Elderly and disabled tenants are among those being helped from organizing efforts supported by Local 23’s Young Worker’s Committee.
When I arrived for my first meeting of the Tiki Tenants Organizing Committee in Tacoma this past April, a group of 50 people were already gathering in the outdoor courtyard and sitting in a circle of mismatched chairs.
I didn’t see anyone I knew, but was quickly approached by an elderly African-American man who saw my ILWU shirt, greeted me with a smile, and introduced himself.
“My father was a member of ILWU local 10 and I remember running around the union hall in San Francisco when I was a little boy,” he said. After growing up, Julius Rance, Sr. told me he had done a stint in the Army, then worked as a “tank-haul” truck driver until retiring. I wanted to learn more, but our conversation was cut short by a woman who introduced herself as an organizer with the Tenants Union of Washington State. She asked everyone to quickly find empty seats and pull-in close together.
The meeting started with introductions and some encouraging words about showing each other respect when we spoke. This was the first time this group of people had met together, and I soon discovered why many were anxious while I listened and took notes about the stories that I heard.
- An elderly man who just had back surgery was given 26 days to pack and move.
- A blind woman in a wheelchair said she was scared and not afraid to cry about it.
- A single mom who’d gone to trade school and joined the Roofers Union in search of a stable job to overcome past debts and get back on her feet, could soon be homeless.
- Another person said they had just paid their rent before getting an eviction notice.
It turned out that tenants in 58 units of the Tiki Apartment complex were being evicted; half of them got notices on April 4th with orders to be out in 26 days and the rest had to be gone in May. They discovered that their building building had been quietly sold to a Seattle-based developer called CWD investments back in November.
The owner of the investment company explained his strategy to a business publication in 2016: “…buy apartments that need fixing up, rehab them and raise rents.” A new property manager, Allied Residential, had taped eviction notices to every Tiki tenant’s door, triggering calls for help and organizing. This first tenants meeting was held two weeks after the eviction notices appeared on April 19, so the clock was ticking.
Organizing muscle
Our first task was to help one of the tenants pack up their belongings and move, which was a difficult job made easier, thanks to volunteers from ILWU local 22 & 23 who are involved with 23’s Young Workers Committee.
That same weekend we conceptualized and formed the Tiki Tenants Organizing Committee. We made “Housing Justice” buttons, created branding, developed messaging and generated social media pages. We canvassed the apartments and had one-on-one conversations with tenants.
Mobilizing strategy
On April 24th, we helped mobilize more than 30 tenants to attend the Tacoma City Council meeting. When the tenants got up and went to the podium to speak out, they shook the building with their powerful stories that were raw and emotional. Mayor Victoria Woodards scheduled an emergency meeting just two days later and instructed city staff to draft an emergency ordinance that would delay the Tiki evictions, secure funds and get help from city agencies to support the tenants.
Important partial victory
On April 26th, the tenants and supporters made history when the city announced an agreement had been negotiated with CWD Investments to reset the eviction clock. The new date would now be June 30th. Tacoma also passed an emergency ordinance, effective May 14th, that temporarily changed the law for all renters who faced “no cause” evictions. Landlords were now required to give 90-day eviction notices. This emergency ordinance will “sunset” or expire, in September.
“No cause” = no rights and no justice
A “no cause eviction” is just like getting fired at work for no good reason, which is how almost every American workplace operates unless a union contract requires “just cause” (a good reason) and “due process” (requiring employers to follow the rules and respect job rights) before anyone can be fired. Some cities, including Seattle and San Francisco, passed laws 30 years ago that require landlords to have “just cause” before they can evict tenants.
Just cause evictions usually requires tenants to repeatedly fail to pay rent or intentionally damage property or make life miserable for fellow tenants. Even with those allegations, a “just cause” eviction process generally includes rights for tenants to appeal and tell their side of the story to a judge. Some activists have suggested that unions could benefit by trying to pass similar “just cause” laws to protect employees at work from being fired at any time for any reason – or no reason, which is now the law unless a union contract says otherwise. Passing “just cause” protections for tenants and or workers would be a big step forward for America’s working class.
Tenants suffer, landlords profit
As things stand now, landlords and developers in Tacoma are evicting tenants whenever they want to remodel buildings, double rents and rake in profits.
