused’s behavior appears to constitute a major offense, the Arbiter(s) may pursue disciplinary action.
When pursuing disciplinary action, the Arbiter(s) may inform the accused member that they have been temporarily banned from the group.
When the case concerns violence (major offense b.) or a breach of organizational security that cannot be publicly disclosed, the accused member shall be temporarily banned from Marxist Unity and furthermore may not appear in any DSA spaces pending resolution. Should the accused violate this, they will be immediately and permanently expelled from Marxist Unity.
When the case concerns violence, harassment, or breach of organizational security that cannot be publicly disclosed, adjudication may also be carried out by a panel of five MUG members that will respect the need for privacy and anonymity. At least three of the five panelists must be rank and file members. Panel members will be nominated by the Arbiter(s) and confirmed by the Central Committee. If the Arbiter(s) and Central Committee cannot agree on a full set of panel members, the Arbiter(s) may instead present nominees to MUG membership for confirmation at a General Meeting. Once all panel members are confirmed, the arbiters will then present their findings and recommendations, and the panel will proceed to hold a hearing where the accused member can make their perspective known. Only the panelists, Arbiter(s), accused member, and grievant may attend this hearing, unless the grievant and Arbiter(s) decide otherwise. If the accused party repeatedly and negligently misses their hearing or fails to agree on a hearing date despite good faith efforts to accommodate them, then after three weeks the panel may choose to conduct the hearing asynchronously, submitting questions and requesting a written statement from the accused party. If the accused fails to submit their question responses and statement within one week, they will be considered to have forfeited their right to a hearing. A majority vote of the panel is sufficient to make a final decision regarding the discipline of an accused member. The arbiter(s) and panel members will inform the general body of Marxist Unity of the final decision and explain its justification. The Arbiter(s) should also release records of the disciplinary proceedings, with redactions made as necessary to protect organizational security as well as the privacy and anonymity of victims and witnesses.
If the anonymous adjudication process is not needed, the Arbiter(s) will arrange a public hearing where the accused member can make their perspective known. If the accused party repeatedly and negligently misses their hearing or fails to agree on a hearing date despite good faith efforts to accommodate them, then after three weeks the Arbiter(s) may choose to conduct the hearing asynchronously, submitting questions and requesting a written statement from the accused party. If the accused fails to submit their question responses and statement within one week, they will be considered to have forfeited their right to a hearing.
After the hearing, at a Marxist Unity general meeting or special meeting that they arrange themselves, the Arbiter(s) will share their findings and recommendations with membership as a whole.
After a substantial discussion, membership will decide by majority vote whether (and if so, how) the accused member should be formally disciplined. The vote may take place during or after the meeting at the discretion of the Arbiter(s). Quorum for any decision is one half of membership. Disciplinary measures may include a formal warning, temporary suspension, or permanent expulsion of a Marxist Unity member. After the conclusion of this meeting, the Arbiter(s)will be responsible for communicating the group’s final decision to the offending member.
As a rule of thumb, final decisions regarding the discipline of a member should be made no later than two months after the original grievance is lodged.
Arbiters are not Marxist Unity Group’s paternalistic stewards. They will be carefully selected volunteers held accountable to the organization as a whole. By majority vote, Marxist Unity members may decide to recall either Arbiter at any general meeting.
As our faction develops, this process will presumably need modifications. Working in tandem with membership, the Central Committee will review the Code of Conduct at least once every year to examine potential updates
As DSA members, all members of Marxist Unity Group are also free to report any grievance to DSA.
The Arbiters have a duty to collect and retain informal conduct complaints to better identify repeat behavior which on its own does not amount to a formal grievance. Arbiter(s) would use their discretion, based on the retained information, to bring it to the membership body if conduct reaches a problematic pattern.
Sustained allegations of violence shall whenever possible be communicated in writing by Arbiter(s) to the appropriate DSA HGO(s), with identifying details of survivor(s) anonymized except with their explicit consent.