On May 5th, nearly 70 residents of the middle Durance Valley territory in Alpes Haute Provence gathered in Oraison to officially establish the eco-union “Riverains Ensemble Durance.”

Dona Sayi, a resident of Les Mées, fears for her and her family’s health: “I moved to Dabisse in 2019, and my house is just a few meters away from apple trees. I am concerned about the potential impact of intensive pesticide spraying on my health and, most importantly, on the health of my two children.”

ACORN Cardiff asked Emma James at CPS Homes to cease her claim on £498 of a tenant’s deposit after forcing them out with a rent increase. It was a beautiful day to stand up for our friend, neighbour and fellow member Rebecca.

All of our solidarity to the powerful, inspiring and strong feminist warriors that build our movements and resistance today. Happy International women’s day!

As a union, we fight for decent, affordable, and secure housing. And that’s only the starting point. We want our homes to be a space in which to lead a dignified life free from oppression. However, our homes are not protected from the challenges of everyday life –  capitalism, racism, and patriarchy still overwhelmingly impact those of us who are not men and this is intimately tied up with our housing struggles. Rather than being a space of security and stability, our homes are tainted by these structures. 

The women leaders of the local committees from our affiliate OnEstEnsemble in Cameroon have successfully participated in a public speaking training. The purpose of this training was to strengthen the skills and confidence of our members in their participation in negotiations, conferences, and meetings. We hope that this training will assist the members of Onestensemble and enable them to shine in future public presentations!

‘Why does CATU not allow landlords to join? Isn’t it more difficult having that division and being separated, as opposed to working together?’ asked an attendee at a CATU presentation in Brussels the last weekend of November. The three of us had prepared for exploring the unions history and exchanging experiences and challenges – I don’t think we were ready to explain CATU’s understanding of class politics, power dynamics and capitalism within the last 10 minutes of the lecture. That’s another hour long session. 

ACORN India representatives spoke at a convention in New Delhi on Contemporary Popular Movements in India. In Dharavi, ACORN India hosted a Women’s Group Discussion Meeting among waste collectors, homemakers, and small unit workers. They also conducted a free Food Safety Training & Certification (FOSTAC) training session in Noida for street food vendors.

Every year, hundreds of Muslim women face discrimination in higher education and are excluded and deprived of training. From the recognition of this injustice and the desire to fight against it, Libawat was born, the union of Muslim women in Chalon-sur-Saône launched in September 2022.

Rising expenses and rents, elevator breakdowns, and disregard for their concerns… Tenants of the OPH in Aubervilliers, France continue to rally against the abuses of their landlord. Several neighborhood meetings have taken place at Hélène Cochennec, La Maladrerie, and Emile Dubois. Everywhere, the message is the same: “We’ve had enough, it’s time to take action.”

ACORN Bristol‘s ‘Ban the Bids’ campaign wins as big city letting agent pledges not to engage in ‘bidding wars.’

As reported last month, ACORN’s Bristol branch has been fighting against the practise of ‘bidding wars,’ where landlords and letting agents encourage would be renters to bid against each other over the advertised price. 

Earlier this week, ACORN Coventry successfully resisted the eviction of our member Mandy and her family.

Their landlord, who owns over 40 properties in Coventry, issued a section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notice so he can sell up.

Mandy repeatedly asked the landlord to delay the eviction until they could find a new home to rent or the council could provide them one. However, instead he refused to negotiate and chose to try and throw them out of their home, putting them at risk of homelessness.