Bund Bulletin Volume 1 Issue 13

February 14, 2025 By Provisional Steering Committee

IN THIS BULLETIN:

  • Election Updates

  • Building Up the Delegate Body

  • General Meeting

Dear Bundists,

Happy Valentine’s Day! We put in a little extra love in this Bulletin to mark the occasion, but still have a lot to cover from this eventful week.

Elections for up to three new Provisional Steering Committee members are still in progress, and will continue until February 17 at 11:59 pm UTC-12. Provisional members have received ballots in emails under the subject line “Your Invitation to Vote in the Election: International Jewish Labor Bund Provisional Steering Committee Election #2”. You can access information on engagement and candidate profiles here, and you can catch up with the ongoing candidate Q&A here.

Each candidate will need “yes” votes from more than 50% of cast ballots to be seated in one of the three available seats. If you want to vote but haven’t become a Provisional Member yet, please fill out the intake form (or Provisional Membership Agreement if you’ve already filled out the intake form without expressing interest in becoming a Provisional Member) as soon as possible.

In terms of the future of the Bund, the Provisional Steering Committee will only exist until May 2025 and the organization as a whole should be in a place where the PSC is no longer needed. As such, building up the committees and a delegate body are top priorities. This has been the plan from the start, but after seeing confusion about the PSC’s future, we would like to reiterate our commitment to disbanding by this date.

To help clarify things to all of you and continue charting a path forward, the IJLB is looking to convene a General Meeting to discuss the details for the structure of the delegate body and immediate steps to stand it up. We’ve also written a report summarizing the background of the IJLB prior to the first PSC election in November, the work we’ve been doing since, and where we hope things will go. Fill in your availability to help select a date/time in the first weeks of March using this When2Meet.

As discussed at our last General Meeting (1/26), our current goal is to reach at least 5 official chapters before forming a delegate body with an effective degree of locally-rooted democracy. While there are a number of official Organizing Committees, the IJLB currently has 1 official Chapter located in the DMV that has both the 10 requisite members and elected 3 local conveners. While the PSC would like to reiterate the IJLB’s commitment to ensuring representation for those who aren’t directly connected to local Chapters (more info coming soon), the more Chapters the IJLB will have by the time the PSC’s mandate expires the easier it will be to continue our work as the IJLB. To help us set up the delegate body quickly:

  1. Find a couple local khaveyrim and fill out the Organizing Committee form with them;

  2. Sign up 10 provisional members (it’s possible your Chapter already meets this requirement, official Organizing Committees have access to contact information of signups in their area so be sure to check once your OC is formed!) via the Intake Form;

  3. Elect (at least) 3 local conveners and follow the instructions included in the Convener Form.

Further details on this process can be found here.

ANNOUNCEMENTS

  • History WG Meeting: Noon Eastern Time on Tuesday, February 18th. Link coming soon!

  • Der Spekter is looking to add a new member to its editorial board. Though Der Spekter editorial board members' roles are fluid, we are hoping this person can focus on expanding Der Spekter’s social media presence, particularly on Instagram (@der.spekter), as well as their network of contributors. Given their board is currently overwhelmingly Ashkenazi and American, they particularly welcome those outside of these identities. This is a volunteer position. If you're interested, send a brief email to spekter@derbund.org about your background and your interest in Der Spekter, and be sure to catch up on Der Spekter’s publications here.

  • Our khaver [redacted] could use your help. Here’s her request (edited to match the Bulletin’s formatting):

    • My car was repossessed yesterday. I gave up any income back in August to work full time and then some to get [redacted] off the ground. I have still not been able to pay myself a consistent salary, but I also cannot cannot let go of this work particularly at this time. My car has been serving as a community vehicle for rideshares, and with its repossession I can no longer do that. To get my car back, I must make a cash payment in the bank branch of $2159.93. I have to pay $40 per day for storage to the repo agency. Today (February 12) is day one or two, I'm not sure. I’d then be eligible for a 2 month deferment March and April payments moved to the end of the loan, which is soon. No bill due until May. The loan payoff is $4,347.35, and I’d still need to pay the $575 repo fee, but I don't have anywhere near that.

If you have a project you’d like to promote, a local win you’d like to celebrate, or a request or offer for mutual aid, please submit your announcement to the Provisional Steering Committee via our email and we’ll include it in the next Bulletin!

As always, you can find summaries of all our meetings here, and you can reach us for questions, feedback, or just to say hi at psc@jewishbund.org. Thank you!