About
The Tenant Union Federation* is a union of unions organizing tenants to wield power at a massive scale, to bargain for tenant protections, to disrupt the flow of capital to those who commodify our homes, to secure alternatives to the current housing market, to guarantee housing as a public good, and to establish tenants as a political and economic class that cannot be ignored.
*TUF or the Federation
The housing market is a catastrophic failure, shaped by the relentless prioritization of those who profit from our basic need for a home.
The rent is our biggest monthly bill, and the rent is too damn high. Rents are up more than 20% across the United States since 2020, andmore than 22 million households are rent-burdened, paying more than 30% of their income in rent and utilities. Evictions are up 50% over pre-pandemic averages. Whether we can keep our jobs, sustain our connections to our neighbors, send our kids to school consistently— all of this becomes a question of whether we can pay our rent.
As landlords hike the rent, homelessness is at an all-time high, with more than 650,000 people sleeping outside. Meanwhile, 16 million homes sit vacant. Cities criminalize unhoused people through laws against panhandling, loitering, and camping.
Today’s tenant struggle is more fraught than ever before, and tenants are up against more potent forces. The level of real estate capital flowing through investment trusts and across oceans has reached a historic scale. Most tenants don’t know their landlords, who are shielded by registered agents and property managers, setting rents by algorithm from thousands of miles away to maximize profits. The government is in business with our slumlords, financing their investments through favorable loan terms, responsive to the whims of a hefty industry lobby.
It is not a given that the people will prevail against today’s odds, but if we have a chance, the chance lives in the tenant union.
Founding Locals
The following tenant unions have come together to form the Tenant Union Federation. We are starting small on purpose, and we plan to expand in 2025. Two representatives from each founding local serve on the Federation’s leadership team.
KC Tenants
Founded in 2019, KC Tenants organizes over 10,000 members in Kansas City, Missouri. KC Tenants has passed a Tenants Bill of Rights, secured free attorneys for every tenant in eviction court, won a $50 million bond for housing at or below 30% Area Medium Income, banned source of income discrimination, captured and redistributed tens of millions from gentrifying developers, stopped thousands of evictions through direct action, and won building-level improvements and rent protections with tenants. KC Tenants recently defeated a regressive $2 billion sales tax that would have funded a downtown stadium. The sibling organization to KC Tenants, KC Tenants Power, elected four members of City Council in 2023, including one union member. Learn more →
Connecticut Tenant Union
Founded in 2021, Connecticut Tenants Union is a statewide union with over 700 members across 14 local chapters. Wins include securing a collectively bargained lease against a mega-landlord with conditions improvements and fair rent levels, and passing a municipal level Fair Rent Commission ordinance that recognizes tenants and their right to organize. Learn more →
Louisville Tenant Union
Founded in 2021, Louisville Tenants Union has 492 members, mostly in apartments and mobile home parks across Louisville and in surrounding suburbs. Wins include improvements in buildings, getting the city to cancel a contract between Louisville Metro Housing Authority and a failing management company, and passing an anti-displacement ordinance. Learn more →
Bozeman Tenants United
Founded in 2022, Bozeman Tenants Union organizes over 200 members, 130 of whom pay dues, and with 30-40 leaders holding roles in the union. The base includes poor and working class tenants, most of whom live in trailer parks, subsidized housing, and properties with federally-backed loans. In 2023, Bozeman Tenants elected a union member to be the new Mayor and banned short-term rentals. Learn more →
Not Me We
Founded in 2020 on the Southside of Chicago, Not Me We organizes over 100 members in buildings and across neighborhoods. The union is in the process of merging with Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP). The union has led the process to negotiate a community benefits agreement related to the Obama center. Learn more →
National Staff
Bahieh Hartshorn
Bahieh is a tenant organizer based in Denver, Colorado. She got her start organizing tenants on the West Side of St. Paul, Minnesota, including building fights to improve conditions and the campaign to win rent stabilization. She leads the Federation’s field strategy.
John Washington
John is a tenant organizer based in Buffalo, New York. John has organized for over ten years, building campaigns to secure material victories related to housing, jobs, and climate. John leads the Federation’s training program.
Grace White
Grace is a tenant organizer based in Kansas City, Missouri. She organizes with tenants to win federal rent caps, securing the first caps in a million tax credit-financed apartments, and a broad set of tenant protections. Grace leads the Federation’s federal campaigns.
Sharee Powell
Sharee is a tenant organizer based in New York City. She grew up in, and still lives in, public housing. She got started organizing tenants in Newburgh, New York to win rent stabilization. Sharee leads the Federation’s logistics.
Tara Raghuveer
Tara is a tenant organizer based in Kansas City, Missouri. She has organized tenants and tenant unions nationally for seven years, stewarding organizing strategy and trainings to connect the field of tenant unions. She also co-founded KC Tenants. Tara is the Federation’s founding director.