Employees at Kickstarter in New York City have become one of the first high-tech labor forces to unionize after a 46-37 vote among workers established Kickstarter United—the now-official organization for company employees.
#KickstarterUnited has now been certified by the NLRB:
— Kickstarter United (@ksr_united) February 18, 2020
🤝🌟We Are A Union!!!🌟🤝 pic.twitter.com/l6W91lILKU
The vote came after months of heated back and forth discussion within the well-known crowdfunding platform’s ranks.
The 80+ engineers, directors, analysts, designers, coordinators, and customer support workers in Brooklyn voted to join Local 153 of the Office and Professional Employees International Union.
They will now begin to negotiate their first contract, noting that, as a public benefit corporation, Kickstarter should “live up to the progressive ideals set forth in their charter”.
The CEO of Kickstarter, Aziz Hasan, who, in the run up to the vote, signed an agreement to remain neutral in the election, said in an emailed statement, “We support and respect this decision, and we are proud of the fair and democratic process that got us here.”
The union’s goals include:
- Protecting and empowering each and every employee at Kickstarter.
- Equitable compensation across all positions, creating equal pay for equal work.
- Diversity and inclusion in hiring, professional growth, and product.
- A fair and transparent process when disciplinary action is taken; due process for all.
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Management support for the process in the beginning was far from solid. The turbulent path included the firing of two Kickstarter employees who were leading the organization efforts, although Hasan said at the time this had nothing to do with their termination. He commented that, “the union framework is inherently adversarial”.
At least one of the two employees, Taylor Moore and Clarissa Redwine, had filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board, though according to Vice the results of the complaint are yet unresolved.
Early in the process, the Kickstarter higher-ups hired a Philadelphia law firm that specializes is keeping workplaces union-free, but none of that was enough to keep the pro-union workers from succeeding in their mission.
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Even those who got the pink slip celebrated the result of the vote.
“Everyone was crying [when the results were announced],” Clarissa told Motherboard. “I thought it would be close, but I also knew we were going to win.”
She hopes the win will inspire employees at other big tech corporations like Google where issues like sexual harassment and benefits discrepancies have left workers murmuring about unionizing as well.
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“I hope other tech workers feel emboldened and know that it’s possible to fight for your workplace and your values. I know my former coworkers will use a seat at the table really well.”
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