Landlords are scum. Building solidarity and power among fellow renters is really fucking important. Discuss
How to organize a Tenants Union in your building.
If organizing your building yourself seems too intimidating at first, seek out and help with housing organizing in your city/region and learn from more experienced organizers. You’ll have helped out other renters and pretty soon it won’t feel so intimidating to lead organizing yourself.
I attempted to in the past, but unfortunately all of my neighbors rent their homes out via airbnb so I don’t know who my real neighbors even are.
Oof. Again, I recommend looking into groups in your area that are doing regional-level housing organizing, directly helping and supporting tenants in your area and lobbying for pro-tenant legislation. That matters just as much if not more than your own individual building.
Presumably I could, but then I would feel conflicted by organizing with scum landlords.
I live in Trump country
That just means different, sneakier branding is needed to organize tenants! It’s not like 100% of the local population are fascist zealots, Most people don’t have coherent political views that are all neatly reconciled. Being a Leftist also means believing that the vast majority of people are redeemable and capable of change. It’s the actual fascists and eugenicists who believe that people are naturally prone to behaviors and beliefs and therefore some of them are worth having life or freedom.
We have a renters union in my city and I joined. How do I get everyone else in my building to join?
Create something like a “Cornavirus Neighbors Assistance/Mutual Aid Contact List” with phone numbers and/or emails. You can approach neighbors with the idea that since we’re all having a hard time, or know people who are having a hard time, you want to bring the people in your building closer together so you can help eachother out whenever someone is in need. It’s a great excuse to consolidate contact info, and you don’t know who might be in need right now. With that network in place, you can start bringing up things about housing in your building/city/state/region, and eventually talk about how great your city’s reters’ union is. :thumbs up:
This is honestly one of those special times where a flyer campaign might actually help. I put a couple hundred fliers out (late at night so the supers and landlords couldn’t see who it was). Included a burner email (xyzMutualAid@gmail or whatever) and a link to a Slack (discord works too).
You can use the slack to vet people before you bring up the renters union. It also serves as a good cover for organizing, it can be public and used for actual aid and non-union discussion so if the landlord finds out it’s not a big deal.
What was the response like to your fliers, if u don’t mind my asking? And do you have a cheap solution for printing out hundreds of pages?
You aren’t alone! There are big umbrella housing orgs that you can get involved in. For example the the Metropolitan Council on Housing runs a Tenants’ rights hotline for New Yorkers staffed by trained volunteers, and they helped lobby the NY state legislature to get truly historic housing regulations passed in 2019 .
Damn that’s some bullshit. Sorry to hear that. If/when you have the means, still consider helping volunteering/donating to tenants victoria. Their ‘make renting fair’ campaign looks well run, and hopefully you can help someone else in the future avoid your situation.
I dont know how
Start with googling city/state + tenants/renters association/union or city/state + tenants/renters rights, and looking for real organizations.
Talk to your neighbors.
How to organize a Tenants Union in your building.
Organizing a building is very simple, since it’s got a finite number of people that could possibly join, and you have a common material interest. A building where even 25-50% of the tenants are organized together is a game changer.
