Workers deserve dignity, not debt!
May Day, labor + debtor power, and ways to get involved
“Debt is fundamentally a labor issue. When labor is weak and unionization low, workers are forced to take on debt to offset costs for necessities like healthcare, housing and food. The more debt we have, the more we are compelled to work under the bosses’ conditions — rather than fighting or our own.” – Jason Wozniak, In These Times
The Trump Administration has barely started their half-baked transfer of the $1.7 trillion student loan portfolio from the Department of Education to the Treasury — but to absolutely no one’s surprise — they’re already running into major problems.
When student debtors default on their loans, they have options for getting out of default, some of which don’t require paying back a single dollar. The Department of Education is already terrible at walking debtors through their options, but the Treasury will be even worse. They aren’t set up to do account rehabilitation — they do forced collections.
The Department of Education already experimented with transferring loans to the Treasury in a 2015 pilot study. The Treasury was given a pool of 5,729 debtors to manage. One year in, only eight of those debtors had their accounts rehabilitated. That’s less than 0.001% success rate.
Knowing this was a colossal failure, why would Dept. Ed continue to push this transfer? The answer is banal in its cruelty: they want to punish borrowers who can’t afford to pay their debts.
From weaponizing PSLF eligibility against people and organizations based on their politics to killing the SAVE plan through backdoor court deals, the Treasury transfer is just the latest in a series of attempts to control debtors through chaos and disinformation. But we are not helpless in the face of these attacks.
Together, we have the power to fight back!
Tomorrow is May Day. On this day, also known as International Workers’ Day, we celebrate the achievements of organized workers whose movements gave us the 8-hour workday, overtime pay, and the ability to bargain collectively for better wages and working conditions.
Like workers, debtors too can organize and bargain collectively for debt cancellation, free college, and more. Read on to learn more about how we’re organizing debtors across higher education, healthcare, and housing, and more opportunities to plug in this coming month!
Higher Education
We know that many of you might be feeling overwhelmed by all that’s happening with federal student loans right now. We’re fighting several defensive battles at once.
The Trump Administration is flooding the zone by trying to take Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) away from people based on their politics, transfer parts of the student loan portfolio to the Treasury, and get rid of the most affordable repayment plan (SAVE) through backdoor deals in the courts. That’s why we’re organizing debtors to ask our representatives to stick up for PSLF, pause payments while the Trump Administration splits up the portfolio and leaves debtors without crucial information about their own loans, and defend SAVE in court.
We’re also keeping our focus on the long game: a right to learn that includes free college, student loan cancellation, and accountability for schools that defraud their own students. Join us on 5/5 for our monthly Higher Ed meeting and office hours to learn more, and come to our monthly College for All campaign meeting on 5/11 to get more involved!
Healthcare
This time last year, we were fighting Trump’s attempts to cut massive federal funding from Medicaid, SNAP, and other lifesaving public programs. Federal cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act will force more than 15 million Americans off healthcare in the next few years, resulting in unnecessary deaths, more medical debt, shuttered rural hospitals and safety-net clinics, and the further erosion of trust in public goods and services.
This week we’re on the ground in Nebraska, where these Medicaid cuts kick in tomorrow — eight months earlier than in most states. Starting May 1st, Nebraskans on Medicaid will be forced to navigate “work requirements” designed to overwhelm them with a flood of confusing paperwork and forms, frequent reporting deadlines, and bureaucratic red tape. These work requirements have been set up for working-class people to fail, even those who easily meet the terms and requirements.
Nebraska is on the front lines of this battle, so we’re holding in-person HealthWatch events this weekend in Lincoln and Omaha to start building an organized response here. But the Medicaid cuts — and the broader collapse of our public infrastructure — are coming for us all, and it’s not just Medicaid recipients who should care. Want to get involved as we start to plan similar HealthWatch events across the country in the coming months? Fill out this HealthWatch Interest Form and we’ll loop you in.
Housing
The Tenant Power Toolkit hit a major milestone last month! Thanks to a pilot program with the Superior Court of Los Angeles, use of our toolkit grew an astounding 39% year-over-year, representing one out of every five evictions in LA — the nation’s largest court system.
