2025-12-04 WCU General Meeting
Minutes
Date: 2025-12-04T08:00:00Z
Meeting Minutes
Attendance
@chima @ckposadas @Adri_Martinez @Joanna @HipGnosis @Englishpete08 @Robert_H
Quorum was not met at the start of the meeting.
Calendar Related Activities
Tenant Union
We talked about the tenant union campaign since we are going to vote to renew it in January.
Successes & Positive Takeaways:
- Focusing on smaller buildings (under 20 units) was a much more effective and feasible strategy than trying larger buildings.
- We achieved tangible wins, improving tenants’ living conditions in a couple of buildings.
- Having a tenant in the building act as an organizer and point of contact was a key factor in organizing a larger building and being able to build momentum quickly.
- During December, we want to focus on some of the backend things like templated complaint letters, materials for tenants, and materials that will help us push tenants into building momentum faster.
- Social events were successful at building community among tenants.
Challenges & Areas for Improvement:
- Maintaining tenant engagement after landlords make minor repairs is a significant challenge. We discussed creating materials to educate tenants on this common union-busting tactic.
- Language barriers and immigration related fears made it hard to organize in south Stockton. Hopefully the KYR work takes off and we can partner the two.
- We talked about needing to do more widespread propaganda (flyers at bus stops, etc.) around buildings we are organizing to increase awareness and make the TU’s presence known.
Updates on Tenant Union Projects
- Database: The new org-wide database is nearly complete. It can track membership, dues, and detailed tenant/landlord information. The final thing being worked on is event tracking.
- Canvassing Script: A standardized script is a work in progress to make canvassing more accessible for new members.
- Retaliation Flyer: @HipGnosis suggested adding examples of court cases where landlords were held accountable to the flyer to give tenants more confidence.
- Information Template: The template for posting updates on the forum is still ebing worked on.
Side-Quest: BDS in the Central Valley
Update that the FOIA requests for city investments: Most of them have been returned. There are a lot of PDFs (including from Dell, which is on the BDS list). @chima has connected with other organizers in the central valley who are interested in doing the same thing; hopefully we can collaborate with them to analyze the documents.
Side-Quest: Know Your Rights
There were few updates on this front. The main action item is to coordinate with the Solidarity Committee to schedule canvassing on weekends. The accompaniment training video is still in progress.
Non-Calendar Related Activities
Steering Committee Topics/Issues
Membership Committee
- Website Upgrade: @chima gave a tour of the new website. The Google Calendar sync is currently broken and needs to be fixed.
- New Member Orientation / End of Year Social: We discussed holding a social event before the end of the year. Due to the holidays, it was decided to poll members on two potential options: a lunch on Sunday, Dec 14th, or a pizza night in Lodi on Friday, Dec 19th. This event would also serve as an end-of-year review.
Education Committee
- Reading Group & Trainings: We agreed that December is a difficult month for scheduling. The organizing conversations training will be postponed until the new year. The reading group sometime the week after the general meeting.
- San Joaquin Research: @Englishpete08 explained his ongoing research project into the labor history of Stockton and San Joaquin County. The goal is to conduct a “worker’s inquiry” to better understand local worker demographics (past and present), historical conflicts, and instances of interracial solidarity to inform current organizing efforts and generate articles.
Voices of the Working Class
The group discussed potential topics for future articles or campaigns:
- “Why Liberals Lose”: We talked about the resurgence of the “abundance agenda” and its co-option of progressive rhetoric.
- Critique of Surveillance: We talked about how increased surveillance (e.g., Stockton’s Flock cameras) fails to prevent violent crime while city budgets for essential services like code enforcement and animal control are lacking.
Additional Agenda Items
Starbucks Unionizing
We discussed how to show solidarity with the ongoing Starbucks unionization efforts. Ideas included:
- Publishing a statement of support.
- Discreetly distributing Starbucks United flyers to workers at local stores.
- Creating an online pledge for community members to show their support, which could be used to mobilize people for a picket line if a local store organizes.
Votes & Decisions
2026 Steering Committee Elections
A. Approve Nominations Committee
@chima opened the floor for nominations for the Nominations Committee. @Robert_H nominated himself as did @Joanna. @Tanner was also nominated (and later accepted the nomination).
The committee will be tasked with contacting all members to solicit nominations for Steering Committee positions throughout December. The vote on nominees will take place at the January general meeting.
@chima moved to appoint @Robert_H @Joanna, and @Tanner (pending acceptance) to the Nominations Committee. @Adri_Martinez seconded. The motion was approved by all present.
Voting Record
| A. Approve Nominations Committee | |
|---|---|
| @chima | Yes |
| @Englishpete08 | Yes |
| @Adri_Martinez | Yes |
| @ckposadas | Yes |
| @HipGnosis | Yes |
| @Robert_H | Yes |
| @Joanna | Yes |
Quorum was met for this vote.