rent strike: putnam tenants’ struggle over new england brownfield housing
can’t afford rent? facing eviction? landlord won’t fix leaks and mold?
If it happens to other tenants, it can happen to you—we are all subject to displacement and mistreatment at the whim of landlords. When we unionize, we pool our own resources and time to build an organization that fights back.
Members of CTU organize for healthy, safe homes in Putnam, CT through community-building and collective power. We are part of a movement to free Windham county from absentee landlords and private developers, who leave tenants in dilapidated and unsafe conditions. Our goals are tenant-controlled housing, improved public health, and public ownership of natural resources.
Cargill Tenants Union was founded in January 2023 by residents of the Historic Cargill Falls Mill in Putnam, ct
Putnam is a post-industrial exurb in northeastern Connecticut, and the home to several hazardous Brownfield sites and historic mills. Our town is one of many in New England creating public-private agreements to remediate these sites and open them to residents, as a way to ease the housing crisis. But these sites have not been properly constructed or remediated.
Tenants in the Cargill Falls Mill face lead poisoning, structural decay, and extreme mold levels. We exposed the inherent danger of Brownfield site projects: a landlord and developer are always unwilling to cut into profits for public health benefits.
CTU organizes for healthy, safe homes in Putnam through community-building and collective power. We aim to free our county from absentee landlords and private developers, who leave tenants in dilapidated and unsafe conditions. Our goals are tenant-controlled housing, improved public health, and public ownership of natural resources.
