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"Union-At-Home" Ordinance Takes Effect In San Francisco
Tenants take advantage of new union-like bargaining rights
by ANNIKA HOMAPRIL 11, 2022
Tenants mailing off their demands to landlords on Monday morning. Photo by Annika Hom
Tenants at the St. Albans Single Room Occupancy Hotel on 25th Street wasted no time in taking advantage of a new local law that took effect Monday and forces landlords to negotiate with tenants about building issues.
At St. Albans, tenants want maintenance work done, a fire alarm fixed and the building cleaned.
“We need cleaning because we have a right! We are protesting!” read one Latina tenant’s sign at a City Hall press conference Monday morning.
The new law, sponsored by Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Connie Chan, states that when half the tenants in a privately-owned building of five or more units agree to organize, that group or “tenants’ union” earns the right to negotiate with landlords. The law requires landlords to comply, or else concede lower rent.
Tenants are “in essence, unionizing,” said Peskin, who dubbed the initiative the Union-At-Home ordinance.
Wilfredo Barrientos was one St. Albans Single Room Occupancy hotel resident who petitioned for his building to organize.
He said that when a new owner took over four years ago, the building’s maintenance began to decline. Despite attempts to resolve some issues, he said, management refused to talk to residents. “They are ignoring us completely,” Barrientos said in Spanish. “In an emergency, what are we going to do?”
On Monday, Barrientos and others from St. Albans joined tenants from 19 other residential buildings and sent letters to their respective landlords to declare their intent to unionize and negotiate.
Tenants readied their declarations at the press conference Monday. Each filed them into manila envelopes and prepared to send them off. About seven residents from the Mission’s St. Albans, many of whom are monolingual Spanish speakers, attended the press conference.
Supervisor Chan said these “unions” can also make a difference for monolingual immigrants. “How great would it have been for my mom to be part of a union,” said Chan referring to her mother, an immigrant, and single parent. “So that she wasn’t alone, and that she had a group of tenants together negotiating for her living condition to be better.”
Organizers have advocated that the law be used to negotiate with corporate landlords especially. Fifteen of the letters sent by tenants on Monday are addressed to Veritas, which is one of the city’s largest landlords; another letter was addressed to a building owned by Ballast.
Madelyn McMillian, who represents the Veritas Tenants Association and lives at 240 St. Joseph Ave., said the law gives her and her neighbors confidence she won’t be retaliated against for certain building complaints. “Some neighbors did not feel comfortable. Now with the law, we don’t have to feel like that. Everything is in the open and we can have meetings in the lobby,” McMillian told Mission Local.
McMillian plans on meeting with neighbors to discuss top concerns for Veritas to address, including construction noise and sudden water shutoffs. “Members in more than 15 buildings are certifying today, and it’s Day One. We will show what it is to unionize,” she said.
Even Peskin expressed surprise that tenants made use of his ordinance so quickly. “My fear was when we passed this legislation that it would be a great idea that sat on the books gathering dust. But these pieces of paper before us show us exactly what we just saw in a national way,” he said, referring to Amazon workers successfully unionizing in New York.
While tenants acted swiftly it’s unclear what response landlords will have from Monday’s letters. “They could object, but now, there’s a consequence of the law,” Lenea Maibaum, an organizer with the Housing Rights Committee told Mission Local.
Mission Local could not immediately reach Veritas for comment.
Following the press conference, the group of tenants stepped out of City Hall and walked toward the mailbox on Polk Street to drop off their letters. One turned toward Maibaum, the tenant organizer. “What do we do now?” He asked.
“We send the letters and wait for a response. Then in the meantime, you get your neighbors together and organize,” Maibaum said.
:"Union-At-Home" Ordinance Takes Effect In San Francisco
Tenants take advantage of new union-like bargaining rights
Tenants mailing off their demands to landlords on Monday morning. Photo by Annika Hom
Tenants at the St. Albans Single Room Occupancy Hotel on 25th Street wasted no time in taking advantage of a new local law that took effect Monday and forces landlords to negotiate with tenants about building issues.
At St. Albans, tenants want maintenance work done, a fire alarm fixed and the building cleaned.
“We need cleaning because we have a right! We are protesting!” read one Latina tenant’s sign at a City Hall press conference Monday morning.
The new law, sponsored by Supervisors Aaron Peskin and Connie Chan, states that when half the tenants in a privately-owned building of five or more units agree to organize, that group or “tenants’ union” earns the right to negotiate with landlords. The law requires landlords to comply, or else concede lower rent.
Tenants are “in essence, unionizing,” said Peskin, who dubbed the initiative the Union-At-Home ordinance.
Wilfredo Barrientos was one St. Albans Single Room Occupancy hotel resident who petitioned for his building to organize.
He said that when a new owner took over four years ago, the building’s maintenance began to decline. Despite attempts to resolve some issues, he said, management refused to talk to residents. “They are ignoring us completely,” Barrientos said in Spanish. “In an emergency, what are we going to do?”
On Monday, Barrientos and others from St. Albans joined tenants from 19 other residential buildings and sent letters to their respective landlords to declare their intent to unionize and negotiate.
Tenants readied their declarations at the press conference Monday. Each filed them into manila envelopes and prepared to send them off. About seven residents from the Mission’s St. Albans, many of whom are monolingual Spanish speakers, attended the press conference.
Supervisor Chan said these “unions” can also make a difference for monolingual immigrants. “How great would it have been for my mom to be part of a union,” said Chan referring to her mother, an immigrant, and single parent. “So that she wasn’t alone, and that she had a group of tenants together negotiating for her living condition to be better.”
Organizers have advocated that the law be used to negotiate with corporate landlords especially. Fifteen of the letters sent by tenants on Monday are addressed to Veritas, which is one of the city’s largest landlords; another letter was addressed to a building owned by Ballast.
Madelyn McMillian, who represents the Veritas Tenants Association and lives at 240 St. Joseph Ave., said the law gives her and her neighbors confidence she won’t be retaliated against for certain building complaints. “Some neighbors did not feel comfortable. Now with the law, we don’t have to feel like that. Everything is in the open and we can have meetings in the lobby,” McMillian told Mission Local.
McMillian plans on meeting with neighbors to discuss top concerns for Veritas to address, including construction noise and sudden water shutoffs. “Members in more than 15 buildings are certifying today, and it’s Day One. We will show what it is to unionize,” she said.
Even Peskin expressed surprise that tenants made use of his ordinance so quickly. “My fear was when we passed this legislation that it would be a great idea that sat on the books gathering dust. But these pieces of paper before us show us exactly what we just saw in a national way,” he said, referring to Amazon workers successfully unionizing in New York.
While tenants acted swiftly it’s unclear what response landlords will have from Monday’s letters. “They could object, but now, there’s a consequence of the law,” Lenea Maibaum, an organizer with the Housing Rights Committee told Mission Local.
Mission Local could not immediately reach Veritas for comment.
Following the press conference, the group of tenants stepped out of City Hall and walked toward the mailbox on Polk Street to drop off their letters. One turned toward Maibaum, the tenant organizer. “What do we do now?” He asked.
“We send the letters and wait for a response. Then in the meantime, you get your neighbors together and organize,” Maibaum said.
