Convention Program

Presentations & Discussions

Please assign note takers and drop notes here.

1. Portland Tenants United 

   The mission of Portland Tenants United, founded in 2016, is to build power and solidarity among the tenant class throughout the Portland (Oregon) metro region as a member-driven tenant union. Through organizing, direct action, coalition building, and civic engagement, Portland Tenants United fights to keep people in their homes, and to achieve dignity and security for all tenants. We work to end and mitigate the impacts of displacement caused by no-cause terminations and unjustified rent increases, and to ensure fair and equitable access to safe and secure housing in livable communities for all. We believe that stable housing is essential to providing the opportunities and security people need to live healthy and successful lives and create healthy communities. We are a member-led union that fights for our shared rights and interests.  

2. Pasadena

   Pasadena Tenants Union formed in 2016 out of an effort to place rent control on the ballot. That attempt failed, but PTU took off on organizing. In 2019, PTU decided to restart the law drafting process - expanding and strengthening the protections included in the initial draft. In the summer of 2020, PTU committed to and began the campaign for rent control again. For 2.5 years, all of PTU's organizing energy and time went into the campaign - all other activities were put on pause. We will discuss why we chose to pursue rent control, how we decided to commit, what winning strategies we used, and questions your union should ask before doing the same.

3. Puget Sound / Valley TU 

   What does rainy, cold Washington have in common with the sunny, hot Arizona desert? Two burgeoning tenant unions at the helm of building revolutionary tenant power! Puget Sound Tenants Union and Valley Tenants Union both formed during the height of COVID-19 pandemic, sparked by the nationwide tenant movement and the call for the general rent strike. As nascent tenant unions, we’ve learned to roll with the punches from challenges in apartment campaigns, union-wide structural changes to building unity through study and political education. We hope to share our experiences and hold discussions about the challenges that our unions have faced, what came from confronting those challenges, and how learning from challenges can contribute to a revolutionary communist tenant movement. 

4. Vancouver / Santa Barbara

   Our union is going through a critical moment of change, both externally and internally, and we are excited to talk about it with you all. In our session we aim to discuss some of the lessons we have learned along the way, the questions we still are looking for answers too, and some of the ways in which we have fought to get to this moment. We would also love to share and learn from some of the TA fights we have been supporting. In the last year, our union has been involved in a number of large organizing drives with unhoused people fighting against Street Sweeps, Chinese seniors fighting against gentrification in Vancouver’s Chinatown, and people living in Supportive Housing. We are looking forward to sharing stories about how these struggles have informed our growth, and to learning from similar stories you might have.

   Santa Barbara Tenants Union reps will present on: (1)Recent fight against multi billion dollar private equity firm Core Spaces and successes and challenges in this ongoing campaign (look up Vice article and It Could Happen Here podcast interviews for deep dive), (2) Winning city and county law changes making it harder for landlords to displace tenants through renoviction, (3) Challenges for maintaining capacity in long term fights; difficulties bridging caseworker vs. movement builder roles.

5. Glendale / Eugene

Talking with Tenants in Crisis. Both Glendale and Burbank Tenant Unions receive several e-mails from residents asking what are their rights as tenants. These emails come after they receive a 60-day notice to vacate, harassment from the landlord, an exponential rent increase, to name a few. Once they get in contact with us, we have a series of steps we find to be helpful to learn more about their situation and assess what we can do to take further action.