Beginning on April 1st, 2020, many Americans will be unable to pay their rent, mortgage, loans, or utility bills in the context of the pandemic and global recession. The president has so far spent $2.5 trillion in bailing out the stock market and large corporations, and nothing to bail out the working class.
Without a massive stimulus package, freeze on rent, utilities, and mortgage collection, millions of people will lose their jobs and homes. Unemployment could reach 30% according to some projections. We have to start organizing right now, turn our collective desperation to collective power, and force our government to enact a bailout for regular people, not Wall Street.
Our DemandsRent Strike 2020 started when a simple petition to freeze rent, utilities and mortgage payments has collected over 2 million signatures within 48 hours. The creators of the petition (Joshua Collins, and Rose Caucus) realized that this is a revolutionary moment and immediately passed it off to organizers who could build this into a movement that will be able to deliver a win for regular people.
We have put together a comprehensive set of immediate demands that we are calling the People’s Bailout. Our goal is to win these demands for the working class by building a mass movement. We hope to partner with local tenants unions, labor unions, immigrant groups, prison reform and abolition groups, and left and socialist elected officials who share our movement strategy and vision. Following are our initial set of of demands:
Freeze all rent, mortgage, utility payments or we will carry out a rent strike!
Freeze all student, medical, car and consumer debt and interest during the ongoing pandemic and recession. Cancel student debt!
Tax big business and the rich, not regular people, to pay for the crisis.
House all unsheltered people to protect their health and safety, and public health at-large.
Suspend all Farm Service Agency payments to ensure that we have an uninterrupted food supply.
Provide free mass testing and treatment! Authorize the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services to cover all out of pocket expenses so people can get tested and treated without worrying about going bankrupt.
Medicare for All! Immediately nationalize pharma, healthcare, medical instruments and all providers for an emergency response like Spain did to swiftly respond to the health crisis.
Give democratic powers to Committees of workers and scientists over the response to the crisis in essential industries – including healthcare, transportation, logistics, grocery.
Nationalize any industry threatening layoffs that hasn't been bailed out under democratic workers' control.
End the mass incarceration system & immediately release all immigrants from detention centers to stop the spread of COVID-19 between prisoners and guards.
Show your support for this campaign by endorsing it and sharing why!
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Clayton moore endorsed
“Because we cant work we cant pay our Bill's my rent alone is 1150 so my stimulus check is gone”
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Ted Rundio endorsed
“NOT! There are investors on the other side of the equation you idiots. They have families, mortgages, rent, etc..as well. Why should investors underwrite the poor decisions of others since childhood. If you're an adult, you've had ample time to save some money for an emergency such as this. Saving anything for a long period of time would prepare you for an event such as this. $10 a week for 2 years, you have over $1,000. The spending decisions and habits anyone has formed is on THEM. People spend money on all kinds of ridiculous things, like lottery, booze, cigarettes, movies, starbucks, fast food, and many other unneeded items. When you sign a contract to pay rent, it's your moral obligation to adhere to the contract. How about employers have a "payment strike" and demand no payments to employees. This is the most immoral action I've ever seen. It's called THEFT. Even if you can pay rent, the organizers are suggesting you strike. The government is not organized to satisfy every need of every citizen. The US attempts to provide a platform that allows for individual success correlated to the amount of work and skills you obtain. Quit asking others to pay for your individual obligations. If you don't pay, someone else does. That's a great position to take for parents. Hey, Jonny no need to pay for that candy bar. Just take it. You're entitled to that candy bar. The rich store owner can absorb the loss. I see PLENTY of jobs posted in every city. Go work in lieu of protesting. A band of thieves is all this group represents.”
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CASSANDRA BURR endorsed
“Call of the pandemic”
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Firekeeper endorsed
“I went from making 3x my rent in a month to making about 3/4 of my rent. And yet I still know many are worse off.”
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Krystal endorsed
“I was laid off due to this virus. No unemployment yet. That's a mess. I don't have the money for rent. I have focused on necessities for myself and my cat. Food, gas bill.. etc. Please sign this petition.”
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Irene Morin endorsed
“I have never seen, the world has never seen anything like this if we've ever needed help " it's now" we are all in this together and alot of us are going to lose everything if we don't get rent relief. God Bless us all.”
