To join any session by phone:
Dial 1 (669) 900-6833, then enter the meeting ID, then press #, then press # again.
The meeting ID for the whole assembly is 918-906-317 – except for the sessions on Saturday from 2-4, which have different meeting IDs (see Complete Program or Quick Schedule).
10:30 - 12:30
Food Not Rent & Covid-19: Reflecting on a Year in Crisis
Zoom Link →
Meeting ID: 918-906-317
Passcode: 8585
In April 2020, as tenants faced the reality of shelter-in-place orders, lost work, and an uncertain future, LATU proposed the idea of Food Not Rent—that we should keep our rent to prioritize our basic needs over our landlords’ profits. Throughout the pandemic, we’ve demanded the end to evictions and the cancellation of all rent and rent debt. City, state, and federal politicians provided neither. Instead of an end to evictions, they gave us a defense in eviction court. Instead of cancelling rent, they gave us an underfunded, means-tested lottery -- a subsidy to landlords that kept us buried in debt. Many of our members are still on rent strike, some as the sole striker in their building, and others in tenants associations which have taken the demand to cancel rent directly to their landlord. Many more tenants across Los Angeles are just now hitting their breaking point, unable to pay. Quadrupling in size this year, LATU had to face the challenge of absorbing hundreds of new members with very different experiences and politics. Did we meet that moment? Let’s reflect on our overall response to the pandemic: What has been effective? What hasn’t?
What did the idea of a union-wide rent strike do for us overall? How did it seek to intervene in the Covid-19 crisis?
Food Not Rent was an attempt at an all-union campaign. What were the challenges? What succeeded? What failed?
How did we handle the enormous influx of new members at the beginning of the pandemic? What work did we prioritize at the beginning of the pandemic? Would we do any of it differently in retrospect?
What kind of work should we prioritize over the next 6-12 months as the conditions of the pandemic evolve?
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12:30 - 1:30
Break
Zoom room will stay open for an open mic LANDLORD ROAST so that we can tell our funny stories about our landlords - IN SPANISH! Bring your stories, whether you have correct grammar or not - and we will help each other tell our stories!
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1:30 - 3:30
Organizing in an Intentionally Failed State: Centering Our Strategy for Building Tenant Power
Zoom Link →
Meeting ID: 918-906-317
Passcode: 8585
How has our organizing for tenant survival planted the seeds of a tenant revolution? Throughout the pandemic, at our general and local meetings, we’ve heard the refrain: “they don’t care about us, we have to do it ourselves.” We have to protect ourselves from the virus. We have to save our homes. We have to stop evictions from happening. We have to take care of ourselves, our neighbors, and each other. Against the backdrop of organized abandonment and organized violence, we relied on each other. During this session, we look at key practices we’ve developed over the course of the pandemic to do that: eviction defense, food distribution, organizing tenant associations, and starting new LATU local chapters. We will hear from our members about their successes and challenges, so that we can reflect on how these distinct practices work together to build tenant power. We’ll hear presentations about the following ongoing work and then discuss:
Eviction Defense
Mutual Aid
Tenant council building
Organizing new locals
How do these practices relate to each other? How are they different from other modes of political participation?
How do these practices build tenant power? Power to do what? What forms of repression and opposition have we faced to building power?
Given the forms of organizing, defense, and mutual aid already practiced in LATU, what new relationships, communities, and institutions are we trying to build? What vision for another kind of city is already in practice through these examples?
What will it take for them to grow?
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3:30 - 4:00
Closing Session: Looking Forward
Zoom Link →
Meeting ID: 918-906-317
Passcode: 8585