I’m an organiser for a tenants union. Today we had a picket at a letting agent for two of our members, who are complaining to them about fire safety after their house burnt down due to faulty electrics. The property in question had no working fire alarms, and if our members were present inside when the fire started then they could very well have burnt to death.

You’d assume that under such circumstances the letting agents would be bending over backwards to accommodate the people left effectively homeless due to their failure to ensure their safety, but instead we see the same old greedy compulsion to protect their own bottom line instead. In response to our union’s demands for a full fire safety review, the letting agency responsible are now pursuing a no-fault eviction against our members.

They believe that they can make this issue go away by simply pushing away our members and burying their heads in the sand. We will not let this happen. We will picket them and make the public aware of their disgusting acts for as long as it takes for them to move on this issue. Either that, or we will grind their reputation into dust and see them close their doors for good.

I personally encountered the letting agents and their boss at the the picket in front of their office today. The boss was extremely indignant, outraged that we’d even dare to bring our complaints to his front door. He snarled that the house in question is his property and he’s free to do with it as he likes. He says that tenants get big ideas in their heads about what can or cannot be done with his property just because they live there. I told him that if treating his tenants like human beings causes him so much trouble then maybe he would be better off if he sold his property and got into a different line of business. This incensed him further; “How dare you tell me what to do with my property!” he cried. He went on in this way for some time, before slipping back to the safety of his office.

The electrician for this letting agent also felt the need to harass us at the picket, threatening to smash my colleague’s face in. His aggressiveness betrays how much we’ve managed to get under his skin. Perhaps he has a particular interest in ensuring that our demand of a full safety review of their other properties isn’t met.