Why I Am In The Tenant Union
Letter from a union member
Why join a tenant union? This question comes up frequently in our practice, but rather than dive into a lengthy theoretical exposition, I want to answer this question from my own perspective. Why do I dedicate my energy to building a tenant union?
At its core this question has a simple answer. It is not the result of years spent dreaming of life as a tenant unionist, or because I wanted a fun hobby. I am in the tenant union simply because I am a tenant. I rent my home. For me the apartment is the place where the majority of my life takes place. I sleep here, eat here, unwind in the evening and sometimes even work here. When I am sick my apartment becomes my infirmary and when I celebrate my apartment becomes a gathering place for friends and family. Almost everything I do depends upon this deteriorating apartment. For me it is home.
For the landlord, this same space is nothing but a rent check. When he thinks of this building, he thinks of a number on a page every month. He might not have even visited this place since he bought it, and he certainly doesn’t know each and every problem and shortcoming of the space. Since I actually live here, I do. *But rather than fix these problems directly, I must petition the landlord and try to convince him this basic maintenance might have some connection to that precious number of his. If he does decide my problems are worth solving, he will solve them using the very money I gave him last month. Before a single dollar of my rent check goes towards fixing the apartment I’m paying for, the landlord lops off chunks to pay for his own expenses, expansion, but most importantly, profit. In this process I have come to see that the landlord is not just satisfied to have despotic control over the space I live in. He wants my time as well, in the form of the money I’m given for it. In this farce of an “exchange” the landlord doesn’t have to choose what to give up. He keeps both the space and the money, leaving me with nothing at the end of the lease.
I will always be a tenant. I do not aspire to be a homeowner. Homeownership is the carrot that drives my fellow tenants forward and distracts from the continuous beating of the landlord’s stick. This promise dangled in front of tenants leads them to overlook the real conditions of their lives. Tenants dream of leaving tenant-hood behind and becoming a homeowner or even metamorphosing into a landlord with their own dutiful tenants. I have woken up from this dream. I see this fantasy as a response to the intolerable conditions that come with renting. The fantasy of homeownership tells us that these conditions are only temporary, as if that justifies them. By joining the union I reject this “justification” and face the conditions of my life straight on. I will not be lulled into that deceptive slumber.
But the promise of homeownership does more than dull the tenant’s ability to see the injustices being perpetrated against them. It also crushes any sense of responsibility for other tenants like them. When I see tenants reduced to obsequious wretches completely unwilling to help themselves or their neighbors, I recoil with disgust. I will never become one of these temporarily-embarrassed homeowners whose first response to a cruel and neglectful landlord is to flee and leave their fellow tenants to suffer. I do not wish to live as if real life is just around the corner waiting for me to make a down payment. Our lives as tenants are here, now, in our apartments. What stands between us and the control of our homes is not a deed of ownership, it is the landlord who has been given near absolute authority over the real conditions of our lives. All tenants have this in common.
No, I do not aspire to be a homeowner, but I do aspire towards the control over my home. I must specify that when I say control, I do not mean the lonely, absolute authority that comes with homeownership. The isolated existence of homeownership which turns people against their neighbors is a dream of the past. I have seen the pettiness and cruelty homeowners are driven to by the defense of their property values and I want none of it. What I do mean by “control over my home” is democratic control over the space which I live in. I mean control formed by organizing the people who live in the units above, below, and all around me. This control is built on that initial realization that I am a tenant and that as a tenant I have shared interests with every tenant across the city. I find strength in the unity promised by these shared interests, but I also feel a heavy responsibility. I do not want to neglect this responsibility to tenants like me. This is why I have chosen to stand my ground and build the organization required to take control over our homes. This is why I am dedicated to building the tenant union.
Some of you tenants reading this might object: “But my apartment is well maintained!” In response, I can only add “...for now.” For every tenant I have met who is happy with their rental arrangement there is another who was happy with their rental arrangement until a crisis occurred. When crisis strikes, they wish their organizing had already been done when they had heat, when their apartment wasn’t smoke damaged, or when water wasn’t dripping from their ceiling. It’s wise to learn from these regrets. I know I must unionize even in good times because my well being in these crises will always come second to the landlord’s profit. The landlord will always choose cash over you or me so we know we must be proactive.
Other tenants might protest: “I don’t want to unionize my apartment building because I’ll be moving out eventually.” Well, if you move into my building you will find a union formed and ready to stand for your interests. It is a union which will outlast my lease and likely yours as well. I hope that if I move to yours I will find the same.
Finally, there might be some tenants who after all of this still insist: “My landlord is a good person! They need rental income to survive!” To you, I must respond with a question. Are you a landlord or are you a tenant? The landlords know who they are. In the legislative battle they put aside their petty differences and stand together for their interests as landlords. These interests are opposed to the interests of the tenants, your interests! So, if you really are a tenant, act like one.