DSM Mutual Aid

Workers at the Ankeny plant are on strike for fair wages and benefits, despite record profits and tractor sales. Striking is hard work. It means picket shifts 24/7, on your feet six straight hours come rain, sleet or snow. This is going to be a harsh winter. We at Central Iowa DSA want to make that as bearable as possible with heaters, so workers can stay warm and ready to hold the line.

But factory workers in Ankeny aren’t the only people that the rich and powerful are forcing out into harsh conditions in the central Iowa winter. Last winter, an unhoused member of the community passed away from hypothermia, trying to seek shelter in a construction site restroom overnight. That makes the work that Des Moines Mutual Aid does all the more important, delivering propane to heat camps of unhoused folks forced out by rising rents, debt, the carceral state, or a failed medical system.

So we’re going on a propane run!

We’ve set an ambitious goal of $10,000 to make sure workers are warm enough to hold the line and no one in our city freezes. Whether it’s landlords or industrial CEOs, we believe the power to fight back for a different future means taking care of each other, and connecting these struggles. We plan on splitting the propane purchased through the fund 50/50 down the middle between the local serving workers in Ankeny and mutual aid teams supplying the camps around Des Moines through the winter.

(Note: Through conversations with the leadership of this local, we have been asked to avoid names of the specific manufacturer and international union involved in this strike for legal reasons in this fundraiser, which we trust them on! They are thrilled to have this vital need met by supporters in the community.)