Tenants union

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A tenants' union is an interest group of tenants that applies the union principle from the world of work to the area of ​​housing. As in the conflict of interest between employees and employers, the interests between tenants and landlords should be negotiated autonomously, the conflict should be fought out through combat measures if necessary, and collective agreements on rental conditions should be fixed in tariffs. The concept of the tenants 'union thus differs from that of the tenants' associations , which, according to Andrej Holm , are "essentially tenancy law organizations" and primarily support tenants on an individual basis.

Outside of Germany

Tenants' unions exist outside of Germany to a greater or lesser extent. The best-known example is that of the Swedish tenants' union Hyresgästföreningen. The organization founded in 1915 led, among other things, rent strikes in its early phase , which contributed significantly to the fact that in the Swedish system rents are not determined by the market, but are tariffed in negotiations with the tenants' union. Today, the union says it represents almost 540,000 households and negotiates the rents of around three million tenants.

In England, too, there has been an organization with ACORN since 2015 that tries to apply the trade union principle to the living area. In Spain, on the other hand, the Sindicat de Llogaters was founded in 2017, the first tenants' union.

In Germany

There is currently no tenants' union in Germany. With the problem of rising rents in Germany and the growing protests of tenants, however, the concept of such is increasingly being discussed in this country as well. A right to strike for tenants who join forces in such an organization is called for by the SPD politician and member of the Bundestag Cansel Kiziltepe .

The social scientist Holger Marcks considers tenant unions to be a necessary expansion of the union movement in order to protect the income of wage earners, understood as the wage-rent ratio. He advocates a right to strike and co-determination for tenants based on the Swedish model, so "that rental prices are no longer determined by the market, but by a tariff system that is negotiated between trade unions and owners, if necessary even in conflict". The idea was picked up in the ZDF cabaret show Die Anstalt, among others . The Berlin tenants 'association also sees opportunities in a tenants' union, but also risks if this would reduce state responsibility. In Germany, there has been an initial initiative since 2019 that aims to found a tenants' union.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Quoted in: Lotte Laloire, A vision for rental struggles: The concept of a tenants' union unites more and more leftists, Neues Deutschland , October 19, 2018.
  2. ↑ Start. Retrieved May 26, 2019 (Swedish).
  3. ^ "ACORN was founded by a few friends in Bristol in 2015. The idea was ambitious but simple - to build an organization for the community like a trade union is for the workplace"; https://acorntheunion.org.uk/about/
  4. ↑ Conrad Lluis Martell & Sophie Arndt: “We call it invisible evictions”. Interview: Irene Sabaté is an anthropologist and co-founder of Spain's first tenants' union. In: Friday. December 20, 2017. Retrieved May 26, 2019 .
  5. ↑ Lotte Laloire, A vision for rental battles: The concept of a tenants' union unites more and more leftists, Neues Deutschland, October 19, 2018.
  6. ↑ Cansel Kiziltepe: Together against speculation: Against rising rents we need a right to strike for tenants and efficient associations that function like unions. In: TAZ. April 7, 2018, accessed May 26, 2019 .
  7. ^ Holger Marcks: A union for tenants. In: ADA magazine. August 3, 2018, accessed May 26, 2019 .
  8. ↑ Quoted in: Lotte Laloire, A vision for rental struggles: The concept of a tenants' union unites more and more leftists, Neues Deutschland , October 19, 2018.
  9. ↑ Die Anstalt of October 23, 2018, https://www.zdf.de/comedy/die-anstalt/die-anstalt-vom-23-oktober-2018-100.html (min. 49:23).
  10. ↑ So Reiner Wild, managing director of the Berlin tenants 'association, in: Lotte Laloire, A vision for rent battles: The concept of a tenants' union unites more and more leftists, Neues Deutschland , October 19, 2018.
  11. ↑ Mietergewerkschaft.de