Southern Towers tenants call for rent strike

Southern Towers

Residents of the Southern Towers apartment complex in Alexandria’s West End are organizing a rent strike. According to a story published by WAMU, many tenants have lost their jobs due to the coronavirus pandemic and can’t afford rent and are also concerned about unsanitary conditions in the building’s common areas.

A petition circulated by Unite Here Local 23 and African Communities Together urges the property manager, Bell Partners, to “cancel rent payments for the duration of the state of emergency, plus one month,” make future rent dependent on income, and address the needs for safety precautions and additional cleaning in the complex.

“Our families are facing unsafe conditions in these buildings,” the petition states. “There is no protection for us to open the door or use the trash room, and no system to safely operate the elevator. Without additional protections, it is easy for a virus to spread among the thousands of residents of these high-rise buildings.”

The petition notes that many of the tenants have lost jobs as airport workers, drivers, hotel workers, cooks, baristas, servers, and cleaners, and “instead of recognizing the crisis we are in, Bell Partners sends us letters reminding us to pay the full rent on time.”

Sami Bourma, one of the organizers of the protest, lost his job as a cafeteria cook at the National Institutes of Health and can no longer work at his second job, as an Uber driver, WAMU reports.

Bourma told WAMU the building staff was slow to take safety precautions, such as disinfecting common areas, including the elevator and the lobby where his 11-year-old daughter connects to wifi to do her homework. He said apartment staff have resumed trash pickup and cleanup only after tenants complained to a member of the Alexandria City Council.

Bell Partners advised Southern Towers tenants March 30 they would waive late fees for April if tenants pay rent by April 20 and would offer payment plans if there was evidence of hardship and reimburse $25 of credit-card fees if rent was paid in full.

But that won’t help tenants over the long run who don’t have any source of income for the foreseeable future.