SVTU is a union run by and for our members. Our locals and tenant associations are run by and for their members. We fight for tenants, not for housing. We build tenant power through collective action. We practice and build solidarityーnot charityーacross buildings, neighborhoods, borders, and language barriers. We advocate a strategy of class struggle: Those who exploit us through the “housing market”ーlandlords, developers, and lendersーand those who manage itーpolice, lawyers, and politiciansーare highly organized, and so they must be met with an organized, militant tenant movement.

There is no tenant power without collective action. SVTU volunteers support and train tenants to confront our abusive landlords and property managers by gathering with our neighbors, identifying common concerns, making collective demands, and uniting around common strategies and tactics to carry out together as a group, including: forming tenant associations; sending petitions to landlords; launching code enforcement campaigns; running door knocking and letter writing campaigns; conducting landlord research; submitting civic and legal complaints; holding public protests; hosting press conferences; and conducting rent strikes.