VTU members, guests, and representatives from other tenant unions, including SLAM (Montreal), YSW (Toronto), Crown Heights Tenants Union (Brooklyn), and the LA Tenants Union, attended our April General Meeting hosted by the VTU Steering Committee on April 27th at 12:00PM. Here is a summarized version of the minutes.

Item 1 - Land Acknowledgement & Community Agreements

A moment of silence was held in response to the Lapu Lapu festival tragedy. Donations were accepted at a shrine at the venue.

Item 2 - Tenant Union Panel Discussion

Guests from four tenant unions shared experiences:

• SLAM (Montreal): Anti-capitalist, direct-action focused. Recently blocked landlord operations, expanding across neighborhoods.
  
  
• YSW (Toronto): Community-based; mixes direct action with selective electoral engagement.
  
  
• Crown Heights Tenants Union (Brooklyn): Currently engaged in a 11-month rent strike across 14 buildings (as of April 27, 2025); opposes all evictions, rejects candidate endorsements.
  
  
• LA Tenants Union: Coalition-based; wary of nonprofit co-optation. Builds tenant power across diverse communities.

Key Topics Discussed:

• Role of Electoral Politics:
  

• • SLAM does not participate in electoral politics, viewing the state as only serving the interests of various subfactions of the ruling class. Instead, they concentrate on building autonomous, solidarity-based infrastructure as well as engaging in direct action, seeing little value in pressuring politicians or working within the confines of state systems.
  • YSW approaches electoral politics pragmatically and case-by-case, seeing it as a possible route to build resources and bring people into radicalized political engagement. While they place a high value on direct action, they do not completely oppose the state and have occasionally benefited from electoral and judicial tactics, although it is not their priority.
  • Crown Heights Tenants Union views electoral politics as unavoidable but insufficient, engaging only when necessary and with caution. They prioritize base building, do not endorse candidates, and see all evictions and the police enforcing them as violent expressions of state power; past focus on legislation has pulled energy away from their organizing efforts.
  • The LA Tenants Union sees electoral politics as a conflicted, barrier ridden space where even progressive officials and nonprofits maintain systems of displacement. While they are critical of the state, they engage strategically when it helps politicize and organize marginalized communities that would otherwise not be engaged, with recent immigrants from Latin America as one example.
    

• Maintaining Internal Unity:
  

• • SLAM maintains cohesion through shared political education and practical organizing, using tools like a theoretical journal and an in-development 10-class curriculum of union-wide workshops to ensure all members, especially in new chapters, start from a common foundation to support their work within the union.
  • YSW does their best to maintain cohesion by staying action-oriented, solving internal differences through practical application rather than debate as their limited time and capacity prevent extended discussions.
  • Crown Heights maintains cohesion by fostering internal debate while staying committed to collective decisions, recognizing a diversity of tactics grounded in base building, and upholding unity through action despite ongoing tensions and messy disagreements.
  • The LA Tenants Union maintains cohesion by uniting local chapters through practical strategy discussions in assemblies, turning campaigns into culturally grounded organizing efforts that strengthen their base even when policy goals are not won.
    

• Open Q&A Highlights
  

• • Construction disruptions: Suggestions included organizing collectively through group chats and using low-risk tactics, while pursuing rent reductions and strengthening coordination among affected tenants.
  • Mobilizing rent-stabilized tenants: Emphasis on building trust through low-pressure community events and gradual involvement.
  • Landlord assessments:  Suggestions included publicly signaling tenant organizing activity and, in some cases, refusing access as a form of resistance.
  • Building power: Individual or partial victories can help legitimize organizing efforts and bring more tenants on board

Item 3 - Motion Discussions

• Motion to prioritize discussion of the Basis of Unity over Accessibility, with Accessibility deferred to the next GM focused on disability justice
  • VOTE: Motion passed
    
    
• Special Resolution 1: Basis of Unity & Amendments to Constitution and Bylaws
  
  
  • Members broke into small groups to focus on proposed constitutional, bylaw, and Basis of Unity amendments.
  • Discussions around the Basis of Unity centered on clarifying the union’s stance on electoral politics, legal strategies like the RTB, and the role of the capitalist state, with critiques of overly rigid or alienating language — “you essentially need to have read theory in order to understand these,” as one tenant put it. Members appreciated its current emphasis on base-building over the reliance on electoral channels, as well as its references to decolonization. 
  • For bylaw changes, participants appreciated the shift toward more democratic structures, including moving decision-making from Steering to GMs and rooting working groups in neighborhood chapters. Others expressed that they liked how the changes were grounded in the union’s history.
  • Several participants requested more advance notice for motions like this, and expressed a desire for more chances for input in the amendment process.
  • Suggested changes: clarify vague/absolutist phrasing, allow for neighborhood-chapter exceptions, better define decision-making authority. Further suggestion to sever the motion and just talk about one of them at a time.

• Motion to adopt bylaw changes
  • VOTE: Motion passed

Item 4 - Budget Overview:

• Presented by Will and Abby.
  • VTU finances are stable.
  • Interest in democratizing budget decisions and improving office space, though not feasible currently.
  • Members are encouraged to contact Will/Abby to know more.

Adjournment

Live minutes are recorded at each GM and condensed for the website. For more detailed minutes any member may contact us: [email protected]