We fought the landlord lobby—and we won!

By Workers Strike Back. Published April 22, 2023

Our movement just beat the landlord lobby in Seattle and won a cap on late rent fees at $10/month, one of the lowest such caps in the country. Now, we fight for rent control.

For the last two months, socialist City Councilmember Kshama Sawant, Workers Strike Back, and the renters’ rights movement have been organizing in Seattle to win a cap of $10/month on exploitative late rent fees. These fees are nothing more than corporate landlord greed, and cause a cycle of debt for renters who are already struggling.

On Tuesday, we won.

With the leadership of Councilmember Kshama Sawant, and with the support of hundreds of renters, union members, socialists, and regular working people, we defeated the landlord lobby and their Democrat representatives on City Council. More than 1,200 working people emailed the City Council to demand that the Council vote “YES” to cap late rent fees, and dozens mobilized to speak in public comment on the day of the vote.

Importantly, the strength of our movement defeated the Democratic Party’s pro-corporate-landlord attempt to water down our original bill and raise the cap to $50/month. In particular, we forced self-described “labor Democrat” Councilmember Lewis, who had previously voted for the corporate handout, to publicly reverse his regressive vote and eat his words in front of union members, renters, and working people.

In the process of winning this, we also banned all junk fees being charged on top of late fees, including bogus “delivery fees” that are additional fees renters have to pay for the “privilege” of receiving a bill from their landlord.

Renters are being gouged by corporate landlords from all angles. In Seattle, renters were paying $100, $250, or more in late rent fees. As one renter put it:

“I receive a late fee immediately when the month starts if it’s not paid on the first of $250 and then a few days later I will get an extended late fee of an additional $250. After they already raised my rent, 25% 10 months ago. It’s outrageous. As a new mother, this is not what I planned on doing in my first year of motherhood.”

These are the same dire conditions that working-class renters are facing around the country. Rents have skyrocketed even faster than the record rate of inflation. We need movement-based, working-class organizations to fight back and spread this victory, and to fight for strong rent control.

How We Won — Fight for a New Party

Contrary to the story spun by Democratic Party politicians, even some who voted ‘Yes’ on the bill, this victory was not won through backroom dealmaking and secret negotiations. We won this path-breaking renters’ rights victory by mobilizing rank-and-file renters, union members, and Workers Strike Back activists who turned out to multiple City Council meetings for public comment and sent more than 1,200 emails, which forced Councilmembers to choose whether to stand with working people or face the political consequences.

Working people and renters prevailed yesterday but not without having to wage a powerful struggle against Democratic politicians, including some who call themselves “progressive” and “labor Democrats.”

The strategy of relying on the Democratic Party is clearly not working. The political establishment, which serves corporations and the billionaires, is threatened by the movements that Kshama Sawant and Workers Strike Back are helping to build, and they are threatened by what we represent: a real alternative to their corrupt and broken system and a direct challenge to their power.

Renters, low-income people, workers, and unions need a new party of our own.

We need to use the momentum from this victory to build a movement that can force a vote in the Seattle City Council on rent control and other crucial renters’ protections. Just as urgently, we need to start building fighting organizations that can challenge the corporate Democrats and win victories like this in cities around the country.

Help us spread this victory & prepare the ground for a new political party that will fight unapologetically for workers and renters, not corporate landlords!

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