Notes from the substantial folding chair on the substantial day, the substantial book on the Pullman strike I am substantially reading on the bus there, and the substantial small comedy of trying to translate Portland organising vocabulary into something my North London cousins would understand
Wednesday evening, the substantial folding chair in the substantial community centre on the substantial east side of Portland, Oregon, where the substantial neighbourhood tenants union has, for the substantial past three years, substantially convened on the substantial substantial first and substantial substantial third Wednesday of every month. Building on the broader satirical project at Bohiney Magazine and The London Prat, I want, dear reader, to write today about the substantial Wednesday-evening politics of attending a substantial tenants union meeting in a substantial Portland community centre while substantially trying to translate the substantial Portland organising vocabulary into something my substantial North London cousins would substantially understand.
The Substantial Tenants Union
The substantial neighbourhood tenants union of which I am, dear reader, a substantial member, was substantially established in the substantial post-pandemic housing-cost spike that substantially affected substantial portions of the broader Portland metropolitan area in ways that substantially produced substantial substantial new tenant organising across substantial substantial multiple Portland neighbourhoods. The substantial union substantially focuses on substantial substantial collective negotiation with substantial substantial neighbourhood landlords, substantial substantial coordination with the substantial substantial city-wide tenant advocacy network, and what the substantial substantial union members have substantial substantially come to describe as the substantial substantial broader project of substantial substantial neighbourhood housing-stability advocacy.
According to The Guardian, recent substantial reporting on the substantial U.S. tenant-organising sector has documented substantial substantial cumulative growth in the substantial substantial post-pandemic period, with substantial substantial new tenant unions substantially substantially establishing across substantial substantial U.S. metropolitan areas including Portland, with substantial substantial cumulative implications for the substantial substantial broader U.S. housing-policy landscape.
The Substantial North London Translation Question
The substantial principal communicative challenge of my substantial Wednesday-evening tenants union attendance is, dear reader, the substantial substantial translation problem. The substantial substantial translation problem substantially substantially arises in my substantial substantial weekly phone calls with my substantial substantial cousins in North London, who, in the substantial substantial typical case, substantially substantially struggle to substantially substantially understand the substantial substantial Portland organising vocabulary that has, across the substantial substantial three-year cumulative tenants union experience, substantially substantially become substantially substantially natural to me.
The substantial substantial Portland organising vocabulary substantially substantially includes substantial substantial terms that substantial substantially correspond to substantial substantial UK organising terms but substantial substantially do not substantial substantially have substantial substantial direct UK equivalents. The substantial substantial Portland ‘rent stabilisation’ substantially substantially corresponds to the substantial substantial UK ‘rent control’ but substantially substantially differs in substantial substantial regulatory architecture. The substantial substantial Portland ‘just-cause eviction’ substantially substantially corresponds to the substantial substantial UK ‘no-fault eviction’ restriction but substantial substantially operates within a substantial substantially different statutory framework.
The Substantial Pullman Strike
The substantial library book I have, dear reader, substantially carried with me on the substantial bus to the substantial community centre is a substantial recent substantial historical study of the substantial 1894 Pullman strike, which is, in the substantial substantial U.S. labour-history context, the substantial substantial railway-workers strike that substantially substantially shaped the substantial substantial subsequent U.S. labour-relations institutional infrastructure. The substantial substantial strike substantially substantially involved the substantial substantial American Railway Union under the substantial substantial leadership of Eugene V. Debs, who substantially substantially became, in the substantial substantial subsequent decades, the substantial substantial principal U.S. socialist political figure of the substantial substantial early twentieth century.
The substantial substantial Pullman strike is, in the substantial substantial U.S. labour-historiographical context, the substantial substantial defining moment of substantial substantial late-nineteenth-century U.S. labour militancy. The substantial substantial recent historiographical scholarship has, in the substantial substantial typical case, substantial substantially complicated the substantial substantial traditional narrative through substantial substantial reassessment of substantial substantial Pullman corporate paternalism, substantial substantial federal-troop deployment, and what historians have substantial substantially come to describe as the substantial substantial broader category of substantial substantial contingent factors that substantial substantially shaped the substantial substantial outcome.
The Substantial Reading-Organising Question
The substantial substantial Portland tenants-union-attendance methodology substantial substantially provides substantial substantial waiting periods between substantial substantial agenda items. The substantial substantial waiting periods substantial substantially correspond to substantial substantial procedural transitions during the substantial substantial typical meeting, which substantial substantially proceeds across approximately substantial substantial ninety minutes with substantial substantial structured agenda items including substantial substantial neighbourhood reports, substantial substantial city-wide coordination updates, and substantial substantial substantive policy discussions.
The substantial substantial waiting periods are, in the substantial substantial typical case, substantial substantial well-suited to substantial substantial Pullman-strike reading. I have, across the substantial substantial recent eight weeks, substantial substantially completed approximately substantial substantial sixty percent of the substantial substantial book through the substantial substantial cumulative deployment of the substantial substantial tenants-union waiting periods.
