Aug. 31, 1970: 51 years ago, the Berkeley Tenants Union signed a collective bargaining [...]

51 years ago, the Berkeley Tenants Union signed a collective bargaining agreement with Richard Bachenheimer’s Premium Realty, Inc. The landmark contract, which granted the union the power to collectively manage a dozen houses owned by Bachenheimer, would last six years

The collective bargaining agreement was the only contract of its type secured by BTU during its 1970 city-wide rent strike. In a statement, members of the Premium Realty Local reflected on their tactical differences with the bulk of BTU leadership
https://t.co/XKlKo9wtN8

Bachenheimer tenants largely eschewed the more confrontational tactics that characterized the 1970 BTU, which relied on “riots at eviction sites” and “‘smash now!’ rhetoric,” opting instead for a more traditional organizing approach

Members of the local represented a wide array of radical milieus (“Maoist, Trotskyite, Marry Pranksters, New Left”) but were united in their embrace of the legacy of People’s Park and its “drop out lifestyle,” which they said gave them the “leisure time to do real organizing”

Many of the Bachenheimer houses became communes that would serve as important hubs for radical activity in the East Bay, such as the Red Sun Rising collective at 2239 Parker. Neighboring houses were also BTU-affiliated, and some removed fences to facilitate a communal atmosphere

The contract lasted until the mid-1970s, when Bachenheimer began successfully evicting the houses on an individual basis, although some managed to hold out considerably longer