- Tenants at the Dewey Apartments near 33rd and Dewey in Omaha voted to form a union
- Residents reported issues including stains and bugs in the building
- The newly formed union sent 13 demands to the building's owner
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) – Neighbors voted to start a tenants union at this building on 33rd and Dewey. It's Omaha Tenants United's first new union formed since a case about OTU's ability to even operate was dismissed.
Nat Budz lives in the Dewey Apartments and led the effort to unionize tenants in the building after he and some others say they faced issues like stains and bugs.
"Every time I find one, I freak out, just too much. I can't even watch movies with, like, bugs in them anymore. Such a trigger," Budz said.
Budz reached out to Omaha Tenants United, a group of tenants from buildings across the city, for assistance in forming a union because of the issues in the building.
"I started talking to the other tenants, and we would talk about it," Budz said.
This is the first building Omaha Tenants United has unionized since last year.
The Nebraska Commission on Unauthorized Law Practice investigated allegations that Tenants United was practicing law without a license.
The group's co-founder Seth Cope tells me the group was asked to stop organizing tenants ... but pushed back.
"Here we are a year later, still going strong, the case has been dismissed," Cope said.
According to the union's documents, members sent 13 demands to the building's owner Ben Swan.
Those demands include a reduction in monthly rent, automatic lease renewals and making repairs in the building.
I spoke with Swan on the phone. He tells me that he wants to deal with tenants' concerns. He also says that a new property manager has taken over and is making repairs for neighbors here.
