SUPPORT WORKERS FIGHTING FOR A BETTER INDUSTRY STANDARD
Kickstarter United, a union of workers in product design, customer support, marketing, outreach, research, trust & safety, and software development is asking for your help preparing for a potential walkout.
WHY WE ARE CONSIDERING A WORKPLACE ACTION
In April of this year, we presented management with Kickstarter United’s top priorities for our next contract: a minimum salary for all workers and codifying the four-day, 32-hour work week. Since then, we have presented management with numerous thoughtful proposals to achieve these goals, all of which have been rejected.
WHY WE WANT A MINIMUM SALARY FOR ALL WORKERS
While some workers at Kickstarter are fairly compensated for their labor, too many of our comrades are not! We looked at the data and arrived at a number that would raise the wages of more than 20% of the bargaining unit — all for less than the median salary of one new hire.
WHY WE WANT A FOUR-DAY, 32-HOUR WORK WEEK
Since April of 2022, Kickstarter has been operating on a four-day, 32-hour work week. 70% of our bargaining unit were hired after that date; many because the new work schedule was so appealing. Publicly, management has extolled the virtues of the schedule: higher employee engagement, hitting objectives more often, and faster—and we agree.
Privately, however, management has floated the prospect of returning to a five-day, forty-hour work week numerous times. Enough! We want it in our contract that the work week is what it is today and if they want more than that from us then they need to compensate us for the additional work.
BUT WE DON'T JUST WANT THIS FOR OURSELVES
We want you to have better pay and a four-day, 32-hour work week, too. And we think the best way to do that to start is by putting it in writing. When other unions bargain for their rights, we want Kickstarter United’s contract in their hands to show management what’s possible.
Kickstarter’s own management said it best: the four-day work week will change your life.
WHAT WE ARE ASKING OF YOU
Kickstarter United is not asking anyone to boycott the site. Keep launching projects that help you realize your dreams; keep backing projects that bring you joy! If you are a creator, you can add a message of solidarity to your project descriptions or write a letter to management and let them know how you feel about giving workers a square deal.
For everyone else: please share our posts on social media; talk to your coworkers about what a better workplace looks like for you; and if you can, please donate to our solidarity fund here on GoFundMe.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
We are open to creative solutions to find a compromise that both sides can agree to. But we are prepared to exercise our right to strike if management remains intransigent.
If we strike, this GoFundMe will help our most vulnerable workers weather the hardship of pay-stoppage.
If we reach an agreement without striking, we will refund any donation on request and roll the remaining funds into a sympathetic solidarity and/or hardship fund to help our fellow workers.
Organizer
Kickstarter United
Organizer
Brooklyn, NY