Meanwhile, our campaign against Ratio Utility Building Systems (RUBS) continues to grow. This month, we co-hosted a virtual event convening tenants and advocates from Los Angeles to Seattle who are fighting RUBS in their buildings. Over 100 attended this call to hear from tenants advocating to change local laws to ban the practice, tenants currently on RUBS strike, and advocates from the National Consumer Law Center.
Last week, tenants from the Virgil Square Tenants Association in Koreatown, Los Angeles met with Alex Ferrer, a UCLA researcher who helped build our Landlord Reporting Tool. These tenants are 11 months into a RUBS utility bills strike! Alongside other Equity Residential tenants, they are pushing to change L.A. City law to end RUBS in the city permanently
Finally, Debt Collective joined dozens of organizations across the country to urge the Federal Trade Commission to implement a strong rule against junk fees in rental housing, like RUBS. Junk fees for utilities, trash service, and more have been used as a cash cow by landlords trying to drain extra profits from their tenants, particularly those with rent controls. We’ll keep fighting at the state and national level against these unfair and deceptive practices.
Upcoming Events
SAVE Plan: Rapid Response Update
Thursday, April 30th 8pm ET / 5pm PT
The judicial fight over the future of the SAVE federal student debt repayment plan has left millions of working people in limbo. Meanwhile, many debtors are wondering what to do – should they get out of the SAVE Plan? If so, when? We will be joined by Public Goods Practice to explain these developments and discuss next steps for debtors and for the movement.
Movement Monday
Monday, May 4th 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT
Held on the first Monday of each month, these gatherings invite us to pause, breathe, and reconnect with our bodies as a vital part of organizing for debt abolition and collective care. We’ll check in with ourselves and each other through accessible, grounding somatic practices that support nervous system regulation, accountability, and mutual support.
Higher Ed Monthly Meeting & Office Hours
Tuesday, May 5th 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT
If you’re wondering what’s going on with your student loans or how to get involved with the Debt Collective’s higher education campaigns, come join us at our monthly office hours to discuss student loan policy, the fight for free college, the SAVE Plan, defaulted loans, and more.
New Member Call
Wednesday, May 6th 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Curious about the Debt Collective and how we’re organizing to abolish debt? Our New Member Call is a space to learn who we are, what we’re fighting for, and how you can plug in. Whether you’re brand new or have been following our work for a while, this call is a chance to get grounded, ask questions, and connect with others who are ready to challenge the debt system together.
College for All Jubilee School: Plutocratic Governance
Thursday, May 7th 6pm ET / 3pm PT
Join us as we discuss how billionaires from finance and big tech adopted more oligarchical roles in US politics and higher education with Charlie Eaton, Associate Professor of Sociology at UC Merced.
College for All Monthly Organizing Meeting
Monday, May 11th 7pm ET / 4pm PT
We’re asking Representatives and Senators to co-sponsor the College for All Act. Please join us as we prepare for meetings with Representatives and their staff, plan our strategy, and fight together for our Right to Learn!
Borrower Defense: The Landscape, Updates & Workshop
Tuesday, May 26th 7pm ET / 4pm PT
Our Monthly Borrower Defense Calls are designed for borrowers navigating fraud, misconduct, and student loan injustice. Each call provides timely updates on the Borrower Defense landscape, current litigation, and policy developments alongside practical guidance on asserting your rights and filing claims.
Writing Your Debt Story Part I: A Short-form & Op-Ed Workshop
Thursday, May 28 7:30pm ET / 4:30pm PT
Author, educator, and Debt Collective fellow Kristin Collier will lead a two-part writing workshop focused on telling your debt story in short forms such as op-eds. The workshop will be loosely organized around the framework of seeing red: the unique, important ways in which borrowers living in the red see the world, and the stories we must tell in order to build the world we deserve.
In part I, we’ll look at sample writing, discuss focus, structure, language, and research, and do some writing and experimentation together. You’ll leave the session with a plan to write a short essay or op-ed about your experiences. In part II (June 9th), we’ll use our initial ideas to craft pitches for outlets, receive feedback, and talk about how we’ll support one another through the publication process.
Final Friday Flow
Friday, May 29th 8:30pm ET / 5:30pm PT
Held on the last Friday of each month, these gatherings are designed to remind us that the path to debt abolition and collective liberation begins within. Through guided somatic and movement-based practices, we’ll transform exhaustion into power, fear into vision, and pain into purpose.
