One hundred years ago labor organizer A.J. Muste observed that the very structure of a union is inherently unstable and contradictory. I find many parallels in DSA. A union, or a democratic organization (think DSA), must be like an army, he said, with soldiers in the class war ready to act swiftly, in unison and…

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It’s already a hot labor summer, and the heat is turning up as DSA chapters across the country make themselves Strike Ready. The stakes are high, the opportunities many! At press time, the Writers Guild of America, representing 11,500 writers, is standing up for fair pay from residuals and more. Chapters from Los Angeles to…

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By Cameron Orr

I applaud the city council for passing ordinances on Wednesday that establish the Right To Counsel and fees on developers to fund affordable housing and free legal representation for tenants. This is a big step forward, and will contribute to a more humane city and economy. I hope that the city will demonstrate urgency in fully implementing this program as soon as possible, rather than considering it satisfactory to simply meet the 2026 deadline.

However, I want to express my concern that while all our city council members ultimately made the right decision in passing these ordinances, some were upset that real-estate investors weren’t adequately consulted, or were worried about the effect these reforms will have on the “market” and developers’ “right” to make a return on their investment.

I’m afraid this shows a certain level of confusion. Perhaps we have allowed a corporate-dominated political environment to warp our mindset. Nobody has a “right” to make a profit. That’s a risk you take when you make an investment. But people should have the right to a home.

Property rights are not sacrosanct; human lives are. Housing, food, clothing, a quality education, healthcare — these things are basic needs and should be considered human rights. Many countries with far less resources than ours provide these things. The United States has more than enough resources to make them available to everyone; we simply choose not to. That shows who is really in control.

If those who control immense resources can be compelled by city, state, and federal government to make these basic human needs accessible to the general public, that is well and fine and good. But when those who control basic resources like land and housing fail to make them available to people, and even stand in the way of government measures to improve people’s lives, they prove themselves to be bad stewards and deserve to lose those privileges. If a slumlord or big developer is suddenly unable to collect huge rent checks, they’re still in a much better position than the ordinary worker who just lost their job. Many of us have already been there at some point in our lives, with little to no help on the way; so, it’s hard for us to show much sympathy for those with great wealth who cry poor.

Read “Letter: On Right to Counsel, Jersey City Made The Right Choice” at Jersey City Times

Jersey City renters can’t keep up with a housing crisis fueled by proximity to New York City. A new right to counsel program, funded by development fees, could help.

“Two ordinances creating a new right to counsel program and new fees on development to fund affordable housing were approved by the Jersey City Council on Wednesday, June 14. The first ordinance allows tenants in eviction proceedings who make less than 80 percent of the area median income to receive a pro bono attorney. The second ordinance establishes a new fee for development.”

Read “Jersey City Grants Free Counsel to Renters Facing Eviction” at shelterforce.org

“The ordinance was the result of a year-long campaign by the Coalition for Right to Counsel Jersey City, and the campaign was recently endorsed by Jersey City Together. In New Jersey dot com, an opinion piece from a New Jersey City resident urged the passage of right to counsel, calling it a ‘moral imperative’ and saying, ‘Housing should not be a commodity to be traded and speculated on, but a basic human right. A right to counsel places us in the right direction.’”

Read “Jersey City Grants Free Counsel to Renters Facing Eviction” at civilrighttocounsel.org

By Mark Koosau

In a place that’s become known for its sky high rents and cost of living, Jersey City finally has a free program in place that will help tenants facing illegal evictions, funded by the landlords themselves, developers in the city.

The city council voted unanimously Wednesday night in adopting a right-to-counsel program, in which the city will provide free legal representation for tenants facing evictions, and a 1.5-2.5% fee on new developments that would fund its budget.

“You would be hard-pressed to find another city that is doing more on this front than Jersey City, as we have made meaningful policy changes when it comes to affordability and protecting our most vulnerable populations,” Jersey City Mayor Steve Fulop said of the new program.

The program, which will be housed under the Department of Housing, Economic Development and Commerce, will allow tenants who are at 80% or below the area median income to seek representation in court if they are served an eviction notice. Attorneys will be either staff employees or a contracted firm.

It will also require the program’s director to compile a tenants’ rights and resources document, which must then be presented to tenants during a leasing, rent demand, or eviction, as well as to tenants of the Jersey City Housing Authority and affordable housing units.

“It’s a huge step for Jersey City working families,” said Councilman James Solomon, who was one of the sponsors of the legislation. “It’s going to level the playing field and ensure thousands of tenants stay in their home when facing illegal and unfair eviction.”

Read “Jersey City approves right-to-counsel program to help tenants facing illegal evictions” at nj.com

Right to Counsel Jersey City’s Coalition Chair, Isaac Jimenez, chatted with Hudson County View about how only a mass movement of tenants can win RTC JC, make sure it’s implemented fairly and justly, and fight back against landlord and developer interference.

Watch “Hudson County View Live - 06-13-2023 Guest: Isaac Jimenez” on YouTube

Connecticut tenants face a housing emergency. Already high rents have skyrocketed since 2020. Buildings in both the cities and suburbs are deteriorating under the management of negligent landlords speculating on our homes, posing health risks to adults and children. Evictions and homelessness are on the rise. Our rental vacancy rate is the lowest in the country—landlords can hold tenants hostage. Young people cannot afford to live independently, families are forced into overcrowded arrangements, workers cannot afford to live near where they work, and some are forced to flee the state altogether over the cost of housing.

Democrats held a super-majority this session and had the opportunity to boldly address this emergency, despite obstruction by the Republican minority. Tenants and our allies demanded a rent cap and good cause eviction protections to give us immediate relief and stability while we tackled the housing emergency head-on. Hundreds of us stayed up all night at the Capitol to testify about the urgency of taking on a housing system that’s unaffordable, unsafe, and unfair; rooted in legacies of racism and exclusion; and that is displacing many of us from our homes and communities. We were out on the streets of our cities and towns, in our community spaces, and in our apartment buildings talking to our neighbors. Polling showed the vast majority of voters agreed we should stabilize rent and take action to address exclusionary zoning. This was the chance to cap the rent, empower tenants, and begin to shift the immense resources and wealth of our state towards guaranteeing affordable and stable housing for all.    

SB 998 improves tenants’ rights, but it does not shift the paradigm of housing in our state—housing that’s unaffordable and unsafe for many of the 1.3 million renters in Connecticut. It does not address the systemically racist practices of suburbs that continue to lock-out disproportionately Black and Latine renters, and it does not increase the availability of affordable housing. We support SB 998’s limitations on eviction blacklisting by landlords, caps on application and late fees, higher fines for landlords, translation of notices and forms, and additional resources for security deposits. But these changes only skirt the edge of what tenants need and are demanding. They do not reshape our housing system to create prosperity for us all in Connecticut, and they do not prioritize the working class. Rent will keep going up. Landlords will still wield no-cause evictions to deter organizing or force out tenants for no reason at all. Power over housing will remain concentrated in the hands of the few.

The tenant-led housing justice movement is here to stay, and next year our movement will be even stronger. We will organize in our buildings and cities to protect each other as we continue to fight for housing stability for all, so that all of us can put down roots in the communities we love.

June 8, 2023, Co-Authored by CT DSA and CT Tenants Union