We stand on the shoulders of giants,
both known and unknown.

We inherited this website and our Facebook page from a prior iteration of the “Tacoma Tenants Union,” and their 2018-19 struggles supporting residents at the Tiki Apartments and the Merkle Hotel. Their work forced the city of Tacoma to finally take working class tenants seriously, making long overdue updates to eviction laws. It also paved the way for statewide “good cause” eviction protections, Tacoma For All’s 2023 Landlord Fairness Code, and Tacoma’s current explosive growth in tenant organizing. 

We wouldn’t be where we are today without their struggles and sacrifices.

Tiki Tenants Organizing Committee

Tacoma rents were already skyrocketing in the late 2010s, but there were few protections in place for tenants facing rent hikes or evictions, and few places where lower and fixed income renters could afford to live. The 62 units at the Tiki Apartments were such units. And, while they faced years of neglect, deferred maintenance, and slumlike conditions, the many long-term tenants there considered it their home.

That is until Seattle developer Chad Duncan purchased the building in early 2018, then gave the Tiki’s primarily month-to-month renters just 20 days to move out so he could “renovate” the property. This led to a mass displacement of dozens of residents and their families, some of whom were disabled, some of whom wound up on the street.

But it also birthed the Tiki Tenants Organizing Committee (TTOC), a broad coalition of Tiki residents, housing activists and labor allies, supported primarily by members of the local Democratic Socialists of America chapter and the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. TTOC immediately organized to help prevent displacement, provide mutual aid, rehouse as many people as possible, and work to create better eviction protections in the City of Tacoma.

Over the course of just six months, TTOC was able to pressure the city of Tacoma into extending eviction protections for such renovations to 60 days, and pushed for both city and statewide legislation for 120 days. They also created so much heat and bad press for Duncan that he was forced to redeem his image through creating a unique partnership with the Tacoma Housing Authority and Tacoma Community College, renting the new units to unhoused college students and renters below 30 percent of Area Median Income (although tenants were arguing for first right of refusal).

The Merkle Hotel and Tacoma Tenants Organizing Committee

Residents at the Merkle Hotel faced a similar struggle almost immediately after the Tiki incident, when developer Eli Moreno purchases the Merkle, Tacoma’s last “Residential Hotel,” later renovating the rooms, and driving rent up from $400 a month to $800-$1,2000 a month for “microunits.”

TTOC sprung into action with Merkle tenants, too. They organized a significant portion of the residents, ran direct action events directed at Moreno and city hall, and received significant press attention. They applied pressure around their own eviction cases, and pushed for broader just cause protections.

But the struggle was more complicated given that Moreno notified residents 90 days before their eviction, negative community stereotypes about the building and residential hotels, and Moreno’s claims from the beginning that he would help keep Tacoma affordable. While the campaign was important for tenant rights and voice, it ultimately could not keep people housed. Several core leaders passed away within three year

TTOC continued to organize throughout 2019, hosting regular meetings, building a base of tenant leaders, and working with the Washington State Tenant Union for city and statewide protections. Unfortunately, like with so many other movements, the COVID pandemic took a huge toll. But a few persistent, brave leaders carried the torch throughout the early 2020s, providing mutual aid, legal support and other resources for Tacoma tenants.

While we’ve lost friends and loved ones among tenant leaders and organizers alike, we’re honored that many of them are still in the fight, and doubling down by supporting Tacoma’s revitalized tenant union movement.

We will strive to document more of these early movement stories soon.
In the meantime, please explore archived materials below