On the first front, for cheap roofs above our heads

The Jolanta Brzeska Warsaw Tenants’ Association is a grassroot-organised movement protesting reprivatisation, rental fee raises, and social expense cuts. The group’s leader Jolanta Brzeska was murdered in 2011, yet the organisation (co-founded by Varsavian anarchist and left-wing communities) goes on. WSL’s work is primarily supported by women – tenants, low-pay employees, mothers, and pensioners.

For lower heating costs, against energy oppression!

Nearly 70% Warsaw tenement houses are fitted with no heating system. Consequently, 50,000 low-income tenants are faced with a necessity to pay horrendous amounts of money to use electric heating. Heating bills are frequently a considerable multiple of the rental fee itself. Tenant experience blatantly proves that the lack of any heating system translates into high debt and exposure to diseases caused by existence in low temperatures and poorly heated space (asthma, mycosis, pneumonia/ bronchitis, rheumatic diseases).

WSL activities financed with mini-grant money comprise an inter-district campaign serving the purpose of publicising central heating-related appeals (i.a. waiving all debts for persons residing in unheated housing units, disbursement of electricity bill levies, immediate connection of all housing units to the district heating grid) and their implementation by the local government before the upcoming winter season.
The purpose of the mini-grant is to publish a nationwide gazette distributed to all tenement houses and individual flats, and to produce a feature-length documentary telling the story of women protagonists behind the campaign.