The Rent Strike Is Back
From Tenants Talk 10
Tenants living at 2257 N Sawyer made history on Saturday March first when they went on the first full rent strike Chicago has seen in decades. The Belden Sawyer Tenant Association (BSTA) authorized the strike on the 23rd of February, giving their landlord, Drew Millard, one week to meet with them and negotiate a lease renewal. Drew “Millionaire” Millard has been under fire since he bought BSTA’s building, failing to make even the most basic repairs.
On Christmas Eve, tenants were informed by email that they would have to be out of their long-time homes at the end of their leases. Some tenants who had been living there for decades were given less than two months to uproot their entire life and move. The union’s first win was to force Drew Millard to give them the full 120 days notice of non-renewal required by law. But the tenants were not done yet. They stood together and formed their tenant union, the tool they use in the fight against displacement and abuse by the landlord.
Since forming, Drew Millard has refused to acknowledge the union directly, preferring to bad-mouth them to the press. Tenants finally realized that the only way to get through to a landlord is to hit them where it hurts: their rental income. Tenants in the building have decided not to pay rent until Drew Millard comes to the table and negotiates with them as equals: a full rent strike. Rent strikes were common in the years from the 1950s through the 1980s, but the last forty years in Chicago have seen remarkably few tenants organizing, much less making use of their most powerful weapon - the strike.
This is why the Belden Sawyer Tenant Association’s decision to go on strike is so monumental. By using their economic power, tenants are taking a great risk, but the reward promises to be much greater. They are fighting for dignity and justice. They are fighting for their homes.
Already the tenants have held on to over $10,000 dollars in rent, and this total will only grow each month. These tenants are thinking strategically. They aren’t spending the rent money they are holding back. It’s all there for Drew Millard, if only he would come to the table and negotiate for it. Drew Millard has already whined about his finances. If he’s smart he’ll come to the table quickly and start treating these tenants as equals.
The Belden Sawyer Tenant Association’s demands are not extreme. They want what they have had for years (for some, decades): the chance to stay in the homes they love. They’re even willing to negotiate reasonable rent increases. It’s only a testament to the state of landlord power in this city that these simple demands haven’t immediately been met. The tenants are being reasonable now, but as the Belden Sawyer Tenants experience the realities of the landlord-tenant power imbalance first hand, they are starting to ask the question: what needs to be done to right this injustice?
By rent striking they are taking the first step towards setting right the situation in our city, a situation brought about by unchecked landlord impunity. Already other tenants are taking inspiration from BSTA. The Mon-Day Tenant Union up north announced their own rent strike, inspired by the bravery of these intrepid Logan Square tenants.
Meanwhile in Buena Park, Drew Millard purchased another building. On January 23rd, Drew Millard was quoted in Block Club whining, “I can’t pay my mortgage at these rents; I won’t be able to pay their water bill…I literally [won’t] be able to pay the bills,” Less than one week before, on January 17th, Drew Millard had finalized the purchase of an additional 38 units. Perhaps one reason he “can’t pay his mortgage” is because Drew Millard is still purchasing buildings he can’t afford left and right. This new building immediately got the Millionaire Millard treatment. Every tenant, mostly working class families who have been in the building for over twenty years, received a letter informing them they would have to be out in only four months.
What we can conclude from these happenings is that Drew Millard is spread thin. He’s counting on flipping these buildings and doubling the rent so he can pay off his own debt to the banks. The Buena Park tenants are already angry. They’re talking with ACTA, and have BSTA by their side. If these reinforcements join the strike, Drew Millard’s opportunistic cash grab is sure to be an absolute failure.
The Belden Sawyer Rent strike promises to be a historic win for Chicago tenants, and we’re looking to replicate it around the city. Let the inspiring images of these tenants standing strong be seeds which spread across the city and bloom into a thousand rent strikes. It’s time for Chicago tenants to stop fighting for survival and start fighting to win.