Campaigns Organiser

Since LRU started campaigning for rent controls in 2024, we’ve secured the support of MPs, trade unions and charities, organised large demonstrations and pushed the issue of rising rents up the political agenda.  

The purpose of this role is to work alongside members and other union staff to take our campaigning for rent controls to the next level through a combination of protests, local organising, coalition building and targeting of power holders, landlords and corporations. 

Job description 

This role is varied, and can look different month-to-month.  This job description outlines some activities that you will be doing every month, and some activities that you will only do from time-to-time.

Building collective capacity

• Ensure meetings of the Campaigns Committee are effective and well run.
• Collaborate with the Campaigns Lead and the Collective Disputes Team to support collective disputes by private sector renters to resist rent rises.

• Inputting into staff decisions and LRU strategy discussions

• Taking part in team meetings

• Joining staff working groups when capacity allows

Building leadership

• Providing support to the Resist Rent Rises member team, including by responding to people who get in touch and motivating them to take action, and supporting members through the rent tribunal process, alongside other staff.

• Bringing wider union members into the campaign for rent controls, leading political education around rent controls, and building member leadership in the campaign. 

Building the power of the union

• Conduct regular outreach to London private sector renters experiencing rent rises, through outreach using the resist rent rises website, branch and weekly meetings, door knocking, stalls, and phone banking.
• Grow outreach on resisting rent rises through rent tribunals, in collaboration with branch members in branches and campaigns committee
• Work with members to capture stories and experiences of rent rises, and support renters to tell their stories of rent rises in a powerful way, working with the Resist Rent Rises team, Campaigns Lead, and Campaigns Committee
• Build protests, direct actions, and press coverage of resistance to rent rises, in group and individual cases
• Raise the relevance of rent controls in the press by collaborating with the Campaigns and Comms teams to share renter stories of rent rises

Person specification

Essential 

• Strong interpersonal skills, and the ability build deep, trusting relationships across difference, and including people in distress

• Experience of recruiting and activating people through outreach activities (door-knocking, and street stalls) and 121 organising conversations

• Ability to empower and motivate our members to take action

• Experience of organising workplace or community-based disputes or campaigns, or collective fighting on material issues

• Self-motivated with the ability to prioritise tasks, work to deadlines, both independently and in a team

• Good written communication skills, from experience of different types of writing

• Experience of facilitating meetings or group activities, across differences

• Basic understanding of the housing system

• Enthusiasm for the urgency of rent controls, perhaps through personal experience of unfair rent rises

• Willingness for, and ideally experience with, outreach to renters

• Experience of working with press/media for campaigns

• Ability to hold yourself, and support those you’re organising with, when doing difficult work

• Experience of using digital databases for organising

• Committed to, and able to uphold LRU values and agreed strategies

Desirable 

• Good working knowledge of housing law

• Experience of developing campaigns

• Experience of coaching members or other staff

• Experience of developing and delivering training

• Good knowledge of the organising/ social landscape in London

• Speaking any of the following languages at an intermediate or advanced level – Bangla, Spanish, Arabic, Somali, French, Turkish, Tigrinya