U.S. News

Tenants in Kansas City are declaring victory after eight months on rent strike—the longest such action in the city’s history. Residents of Independence Towers, an 11-story building with a troubled history, won a contract with their landlord that stabilizes rents and imposes deadlines to complete plumbing and other major repairs.

To reach the deal, tenants formed a union, waged a months-long pressure campaign and, ultimately, negotiated through an elected bargaining committee — an outcome that lends momentum to efforts to adapt labor union strategies for housing fights.

Absent any legal obligation for landlords to negotiate over rent and building conditions, tenants must be ​“creative and frankly really courageous” to bring landlords to the bargaining table, says Justin Stein, an organizer with Kansas City Tenants, the citywide group that backed the Independence Towers campaign.

The hard-fought win at Independence Towers ​“can really set a model for how tenants change the balance of power,” Stein believes, especially in conservative areas with few or no meaningful renter protections on the books.