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!

By Posted on Posted in Electoral Campaigning, Endorsements, Meeting

Join us this weekend to kick-off BTU-endorsed campaigns for the November election! 

On Saturday from 6pm to 8pm at Grassroots House (2022 Blake St), we’ll be hosting the campaign kickoff for the Right to Housing Slate for Rent Board and Jenny Guarino for City Council.  This will be a fundraiser for the candidates, so we encourage you to bring your checkbook.  (No one will be turned away for lack of a donation.)

All five candidates (Jenny + the four members of the slate) are using public financing, which means the city’s Fair Elections Fund will match donations from Berkeley residents by a ratio of 6-1. That means, for example, if you donate $10 to a candidate, they will receive $70, and if you donate $60 then they will receive $420!  (You may donate up to $60 to each candidate, for a total of $300 total, which would become $2100 after matching funds are applied.)

Sunday is a two-parter at San Pablo Park (look for us next to the community center).  From 3pm to 5pm, we’ll be holding our membership meeting and potluck (sign-up to bring a dish here).  Then from 5pm to 8pm, we’re launching our first canvass for the November election!  We’ll be campaigning for the Right to Housing Slate, the Tenant Protection & Right to Organize Act, Jenny Guarino, and Jovanka Beckles.

You can RSVP for this weekend’s kickoffs here.  And you can sign-up to bring a dish for Sunday’s potluck here.

Want to donate but can’t make it this weekend?  You can find the donation links for the Right to Housing Slate here and for Jenny here.

By Posted on Posted in Electoral Campaigning, Endorsements

Earlier this month, our members voted to make the following endorsements:

  • Right to Housing Slate (Avery, Alfred, Dominique, Xavier) for Rent Board
  • Jenny Guarino for City Council District 2
  • YES on Berkeley Measure W (Fund homeless services)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure AA (increase Berkeley’s appropriations limit for the next 4 years)
  • YES on Berkeley Measure BB (Tenant Protection & Right to Organize)
  • NO on Berkeley Measure CC (Gut rent control ordinance and divert housing retention funds to a landlord slush fund)
  • YES on Proposition 32 (minimum wage increase)
  • YES on Proposition 33 (repeal Costa-Hawkins)
  • YES on Proposition 6 (ban involuntary servitude)

Our members also voted to endorse Regional Measure 4 ($20 billion affordable housing bond). However, BAHFA voted to withdraw Measure 4 while our membership vote was ongoing.

Additionally, our members previously voted to endorse:

  • Nikki Fortunato Bas for Alameda County Supervisor
  • Margot Smith for State Assembly
  • Jovanka Beckles for State Senate
  • 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)
  • NO on recalling Pamela Price

The BTU membership also previously voted to endorse YES on a ballot measure to repeal Article XXXIV of the California Constitution. However, the State Legislature subsequently withdrew that measure from the ballot.