Pictured: Tenants union organizers Michael Plowman and Emery Brush speak with neighbor Tameeka during door-knocking September 12, 2025. Credit: Aaron Nesheim, Sahan Journal
Last year, renters and organizers across Minnesota, including our Equity In Place Coalition, succeeded in passing a law to protect the right to organize with their neighbors for better living conditions.
Recently, Sahan Journal reported on the growing number of tenant unions across the Twin Cities, and how they’re fighting to improve safety in their buildings:
Tenant unions aren’t new, but community organizers say that they are seeing more and more tenants in the Twin Cities wanting to organize, and that many of these demands come from low-income tenants of color and immigrant families.
“The inquiries that we’re getting about organizing have increased exponentially,” said Regan Reeck, managing organizer at Home Line which also provides training to tenants on how to form a union. She added that tenant unions also offer collective protection to tenants who are particularly vulnerable, like immigrants, LGBTQ renters and elders.
Getting Started: how to organize
- Minnesota Renter’s Guide to Tenant Organizing from Alliance member organizations HOMELine and the Housing Justice Center
- Resources for renters and tenant associations and advice for forming a Tenant Association from HOMELine
- Tenant organizing resources from United Renters for Justice/ Inquilinxs Unidxs
- The Tenant Association Handbook from the LA Tenants Union
- Building Tenant Power guides from Our Neighborhoods