"We know from experience that tenants working together in a group are much more stronger than an individual trying to deal with this problem alone," Marcotte says.
The campaign meets twice per month and often attracts 20 to 25 Cambridge tenants--some experienced activists, some just looking for advice.
"Basically, the campaign aims to be a meeting place where tenants can get support for their causes, meet other tenants and get advice," Cavellini says.
But that advice tends to have an activist edge.
In certain cases, EFZ will urge tenants to issue a series of increasingly public challenges to landlords, starting with a letter to the City Council.
If the landlord refuses to negotiate, tenants can appear before the City Council to discuss their case.
Such actions have won the respect of local politicians.
"They have tried to demonstrate that being a tenant is not a crime, and not being able to accommodate these exponential rent increases is not a deficiency," says City Councillor Kenneth E. Reeves '72.
Read more in News
Two Seniors Net Rhodes HonorRecommended Articles
-
Last Stand at 7 Sumner Rd.The Spartans chose to stand and fight at Thermopylae; the Red Sox and pinstripes slug it out regularly at Fenway
-
HRE Opens Relocation Office, Angers Craigie Arms TenantsHarvard Real Estate (HRE) last week opened a "tenant relocation" office in the Craigie Arms Apartment building on Mt. Auburn
-
Tenants Say Harvard Rents Illegally to Businesses, Cover-Up Denied at Recent Fact-Finding HearingTenants at a Harvard-owned building in Harvard Square are complaining about recently announced plans to improve the building. Also at
-
Cambridge Tenants to Protest Rent Hikes at Public MeetingThe Cambridge Tenant Organizing Committee (CTOC) will discuss strategies for an organized tenant protest against the 3.1 per cent rent
-
Tenants Confront City Council, Demand New City Rent BoardMore than 150 tenants, including representatives of 15 Cambridge tenant unions, forced the City Council to hold an unscheduled hearing
-
Fried's Possible High Court Nomination Irks Tenant GroupsTwo tenant groups and the Cambridge Democratic City Committee are vigorously protesting the expected nomination of Harvard Law School professor
