Paul Kershaw, Chair Unite Housing Workers’ branch
Tenant and resident activists took the case for a campaigning union, pulling tenant campaigns and residents across tenures together, at the TUC in Brighton.
They got a warm response from delegates talking to them on a stall in the conference centre and at a fringe meeting called by SHAC – the network of housing association residents and workers.
FBU national officer Adam Taylor said that the government does not expect remediation works to make cladding on homes safe, following the findings of the Grenfell Tower inquiry, to be completed for another ten years.
“Tenants and residents complain that they are often made to pay the costs of this remediation, and they were never told of the risks in the first place,” he said.
“Apart from cladding, there are 100,000s of people still living in homes which are not safe.
“Everyone has the right to be safe in their home, and that’s why the FBU is proud to support this important fringe/discussion.”
Grenfell
SHAC secretary Suzanne Muna said the failures that led to the Grenfell disaster showed a housing union was needed. The meeting heard of the appointment of Laura Johnson, who was director of housing responsible for Grenfell to a similarly senior position in Barnet. SHAC members in the area are alarmed and Barnet TUC has called a protest.
PCS union General Secretary, Fran Heathcote explained the impact of housing costs on union members and former MP for Kensington and author of Grenfell Britain, Emma Dent Coad, pledged to work with SHAC on the initiative to set up a housing union.
Suzane Muna commented: “It’s becoming clear to people that none of these parties are speaking for us on housing now, so we need to create tenant and resident power.
“I think the lack of working-class representation is a massive factor and that is something that’s been a gradual process of erosion. As the Labour Party has moved further and further away from workers it took people a while to realise you can’t reclaim it. Tenants and residents are not given any real power to change how their landlords behave and hold them into account.
“The problem isn’t that the law isn’t there, the problem is that people don’t have any way to actually enforce it.”
The conference supported a resolution from Unite which calls for mass council house building, rent control and opposes the planned above-inflation rent increases in the social sector. Trade unions should support tenants fighting for these policies and call on politicians to support.