This kind of displacement puts tremendous stress on tenants, who are likely to become homeless if they don’t quickly find an affordable apartment or move-in temporarily with friends or relatives – creating more stress for everyone involved. And renting a new apartment often requires paying the first and last month’s rent plus a damage deposit before you can move in.
That kind of money is hard to find for most working class families who have less than $1000 saved for emergencies and almost nothing saved for retirement.
Evictions also put enormous budgetary stress on government agencies and charities. Seattle and San Francisco each spend $200 million annually on homeless services, and both still fall short of what’s needed.
Speaking out: Tacomoa’s City Council is hearing from tenants who are organizing for justice.
ILWU supports new reforms
Between now and the sunset date of the emergency ordinance, the Tiki Tenants Organizing Committee is pushing Tacoma to pass a strong list of tenant protections and seeking to make the 90-day eviction law permanent.
We launched a letter writing campaign to demand that the City pass a strong, progressive “Tenants Bill of Rights” – including “just cause” eviction protection – and create a Tacoma Renters Commission. On June 12, we held another citizen’s forum where letters from tenants and concerned community members were personally delivered to City Council members.
Our support has made a difference, but rank-and-file tenants are in the front of this movement and leading it every step of the way. Powerful new voices and strong leaders are coming alive and being developed in this struggle. We can help with the organizing, but it’s been the demands from tenants themselves – along with their vision and passion – that has carried us this far.
With things finally stabilized at the Tiki, we began our own transition and started thinking about the need for more affordable housing and better tenant protections throughout Pierce County. But our time to reflect was limited because the next big eviction was taking place at the Hudson Court apartments in Parkland, WA. We tried to get ahead of the curve there by door knocking, developing tenant leaders and preparing for the next fight. While important and necessary, we also recognize the need to overturn state laws passed during the Reagan era that limit what local governments can do to protect renters. These same kind of restrictions were also passed in California by lobbyists for the real-estate industry and apartment owners. This November, California voters will get a chance to overturn those restrictions through a statewide ballot measure that would\ allow local rent control ordinances.
Building a community coalition
While thinking about bigger strategies is important, we try to stay grounded by showing up to help tenants pack up and move when they’re forced out. The project keeps us in touch with Tacoma’s working class, and it helps unite our diverse membership at Local 23 (A, B and Casual members), along with volunteers from Local 22, members of IATSE 15, IBEW 46, AFSCME Council 28 representing Washington State Employees, Indivisible Tacoma, South Sound Democratic Socialists of America, Associated Ministries, students from the University of Puget Sound, and many other organizations that are helping with this work.
Organizing is organizing
Whether we’re facing a landlord or a boss, organizing is the only practical way for people to solve problems that are too big for individual solutions.
Labor unions have organized to win safer working conditions, health care benefits, living wages and dignity in retirement. They also allow us to shore up jurisdiction and maintain supply chain power. Most of us who have experienced the power of collective action on the job – including the withholding of our labor – know how powerful collective action can be.
Likewise, when we fight for housing justice, we can’t just complain or ask government to throw money at the problem and expect things to change.
Tenants have to organize in order to win affordable housing, pass rent control, enact “just cause” eviction laws, and end housing discrimination. Until we organize, big landlords and developers will continue winning with their money and power. Organizing can also help us take a deeper look into the root causes of housing injustice – including our economic system that forces so many to live on the margins while a handful at the top enjoy enormous wealth. The system isn’t fair and balanced: 54% of Tacomans are paying rent. We estimate that roughly 114,000 Tacoma residents would benefit from better housing laws and tenant protections that the Tiki Tenant Organizing Committee is fighting for.
Good strategy for unions
This housing issue can put unions front and center in these community struggles and help build power for workers beyond the jobsite. There are almost 50,000 union members connected through the Pierce County Central Labor Council. If we can mobilize that power, we’d have the mass base for a powerful movement – which is precisely where our unions need to be in times like these. Politicians seem to be feeling the public concern about affordable housing, as is the news media. This could be one of those rare occasions when elected officials, the media, community and civic leaders are all willing to support our struggle against displacement and mass evictions that destabilize our school districts, our neighborhoods, our local governments and our workplaces. We hope more unions will join this fight to help working class tenants organize for power and make positive change in our communities.
Brian Skiffington is a member of Local 23 and active in their Young Workers Committee.