May-Sumner 2020

The organization of tenant unions are the
building blocks to our translocal, statewide,
and international movement.
Currently tenant unions have fought off
rent increases, evictions, and displacement
in California and around the country without
rent control and just cause eviction laws
in place. A well organized tenant union can
win rent control by being well organized
and making bold demands up to collective
ownership of the building by the tenants.
Even if the politicians in your city don’t
have the political will to do pass meaningful
protections you can still organize with
your neighbors and community to protect
yourselves.
Current Renters Rights Movement Moment
statewide. They have money, but we have
power in numbers, if we organize ourselves.
How did we get here/Roots of the Housing
Crisis
The current crisis we are facing didn’t come
out of nowhere: it is a result of intentional,
racist and classist housing policy dating
back to the New Deal era and even colonial
times. For more on the roots of the housing
crisis read this statement from TT's Rent
Control Toolkit. These videos from KCET
City Rising are also a good resource: https://
www.kcet.org/shows/city-rising
Step 1: PLANT A SEED -
FORM an Organizing Team and Join
Tenants Together/Homes For All
California is in the worst housing crisis in
recent memory. Tenants in cities across
California are organizing tenants' unions in
their buildings and communities and beginning
to pass new rent control ordinances
for the first time in over 30 years. Landlord
lobbyists, corporate developers, and realtors
oppose rent control and have a lot of power
in the state, so passing rent control isn’t
easy. Despite this challenge, we know we
must fight to keep our homes.
Statewide movement - Join Tenants
Together as a Member Organization or
Partner https://www.tenantstogether.
org/member-organizations-0
National Movement - Take Homes For
All pledge https://homesforall.org/
pledge/
Principles: Solidarity, Democracy
Believe it or not, tenants are close to half of
the population of the state of California, 17
The Organizing Team is the seed.
million and counting. The California Apartment
Association (the statewide landlord
Your are the seed.
lobbyist group) claims 15,000 members
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