Atlantic Mills Tenants Union calls out buyers for evictions and refusal to negotiate
"I have witnessed decades of this building running smoothly and have never experienced negligence, obfuscation, or lack of communication at this scale. We clearly don’t matter to them."
Press release:
The buyers slated to purchase Atlantic Mills—Eric Edelman and Robert Berle—have refused to agree to collectively bargain with the Atlantic Mills Tenants Union (AMTU) when the sale of the building is finalized. Edelman and Berle have likewise refused to agree to put a stop to evictions until an agreement is reached with the union. The Atlantic Mills Tenants Union, representing 95 artists, small businesses, and community organizations expresses profound disappointment that the buyers have rejected an opportunity to find mutually agreeable lease terms for all Atlantic Mills tenants. We demand the recognition of our union, the legitimate representative of tenants at Atlantic Mills.
While the buyers refuse to negotiate with AMTU, the current owners —Howard and Eleanor Byrnes LLC— have been engaging in an eviction spree against longtime tenants, including the celebrated non-profit RIOT RI (formerly Girls Rock), which provides music instruction, “to foster collective empowerment and the development of healthy identities in girls, women, trans, and gender-expansive youth and adults.” They have evicted RIOT RI despite their leaseholder attempting to pay all contested arrears.
Acropolis Management Services LLC, hired by Howard and Eleanor Byrnes LLC, is relying on records of spaces and rents that conflict with longstanding verbal agreements and documented payment history. The union demands that evictions of tenants who assert good standing be rescinded immediately.
Management has also been targeting the Olneyville Neighborhood Association (ONA), an historic organization supporting the neighborhood’s working-class immigrant Latino community, undermining their ability to operate. Since the first meeting with the buyers, ONA has been harassed, locked out of their spaces, and had their heat shut off.
Throughout this period, basic maintenance has been ignored. In a failed attempt to change a functional lock to the left tower’s fourth floor entry, the lock was broken and remained so for three weeks, leaving many tenants and their employees without access to their spaces. It took months to receive utility bills to which invoices were dated to be paid within five days.
AMTU demands that the new buyers negotiate a collectively bargained lease that guarantees security and stability for all member-tenants of the Atlantic Mills, protecting us from displacement on a long-term basis. We hope to arrive upon mutually beneficial lease terms for both the vendor and consumer. At 95 tenants strong and growing, we are prepared to take collective action to ensure that Atlantic Mills remains a haven for us to do the art and community work that makes Providence the special place we call home.
“Driven by the rise of sudden evictions in our building and the decline in affordable spaces for small businesses, artists, and community organizations throughout our city, Atlantic Mills Tenants Union is fighting back and saying enough is enough. Commercial property landlords are increasingly acting like slumlords, and we refuse to let Olneyville become another victim of profit driven neglect. This fight goes beyond Atlantic Mills: when businesses and community spaces are displaced, entire neighborhoods suffer. We hope this is just the beginning of a movement where commercial tenants can defend their rights, protections, and a future where they can thrive.”
Cindy Miranda, Board Chair of Olneyville Neighborhood Association, Vice President of Atlantic Mills Tenants Union
“The building is now being managed by the company the buyers intend to use. In my 24 years of being a tenant in good standing, I have witnessed decades of this building running smoothly and have never experienced negligence, obfuscation, or lack of communication at this scale. We clearly don’t matter to them. I was surprised and alarmed to learn that long-standing tenants with yearly leases are being evicted for owing rent, without opportunity for payment. Some tenants had payment plans or work-trade agreements with previous management that have not been honored. In meeting with the buyers I asked them if future lease offers will be viable for our current tenants, and they were silent. They are being deceitful, saying things to satisfy visibility for the mayor’s office, yet working to empty this building and remove our vital community.”
Lu Heintz, Assistant Professor of Fine Art, Brandeis University, Fellow, Providence Commemoration Lab, Organizing Committee Member, Atlantic Mills Tenants Union
“The transition in property management has been chaotic, and the framing of tenants as disorganized is a gross mischaracterization. Organizing the first commercial tenants’ union in the history of Rhode Island is an accomplishment we are proud of, and it further demonstrates our commitment to this specific mill complex, this neighborhood, this community, this city! We choose to live in Rhode Island, and we are culture makers who are actively building the world in which we would like to live. We want to have a say in decisions that are made about us.”
Jenine Bressner, Organizing Committee Member, Atlantic Mills Tenants Union
“Atlantic Mills has been spared from the development of our surrounding mill buildings, until now. It stands as one of the last affordable commercial mill spaces in a city built on them. We formed the Atlantic Mills Tenants Union to protect ourselves and our neighbors from displacement, understanding that our survival in this space depends on our power as a collective. The Atlantic Mills Tenants Union will not be deterred by the purchasing team’s insistence that we operate according to ‘business as usual’.”
Emily Harrington, Organizing Committee Member, Atlantic Mills Tenants Union
“Generations of Atlantic Mills tenants made the space what it is today. They organized to have a say over their future in the community. We call on the buyers to recognize their union and commit to collective bargaining, and to cease and rescind evictions immediately. Organized tenants in Rhode Island will not be displaced or allow our cities to be sold off to the highest bidder.”
Shana Crandell, Executive Director of Reclaim Rhode Island
See previous reporting here:
2024-10-11 Atlantic Mills tenants meet to combat rumors and defend their tenancy
2024-12-22 Atlantic Mills Tenants Union is the first commercial tenants union in Rhode Island
2024-12-27 Providence legislators support unionization of Atlantic Mills commercial tenants
2025-01-29 Atlantic Mills Tenants Union rallies, marches, and demands collective bargaining
Unfortunately, most tenants' unions in the US are local. There are attempts to start national movements; Tenant Union Federation is one. A Quick Guide to Tenants Unions has some resources. The AMTU might contact some of these for advice, if nothing else. As far as I can tell, the Greater Boston Tenants Union is the (physically) closest to RI.
Unfortunately, I don't think there is any law that a seller has to take into account the tenants when selling a building--maybe leases have to be honored. I'm sure that the AMTU has checked into that thoroughly.
I lived in the PRC (People's Republic of Cambridge!) in the mid-1970s, in an apartment owned by someone with two buildings. Everytime he tried to raise the rent, we got together and sent him a list of code violations (some of which we just took care of). Eventually, he sold the building, but, in a complicated maneuver, one of the tenants bought it. We thought about buying it. We sat down with the other tenants and said this is what we want to do, this is how we will do it, what do you think? and they said, All landlords are bastards and if you buy the building you'll be bastards too, but we might as well have you.
We didn't buy it.
Obviously a very different situation than this one, though.
I do not know how the union affiliation works and I have no idea if this would carry any advantage but could a large, national union offer any benefit? Again, keep in mind I am ignorant.