CHARLESTON, S.C. (WCIV) — As the lack of affordable housing and rising costs increasingly embattle Americans, some South Carolina tenants are taking matters into their own hands to enact the change they want to see with the help of a local organization that emerged at the height of the pandemic.
Based in Charleston, SC Tenant Union (SCTU) began as the SC Housing Justice Network in 2020 and comprised a group of local organizers who sought to help tenants work through eviction moratoriums and organize stimulus donations to redistribute wealth during the worst days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Building in the years since and changing its name in 2025 to reflect its honing mission, SCTU has now organized chapters in the Lowcountry and Midlands, and offers at-large membership for tenants statewide as it advocates for more suitable, equitable, and affordable housing solutions, policies, and practices on behalf of poor and working class families.
What is a tenant union?
A tenant union is an organization made up of tenants seeking to advance their collective interests and enforce their rights, similar to a labor union, SCTU Executive Director Kenni Cummings explained. Members of a tenant union pay membership dues, hold meetings, and organize campaigns, including rent strikes, to advance their common goals.
“[Tenant unions] come together, they’re democratically run, and they make decisions about what they want to see in the world and they work really hard to see that come forth,” Cummings said…