Organizer

About Us

In these challenging times, when so much wealth and power is concentrated in the hands of so few, it is more important than ever to unite tenants with the broader political and social justice movement to achieve respect and dignity, economic and racial equality on the job and in our communities.

The Rhode Island Tenants Union (RITU), part of Reclaim Rhode Island, is the organized and militant base of renters who will be fighting together to change conditions to both ensure the safety of renters and to make sure that greedy landlords do not continue to profit off of working people hand over fist. We will be working with and partnering with 1199 New England to take on a bold experiment in uniting a labor organization and a tenant union organization to create the broadest base of power possible.

District 1199 SEIU is a bold, democratic Union with a long activist tradition. In his remarks at 1199’s Salute to Freedom in 1968, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr stated “Local 1199 represents the authentic conscience of the labor movement.” In recent years, we’ve won a $15/hour standard for thousands of low-wage workers through militant direct-action campaigns, fought racism on the job, campaigned for progressive policy in the state legislature, and engaged in the community around a variety of social justice issues.

As an Organizer, you will be assigned to tenant organizing campaigns, trained on the fundamentals of union organizing with a militant perspective, and will have the opportunity to learn the skills needed to help renters build power where they live.

Key Responsibilities include:

• Conducting broad and intensive outreach efforts to tenants.
• Building one-on-one relationships with tenants.
• Identifying, recruiting and developing tenant leaders.
• Conducting individual and group meetings with tenants to move organizing campaigns forward.
• Engaging, motivating and mobilizing tenants.
• Planning and carrying out actions and events to support tenant organizing efforts
• Whatever else it takes for the tenants to win against the landlord.

Required Qualifications:

• Demonstrated commitment to social and economic justice.
• Ability and willingness to work long and irregular hours, including nights and weekends.
• Excellent listening, oral and written communication skills.
• Basic computer literacy and ability to learn the organization’s technology tools.
• Ability to work independently as well as with a team.
• Willingness to conduct work on site and at home visits.
• Strong planning, time-management and problem-solving skills.
• Willingness to work with people from diverse cultures and backgrounds.
• Possession of a valid U.S. driver’s license, proof of auto insurance, and an automobile for business use.
• Willingness and ability to travel as needed.
• Spanish and/or Portuguese/Creole fluency strongly preferred.