Madison Tenant Power is a tenant union formed by and for tenants in 2019 to defend our rights to dignity and healthy living.

A "tenant" is anyone who is not in control of their own housing.

All tenants are welcome to join our membership.

Read more about our principles of unity here.

History

Madison used to have a powerful tenant union called Madison Tenant Union (MTU), which operated from 1969 to 1985. Madison Tenant Union adopted a labor-union model of organizing, organizing tenants into unions that would engage in collective bargaining using a variety of tactics including rent strikes to fight for tenants’ rights. The union was a non-profit; the landlord lobby ultimately successfully dismantled the union by attacking its funding sources.

The relationship between landlords and tenants has always been fraught. What’s more, historical race covenants have had a lingering impact on patterns of property ownership in Wisconsin.

Madison has historically had tenant protections that protected renters from displacement. State-wide preemption laws passed in 2011 have significantly limited tenants’ legal rights in Madison.

Future

• Housing will be free and good quality because it is a human right and a necessity.

• We will build a resilient community of tenants who know each other and work together, creating closely connected communities who feel empowered to enforce their rights.

• We will coordinate cross-sector organization to support workers and working families: labor organizing, neighborhood organizing, tenant organizing.

• We will build bridges between various zones of struggle, connecting housing justice to black liberation, abolition, women’s liberation, queer liberation, and reproductive justice. More solidarity, more community. 

Tenant power!