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Dionne Sanuel endorsed
“I’m lost my job I have no any money come in and I couldn’t been able to pay my rent since April 2020 and now I’ve been get a nest email harassing me from my landlord to pay the rent . I have difficult to buy food how I can pay rent !?”
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Keri Breedlove endorsed
“People like me who are single parents can't pay bills cause we lost our jobs”
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Natalie endorsed
“I endorse rent strike 2020”
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Maureen lopez endorsed
“No one's working”
Campaign created!
Show your support for this campaign by endorsing it and sharing why!
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Clayton moore endorsed
“Because we cant work we cant pay our Bill's my rent alone is 1150 so my stimulus check is gone”
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Giovanni Franco endorsed
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Trinity L Locklear endorsed
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Anali De Laney endorsed
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Izak Franch endorsed
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Heaven Chaney endorsed
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sid endorsed
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Ted Rundio endorsed
“NOT! There are investors on the other side of the equation you idiots. They have families, mortgages, rent, etc..as well. Why should investors underwrite the poor decisions of others since childhood. If you're an adult, you've had ample time to save some money for an emergency such as this. Saving anything for a long period of time would prepare you for an event such as this. $10 a week for 2 years, you have over $1,000. The spending decisions and habits anyone has formed is on THEM. People spend money on all kinds of ridiculous things, like lottery, booze, cigarettes, movies, starbucks, fast food, and many other unneeded items. When you sign a contract to pay rent, it's your moral obligation to adhere to the contract. How about employers have a "payment strike" and demand no payments to employees. This is the most immoral action I've ever seen. It's called THEFT. Even if you can pay rent, the organizers are suggesting you strike. The government is not organized to satisfy every need of every citizen. The US attempts to provide a platform that allows for individual success correlated to the amount of work and skills you obtain. Quit asking others to pay for your individual obligations. If you don't pay, someone else does. That's a great position to take for parents. Hey, Jonny no need to pay for that candy bar. Just take it. You're entitled to that candy bar. The rich store owner can absorb the loss. I see PLENTY of jobs posted in every city. Go work in lieu of protesting. A band of thieves is all this group represents.”
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CASSANDRA BURR endorsed
“Call of the pandemic”
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Patricia Lopez endorsed
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alex endorsed
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RAYMUNDO MARTINEZ endorsed
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Christine Valdez endorsed
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Charisse Simone endorsed
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Eric Leeth endorsed
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Firekeeper endorsed
“I went from making 3x my rent in a month to making about 3/4 of my rent. And yet I still know many are worse off.”
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Tracy A Byrd endorsed
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Krystal endorsed
“I was laid off due to this virus. No unemployment yet. That's a mess. I don't have the money for rent. I have focused on necessities for myself and my cat. Food, gas bill.. etc. Please sign this petition.”
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Joanna Jara endorsed
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Irene Morin endorsed
“I have never seen, the world has never seen anything like this if we've ever needed help " it's now" we are all in this together and alot of us are going to lose everything if we don't get rent relief. God Bless us all.”
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Dionne Sanuel endorsed
“I’m lost my job I have no any money come in and I couldn’t been able to pay my rent since April 2020 and now I’ve been get a nest email harassing me from my landlord to pay the rent . I have difficult to buy food how I can pay rent !?”
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Keri Breedlove endorsed
“People like me who are single parents can't pay bills cause we lost our jobs”
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Jim Bass endorsed
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Santiago Rodriguez Jr endorsed
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Natalie endorsed
“I endorse rent strike 2020”
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Maureen lopez endorsed
“No one's working”
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Alden Morris endorsed
“If millions of Americans cannot pay their rent, it will trickle down into a financial crisis with massive credit defaults. It is ludicrous that the federal government has suspended rent but not canceled it without a bailout for millions of Americans. This will be 2008 all over again mixed in with 2020. Cancel rent.”
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Nery Mortimer endorsed
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Jennifer Ashley endorsed
“given the current state of affairs, it's very difficult for those in our society to go about their business, get to their jobs, and generate income in their usual ways.”
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Kristina Harper endorsed
“I have not been able to work I have an autoimmune disease that prevents me from working and I am in a position where I am about to lose everything. I feel like we need bigger breaks to make it through this pandemic. Hopefully we can make a difference and get this settled without actually having to go on strike. God Bless America.”
