Salient. Victoria University Student Newspaper. Volume 36, Number 2. 7th March 1973
[Introduction]
Industrial strikes are common. It is accepted that workers have the right to strike. Not so tenants. Tenants have few rights, but tenants of the infamous landlord Madhav Rama decided to strike five months ago, regardless of the law. Members of Wellington's Tenants Protection Association had been receiving so many complaints from Rama's tenants that a public meeting was called to discuss tenants' problems and to see if any solution could be found.
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TPA Chairman George Rosenberg talks with striking Rama tenants
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Rama tenants hammer out their strike plans
Most of the tenants are Maoris and Islanders, some are Indians like himself and all of them had stories to tell of midnight visits for rent demands, huge increases in rents and refusal to carry out much needed maintenance. Before a tenant moved into one of his 50 odd flats, Rama always demanded two weeks rent in advance, a large bond and an "administration fee". An initial payment of over $150 was usual