April Newsletter 2019
Supporting Tenants United South Shore, Responding to Anti-Union Attacks from Elected Officials and Tenant Unions Across the Country
Supporting Tenants United South Shore
On March 2nd, ATU members met up with Tenants United South Shore at the Andersonville home of slumlord Ethan Del Stone to protest his rampant evictions of South Side tenants. Ethan Del Stone is the owner of six buildings in the South Shore neighborhood, where he has evicted 126 people over the last three years and hasn’t paid for garbage pickup in six months. One of his tenants, Julian, read the names of some of the families Del Stone evicted while we warned his neighbors about his cruelty towards working class families. We took the streets to warn Del Stone that we’ll be back if he doesn’t halt all eviction proceedings, resume maintenance and end his poor treatment of tenants!
Responding to Anti-Union Attacks from Elected Officials
In March, ATU released an article responding to a page 33rd Ward Alderman Deb Mell’s campaign posted to “debunk” some of the major criticisms of her — by attacking organizations like our own. It is disappointing (though not surprising) to see “progressive” politicians use canned anti-union rhetoric to throw organized tenants under the bus. Voters in the 33rd Ward made their rejection of such rhetoric apparent, voting Mell out of office in the April runoff.
“Now, Mell has tried to defend her utter lack of support for tenants in her ward by smearing ATU and the tenant unions we’ve helped organize as ‘fringe groups… that exploit tenants for political gain.’ ATU is an all-volunteer organization whose members help each other get housing conditions issues addressed and fight for much-needed relocation assistance or extra time in the face of eviction. Nothing scares a machine politician more than an organized community with the confidence to stop settling for scraps and assert their right to collective self-determination and a dignified life.
Mell calls this ‘exploitation’ because she cannot imagine a world where working class people self-organize to challenge power and improve the material conditions of their lives. She believes that the demand for community-controlled housing is a fantasy, and — ignoring the tangible victories we have won together — assumes that fighting with our neighbors in solidarity must be some sort of cheap trick.
The alderman claims that she ‘regularly assists residents’ facing eviction, but referring to unionized tenants’ requests for support, says she won’t “negotiate with fringe groups.” Tellingly, Mell seems to imply that when it comes to tenants facing mass eviction, she is on the opposite end of the bargaining table.
Despite touting some union endorsements to argue that she’s a candidate for the working class, Mell pulls the same trick as countless landlords that ATU has encountered: refusing to meet with unionized tenants who know they are stronger together, claiming instead she would intervene in eviction for individual residents. What’s more, the cliche that unions exploit members for ‘political gain’ is a conservative talking point that bosses invariably roll out whenever they fear their workers will begin to organize in their own interests.”
Read more here.
Solidarity on Every Block: Tenant Unions Across the Country
Though politicians can call ATU a “fringe group” with noise-making organizers just trying to crash the political and development scene in a Chicago neighborhood, we are not alone. Not only are there other tenant unions in Chicago, but ATU is also part of a larger network of over 30 tenant unions based all over North America. And this isn’t exclusive to tenants in the private housing market. The National Alliance of HUD Tenants (NAHT) includes many different unions across all of the states who live in HUD-assisted housing. Over half of the states in the US have a NAHT-affiliated tenant union!
Tenant unions are cropping up all over the world. And some have been around for much longer than us — a membership organization called the International Union of Tenants (IUT) was founded Zürich, Switzerland in 1926. They’ve grown from being localized in Switzerland to now having 69 member organizations in 45 countries in Europe.
At asamblea this month, we learned about these unions and more. Organizing for affordable, quality, housing is nothing new. Our growing voice in Albany Park is part of a worldwide movement.
Community Garden Expansion Fundraiser
La Guayabita Autonoma, our community garden, was started by residents of Albany Park in 2016. Now in our third year, we would like to expand our garden to cover the vacant lot where it was started. This would allow more residents in the neighborhood an opportunity to participate, and create more of a community space for all to use.
Funds will be used to build more beds, create a meeting space, and beautify the garden. Please donate and allow us to continue growing food and friendship.
Donate now: http://bit.ly/gardenexpansion
The Autonomous Tenants Union (ATU) is an all-volunteer organization committed to organizing for housing justice from below and to the left. As an independent collective based in Chicago, we strategize together to defend and enforce our right to dignified housing. We believe that housing is a human right not a commodity! We fight for an end to all of evictions, and for community control of housing through the building of popular power.
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