By Posted on Posted in Meeting

Join us SATURDAY, May 17 for our next membership meeting! We will be meeting from 4:00pm to 5:30pm at Grassroots House (2022 Blake Street).

Most Berkeley tenants now have a legally-enforceable right to unionize their building and collectively bargain with their landlord! The first step is to unionize with BTU – join us this Saturday to learn how to do so!

By Posted on Posted in Training

Thanks to the hard work of BTU and our allies like UAW 4811, most Berkeley tenants now have a legally-enforceable right to unionize their building and collectively bargain with their landlord!  On Wednesday, April 30, we’re holding a know-your-rights training about the new right-to-organize law so tenants can unionize their buildings with BTU.  The workshop will take place from 5pm to 6:30pm in the ASUC Senate Chambers – located on the 5th Floor of Eshleman Hall (2465 Bancroft Way) – and you can RSVP here.  The training open to all all tenants, and you do not need to be a student to attend.

Eshleman Hall is located on the UC Berkeley campus and can be entered through doors on Lower Sproul Plaza or Bancroft Ave (between Telegraph Avenue and Dana Street). If you are having any issues finding the event, please email jgottlieb@berkeleyca.gov (this email will be constantly monitored during the event for quick responses).

This training is sponsored by the Berkeley Tenant Organizing Task Force – a joint project of BTU, the East Bay Democratic Socialists of America, and City Council Member Cecilia Lunaparra.

By Posted on Posted in Canvass

Thanks to the hard work of BTU and our allies like UAW 4811, most Berkeley tenants now have a legally-enforceable right to unionize their building and collectively bargain with their landlord!  On Saturday, April 19, we’re holding a South Berkeley canvass to let tenants know about their new right-to-organize and help them unionize their buildings with BTU.  We’ll meet at the Ashby BART Station’s (3100 Adeline Street) entrance facing the parking lot beginning at 10am to train volunteers and distribute supplies. We’ll also have tea and snacks for volunteers.  We’ll be out there till 12pm, but anyone is welcome to canvass longer if you want to do so.

Make sure to bring comfortable shoes, a water bottle, and a charged phone.

Please note the April 19 canvass will be held in lieu of an April 20 membership meeting; we’re cancelling that membership meeting because it conflicts with multiple holidays (including Easter).

By Posted on Posted in Endorsements

The Berkeley Tenants Union is endorsing three candidates for ASUC (UC Berkeley’s official student association): Katelyn Chacon for External Affairs Vice President, Christopher Bailey for Senate, and Abdullah Memon for Senate.  We believe that these three candidates will best advance BTU’s priorities of affordable housing and tenants’ rights, and encourage all UC Berkeley students to rank them at the top of their ballot.

Voting is open from now through Wednesday 11:59pm.  All regularly enrolled UC Berkeley students – undergraduate and graduate – are eligible to vote in ASUC elections.  If you’re a UC Berkeley student, vote now for Katelyn, Christopher, and Abdullah to support affordable housing and tenants’ rights!

By Posted on Posted in Campaign Finance Disclosure, Electoral Campaigning, Endorsements

Ads that link to here are paid for by the Berkeley Tenants Union PAC, FPPC #1469678. Major funding provided by the Berkeley Tenants Union, Berkeley, CA ($1,600).

Local Candidates and Ballot Measures

  • Alameda County Board of Supervisors: Nikki Fortunato Bas
  • Berkeley Mayor: Kate Harrison
  • Berkeley City Council District 2: Jenny Guarino
  • Berkeley City Council District 3
    • John Chip Moore (#1)
    • Ben Bartlett (#2 – recommended but not endorsed)
  • Berkeley Rent Board: Right to Housing Slate (Alfred Twu, Avery Arbaugh, Dominique Walker, and Xavier Johnson)
  • NO to recalling District Attorney Pamela Price
  • YES on Berkeley Measure W (Fund homeless services)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure Z (Soda tax)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure AA (Allow Berkeley to spend money voters have already approved)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure BB (Tenant Protection & Right to Organize Act)
  • NO on Berkeley Measure CC (Gut rent control ordinance and divert housing retention funds to a landlord slush fund)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure GG (Tax large buildings’ greenhouse gas emissions to fund building decarbonization retrofits using union labor)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure HH (Set minimum air quality standards in City of Berkeley buildings)

State Candidates and Ballot Measures

  • State Senate: Jovanka Beckles
  • State Assembly: Margot Smith
  • YES on Proposition 3 (Repeal Prop 8/Allow same-sex marriage)
  • YES on Proposition 5 (lower the vote approval threshold to 55% for local bond measures)
  • YES on Proposition 6 (Ban involuntary servitude, i.e. slavery)
  • YES on Proposition 32 (Minimum wage increase)
  • YES on Proposition 33 (Repeal Costa-Hawkins/Allow stronger rent control)
  • NO on Proposition 34 (Retaliatory scheme by big landlords to restrict the political activities of a single progressive nonprofit)
  • NO on Proposition 36 (Roll back Prop 47/Worsen mass incarceration)

By Posted on Posted in Meeting

Join us this Sunday, September 22 for our regular membership meeting! We will be meeting from 4:00pm to 5:30pm at Grassroots House (2022 Blake Street). The meeting will also be a potluck, and you can sign-up here to let everyone know what you’re bringing!

Finally, we’re excited to announce our guest speaker for this Sunday’s membership meeting is City Councilmember Cecilia Lunaparra!