When we first started talking about the tenant union campaign, we had talked about why TUs are important (collective action, solidarity, “protagonism”, clarifying class interests, etc).
@Englishpete08, @NoraG, @SeanHun, and I thought it would be a good idea to consolidate that information into a “TU 101” presentation that we could share with new members and tenants that we speak to.
Skimming this book, there’s a lack of direction from a class struggle perspective. It’s very vague in terms of actually achieving their landlordless future. Below is one of the only main mentions of socialism/communism and it is even more vague than progressive definition of “socialism is when the government does things;” it’s down to community building.
“Acting in community remakes our political orientation to our everyday life. Alcazar explained that participating in the union has transformed her relationship to the idea of “communism,” which she once associated with being controlled. Now, she says, it’s about having control. “Communist to me is community. Community working together. Common, you have everything in common. That’s communism. My dream is that one day not only Flower Drive but all these tenants unions become communist 84 communist as working together, for one purpose, getting a house for everybody.”” ([Rosenthal and Vilchis, 2024, p. 83]
Seems more like the writer is trying to undo the negative connotation that communism has, rather than give a theoretically consistent definition.
Vagueness isn’t great but honestly might be more useful than precise technical definitions when writing a book like this
The previous meeting’s notes can be found here: Google Docs
Below is a brief summary of what we discussed (nothing below is final):
Goal of Tenant Union 101: Develop literature that will introduce new WCU Members and tenants to the concept of a Tenant Union and the WCU TU.
Literature Outline:
Introduction: A hook.
A short paragraph about a frequent and shared frustration. Something like, "imagine you come home after work. Your landlord said he would pay someone to take care of a leak under the sink. Instead, you come home to mildewy stains on all your cleaning supplies. It might feel like there is nothing you can do, but in fact there is! Many tenants across the country have discovered a solution that turns these isolated frustrations into collective power: the tenant union! (but less lame)
What is a tenant union?
Where does a tenant union’s power come from?
Tenant Unions: Not a service, not about political advocacy, but about direct power
What you can get out of it as a tenant
How can you get started?
References
There where several previous General Meetings where we discussed the TU that we can draw from:
If you have time, please read through the above references or find others on your own and please let others know if anything really connects with you or that you feel like we should include in this 101 literature.