An ex-employee of a painting contractor has been trying for weeks to collect several hundred dollars in unpaid wages. The owner has refused. On Saturday July 19 2008, this worker and about 20 others from the Solidarity Network and Workers Defense Committee (Casa Latina) visited the boss’s house to deliver a final demand that he be paid in full for his work. We also distributed flyers to educate the boss’s neighbors about the problem. If he continues to refuse, we will take further action.
This fight ended today! The apartment/motel owners gave in and paid up! Yes, the full amount. It’s a sweet victory for the kicked-out residents, who have been fighting for this for three long weeks. This weekend they’re finally moving out, and moving into decent apartments, with more than enough money to pay deposits and initial rent – as well as positive references – compliments of their old landlords Annie and John Min.
Victory BBQ: Saturday June 14th, 4pm, Licton Springs Park, N 95th St & Densmore Ave N.
Saturday, May 31st, we took the next step in this fight by picketing the Aurora Travelodge and Seafair motels. These two are the most expensive and nicest (not saying much) of the four motels still operated by the owners of the Green Lake apartments. It was peak check-in time, between 5pm and 8pm on a Saturday. The result: while the other motels on the strip were full, these two remained half-empty. The owners, Annie and Joon Min, also made a brief cameo appearance. Police were present, but did not interfere. More action coming soon… If you’d like to get involved, please get in touch!
On Friday May 23, a group of Green Lake Apartments residents visited their landlords’ house in Shoreline. Together with about 20 supporters from the Solidarity Network and other groups, they crowded around Annie & Joon Min’s front door to deliver a letter claiming compensation for being thrown out at short notice. They also left leaflets for the landlords’ neighbors explaining why all these people, including photographers, had been outside their neighbor’s house.
The tenants are demanding ‘relocation assistance’ equal to 3 months’ rent for each apartment. If the Mins refuse to provide this, as required by law, we will take further action.
If you’d like to get involved with this fight and others against abusive bosses and landlords, get in touch.
On Friday, May 16, tenants at twelve apartments behind the Green Lake Motel on Aurora Ave got a surprise visit from their landlords – who also own the motel and a few others – saying they had two days to move out, or they’d be arrested. The motel’s license was being suspended due to unsafe conditions, and the apartments had been operating (possibly wrongly) under the same license. Some residents cleared out right away, and a favored few received temporary lodging in one of the owners’ nicer motels. The rest received nothing, except repeated threats that they’d go to jail if they weren’t out on Sunday.
They had nowhere to go, not much money, and no time to find a new place. They weren’t helpless though: some had experience fighting back, and some had already been involved with the Solidarity Network. They immediately started to organize. Sunday morning, while some neighbors were finishing their packing, eight tenants sat down together beside the building and waited. Throughout the day they were joined by friends, relatives, and 16 others from the Solidarity Network.
Mid-afternoon, three police cars came with orders from management to arrest any non-resident – apparently including friends and relatives – who wouldn’t leave. A crowd gathered around the police, and residents insisted that this was their home, they’d lived there for years – for one woman, 24 years – and that the rest of us were their guests. After a short debate, the police left.
Since then, there have been (as of Thursday) no attempts to remove the tenants. They have managed to attract a barrage of media attention, legal aid, and some offers of charitable help with moving expenses. They’ve decided to stick together and fight this as a group. Their goals now: to seek housing aid, since they’re having to move at short notice, and to make the landlords pay.
Here is a sample of (partly inaccurate) press coverage of the situation: