Providence, RI —Tenant unions are organizations of tenants that come together to advocate for themselves and their neighbors. Our neighbors at the Etta Apartments in the North End have come together to establish the Etta Apartments Tenant Union (EATU). These tenants have united to fight for better living conditions.

Etta Apartment residents are under the Section 8 program, meaning that their living situations are subsidized by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. This apartment complex in particular works with elderly residents of our community. In order to form the union, over 70% of them signed cards saying that they want to organize as a group and then negotiate with the landlord for improvements!

EATU has been dealing with all sorts of issues for years, including, but not limited to:

• Lack of maintenance and update standards
• Unjust towing of tenants’ vehicles
• Over the top fees for AC usage
• Absentee management
• No accountability for the owner or property manager
• Disrespect 

As a long-time Providence resident and city councilor, I fully support the tenants in their fight for fair treatment. Why is it that elderly folks living in subsidized housing should ever have to deal with questions of heat, cost, respect, or dignity? Unfortunately, groups like Providence Realty Investment (the owners of the building) and Wingate (the property management company) reap in millions of dollars in tax incentives and federal dollars only to ignore our most vulnerable communities. While Providence Realty Investment boasts a portfolio of 19 different subsidized housing complexes in RI and MA, and while the company’s owners live in multi-million dollar mansions, they leave our elders in a precarious position.  

Providence Realty Investment now has the opportunity to do the right thing: sit down with the tenants and negotiate a fair lease. Don’t retaliate against these tenants for using their federal right to organize (remember, retaliation is against the law). Respect their wishes. Treat your tenants the way you should have from the start. If you do, there’s an incredible opportunity ahead to build a future for these tenants, a future where they are fully respected and where their needs are listened to and met.

I have the back of every single tenant organizing in this building, and I won’t let greedy landlords come in and take public dollars to violate your federal right to organize. It’s time for every tenant in this city to have a voice by organizing into a tenant union, and I can’t wait to see what EATU is able to achieve as it grows and negotiates with the landlord.