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:
- 2023-07-13 General Meeting
- 2023-09-25 WCU General Meeting
- 2023-11-09 WCU General Meeting - Ranking tenants in order of how likely they are to join a
- 2023-06-08 General Meeting - Tenant Organizing Overview
- CalVilla TU Meeting Presentation
External Readings
- Bed Tenant Organizing
- Don’t Evict PDX Landlord Communication 101 - Spring 2024
- The Stuff Your Landlord Doesn’t Want You to Know
- LATU Tenants Association
- 101 Notes on LATU
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.