Chavez Urges Striking Renters to ‘Keep Fighting Landlords’

Labor leader Cesar Chavez told striking renters “to keep fighting against landlords” at an outdoor rally Saturday night that drew more than 1,000 people.

“Like you, I don’t know when you’ll win,” Chavez said in Spanish. “But if you sacrifice now, tomorrow you can bear the fruits of that sacrifice with decent housing.”

The appearance of Chavez, president of the United Farm Workers of America and one of the country’s most recognized Latino leaders, added an emotional lift to Santa Ana tenants who have refused to pay rent for three months in an effort toforce landlords to make repairs.

Rally organizers decided to have Chavez speak in front of a row of apartment buildings owned by Carmine Esposito of Villa Park that have been found substandard by Santa Ana housing inspectors.

The buildings were decorated with red and black flags declaring a huelga de rentas or rent strike.

As the largely Latino audience chanted “huelga, huelga” (strike, strike), Chavez looked at them and said, “People in Oxnard, Los Angeles and San Diego, and up and down the state, are looking at you. They’re interested in your progress.”

Organizer Nativo Lopez said that despite a legal setback Thursday, Saturday’s rally proved that the rent rebellion “is not over yet.”

Lopez referred to a decision by a Superior Court judge that allows landlords to receive rents from a receiver but that, according to claims by renters, fails to provide renters any meaningful guarantee that apartments will be improved.

“I had three or four groups of renters from different sections of the city come up to me tonight. They all want to join the strike,” Lopez said.