Rent Strikers Gain Support Of Democrats

A ' resolution supporting the Tenants Union that is eonducting rent strike and condeming the eonspiracy suit some landlords have brought against the Tenants Union was approved last night by the Ann Arbor Democratie Party. The resolution is a combination of a statement proposed by Dr. Albert F. Schneider and a more specific endorsement of the rent strike written by University students active in the Tenants Union who took part in last night's Democratie meeting. Democrats also elected Walter Scheider to a second oneyear term as their city chairman by a vote of 351 to 200 over Thomas Murray. Many party members had expected a closer vote. Prior to the vote, onè of Scheider's supporters predicted a Murray victory based on "a combination of the far left and far right, including some people here I don't know, who I doubt ever voted Democratie in their lives." Delegates and observers at the party meeting filled virtually all the 650 seats in Tappan Junior High school's auditorium. The Democrats' bylaws permit voting by anyone who signs in with an Ann Arbor address. The statement concerning the rent strike offered by Schneider and approved without discussion "affirms the right of a tenant to withhold rent from a landlord if he has a contractual grievance ... We also support the right of tenants to organize for the purpose of collective bargaining with landlords. Further, we urge landlords to bargain openly with tenants in these conflicts." The remainder of the resolution, writteri by the Tenants Union and slightly amended last night, statës: "Over the years the University has abdicated its responsibility in housing and a combination of business and political interests in Ann Arbor have worked in concert to achieve a housing market which is disadvantageous to a vast majority of area residents . . . The objective conditions of the market and the American tradition of trade unionism justify the action taken by the Tenants Union . . . Having failed to ; break the strike by threat of evictions, the landlords have now resorted to a conspiracy suit in an attempt to enjoin the Tenants Union from peaceful and legal organizing. T h i s move is reminiscent of the union-busting actions of industries in the 1920s and 1930s. We therefore strongly condemn this move as an attack on the legitímate right to organize a democratie union movement." The combined resolution was approved unanimously by about 250 persons still at the meeting. Prior to the vote, the meeting was addressed by several Tenants Union leaders, including Peter H. Dentón, who used the term "Judge Ager and his fascist regime," and by former Circuit Court Commissioner Jack J. Garris, who said Dentón is "in contempt of court." A speaker in the audience said Garris' statement persuaded him to vote for the resolution supporting the Tenants Union. Circuit Judge William F. Ager Jr. will hear motions June 6 from the landlords, seeking summary judgment and an injunction to stop the rent strike, and from the Tenants Union, seeking dismissal of the case. Democrats also unanimously approved a resolution urging Ann Arbor residents "to boycott grapes."