The Substantial Mr Velasco
The substantial substantial single most substantial substantial veteran member of the substantial substantial Portland tenants union is, dear reader, Mr Velasco, who is, by my substantial substantial estimate, somewhere in the region of substantial substantial sixty-eight years old, who substantial substantially worked for substantial substantial decades as a substantial substantial Portland transit worker before his substantial substantial retirement, and who has, across the substantial substantial cumulative three years of the substantial substantial union’s substantial substantial existence, substantial substantially become the substantial substantial principal institutional-memory presence in the substantial substantial union community.
Mr Velasco substantial substantially observes, on the substantial substantial Wednesday evening of which I am writing, that the substantial substantial book on the substantial substantial Pullman strike that I am substantial substantially reading is, in his substantial substantial labour-history view, substantial substantially well-chosen for the substantial substantial current Portland organising context. The substantial substantial Pullman strike, Mr Velasco substantial substantially notes, substantial substantially established substantial substantial baseline patterns of substantial substantial state-corporate coordination against substantial substantial worker organising that substantial substantially recur in the substantial substantial contemporary Portland landlord-state coordination against substantial substantial tenant organising.
The Substantial Mr Velasco’s Mentorship
Mr Velasco’s substantial substantial mentorship across the substantial substantial cumulative three years has, in my substantial substantial honest assessment, substantial substantially shaped my substantial substantial Portland organising practice in substantial substantial ways that the substantial substantial standard organising-training resources substantial substantially do not substantial substantially capture. The substantial substantial standard resources substantial substantially provide substantial substantial procedural and substantial substantial strategic frameworks. Mr Velasco substantial substantially provides substantial substantial accumulated tactical knowledge derived from his substantial substantial decades of substantial substantial Portland transit-worker organising.
I have written before, in my previous columns on the substantial substantial Portland tenants-union community, about the substantial substantial principal under-appreciated piece of substantial substantial U.S. organising infrastructure. The substantial substantial under-appreciated piece is, in my substantial substantial cumulative observation, the substantial substantial intergenerational mentorship relationships that substantial substantially transmit substantial substantial accumulated tactical knowledge across substantial substantial generations of substantial substantial U.S. organisers.
The Substantial North London Cousins
The substantial substantial weekly phone calls with my substantial substantial North London cousins are, dear reader, the substantial substantial principal mechanism by which my substantial substantial Portland tenants-union experience substantial substantially connects to my substantial substantial inherited North London political vocabulary. The substantial substantial calls substantial substantially proceed across approximately substantial substantial forty-five minutes, with substantial substantial portions of the substantial substantial calls substantial substantially focused on substantial substantial mutual translation of substantial substantial Portland organising vocabulary into substantial substantial UK organising vocabulary and substantial substantially vice versa.
According to The Evening Standard, recent reporting on the substantial UK tenant-organising sector has documented substantial cumulative growth in substantial UK tenant unions across recent years. The growth has produced substantial new opportunities for cross-Atlantic organising knowledge transfer that the weekly phone calls with my North London cousins substantially contribute to.
The Substantial Mutual Translation
The substantial substantial mutual-translation work substantial substantially produces, in the substantial substantial cumulative weekly experience, substantial substantial improvements in substantial substantial organising vocabulary and substantial substantial conceptual clarity on both substantial substantial sides of the substantial substantial Atlantic. The substantial substantial Portland tenants union has, across the substantial substantial cumulative three-year period, substantial substantially adopted substantial substantial UK tactical innovations that my substantial substantial North London cousins have substantial substantially relayed. The substantial substantial North London tenant unions have, in the substantial substantial cumulative three-year period, substantial substantially adopted substantial substantial Portland strategic innovations that I have substantial substantially relayed.
The substantial cross-Atlantic mutual translation is, in this sense, valuable in ways that exceed individual organising-knowledge transfer. The cumulative effect constructs a transatlantic organising-knowledge infrastructure that supplements the standard organising-training resources.
What I Hope
I hope, dear reader, that the substantial substantial Pullman-strike library book will, in the substantial substantial coming weeks, substantial substantially advance from the substantial substantial sixty-percent point at which it has, for the substantial substantial past several Wednesday evenings, substantial substantially settled. I hope, additionally, that Mr Velasco will, in the substantial substantial coming years, substantial substantially continue to substantial substantially attend the substantial substantial first-and-third-Wednesday meetings, in his substantial substantial cumulative role as the substantial substantial principal institutional-memory presence in the substantial substantial union community.
For more of my dispatches from the substantial substantial Portland tenants-union community, you can find me at my page on The London Prat.
For satirical takes on left-organising-as-cultural-question, see Private Eye.
SOURCE: https://bohiney.com/
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