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Kickstarter's Staff Is Unionizing (theverge.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Verge: The staff of Kickstarter announced plans to unionize today. If recognized, Kickstarter would be the first major tech company with union representation in the United States. Members of the union, which goes by Kickstarter United, say they want to improve inclusivity and transparency at the company. To unionize, they're working with the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153. In a statement, the union said: "Kickstarter United is proud to start the process of unionizing to safeguard and enrich Kickstarter's charter commitments to creativity, equity, and a positive impact on society. We trust in the democratic process and are confident that the leadership of Kickstarter stands with us in that effort. Kickstarter has always been a trailblazer, and this is a pivotal moment for tech. We want to set the standard for the entire industry. Now is the time. Come together. Unionize."
In a world of Facebook and Twitter, Kickstarter feels almost quaint in its mission -- "to help bring creative projects to life" -- and in its charter as a public benefit corporation, which means that the company is "obligated to consider the impact of their decisions on society, not only shareholders." Its staff unionizing means the company will also have to consider more seriously its responsibilities to its employees. It also means that its fellows in Silicon Valley and beyond could be next. Kickstarter is fundamentally a tech company, and its staff unionizing with the OPEIU shows a way forward for other employees in the space. Kickstarter's staff is unionizing because they want to "promote our collective values: inclusion and solidarity, transparency and accountability; a seat at the table," the organizers write, noting that in the decade that Kickstarter has been around, it's democratized crowdfunding and brought more than 150,000 projects to life. "Kickstarter's efforts are incomplete, and these values have failed to manifest in our workplace. We can do better together -- for ourselves and our industry."
In a world of Facebook and Twitter, Kickstarter feels almost quaint in its mission -- "to help bring creative projects to life" -- and in its charter as a public benefit corporation, which means that the company is "obligated to consider the impact of their decisions on society, not only shareholders." Its staff unionizing means the company will also have to consider more seriously its responsibilities to its employees. It also means that its fellows in Silicon Valley and beyond could be next. Kickstarter is fundamentally a tech company, and its staff unionizing with the OPEIU shows a way forward for other employees in the space. Kickstarter's staff is unionizing because they want to "promote our collective values: inclusion and solidarity, transparency and accountability; a seat at the table," the organizers write, noting that in the decade that Kickstarter has been around, it's democratized crowdfunding and brought more than 150,000 projects to life. "Kickstarter's efforts are incomplete, and these values have failed to manifest in our workplace. We can do better together -- for ourselves and our industry."
The staff of Kickstarter announced plans to unionize today.
Anyone know their GoFundMe page so I can donate to the cause?
say they want to improve inclusivity and transparency at the company.
This reads like a train wreck in progress. I can't wait.
Mod me down with all of your hatred and your journey towards the dark side will be complete!
"Kickstarter management announced that it will be offshoring it's operations to Bangalore."
In a statement from the CEO: "We needed to focus on our core competency and will continue to make Kickstarter great by offshoring non-essential operations to a third party. This will maximize the equity of the founders, senior management and the board of directors."
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
I worked for a large auto maker and was in a union for a few years after I started. I ended up leaving the union once I realized that it was an option. That plant is now shut down.
Bad things a union brings:
Terrible workers getting paid the same as great workers.
Unsustainable compensation for workers.
Taking dues and giving them to political causes that some of their members may not support.
Would never want to be in a union again.
>Say "hello" to bad employees you can never fire....
Kickstarter already had a CEO, dude.
I would assume they want to try to hold management to a 40 hour work week for the employees -- that's likely one of the biggest complaints you'll hear from tech and one which a union *might* be able to do something about. I'm not a labor law attorney so I'm not sure how this will work out in practice.
But yeah, why would tech workers actually *want* to join a union? They typically already make much more than people in other industries, so I'm not too sure that collective bargaining for salary and benefits is going to be very interesting to most people there. And a lot of the political participation that unions do is going to piss off about half the people working at that company -- and now they will get to pay for it against their will.
Some of the other stuff -- "inclusivity," for example -- the union will be powerless to affect. How would they force a company to hired qualified non-white / non-Asian / non-males if such people aren't already available to be hired from the pool in large numbers? Etc.
Unionization in tech sounds like a solution looking for problems to justify its existence.
Bad start, when the headline writer and the article author feel the need to lie to their readers from the very beginning.
All of the "kickstarters staff" isn't unionizing, the article writer tries his hardest to claim this is on behalf of all of their staff, but it's obvious from the end that there are some people who work at Kickstarter (how many exactly isn't stated... hmmm.... wonder why?) who want them to unionize, but they haven't actually unionized yet. That requires and actual vote of the staff who would be effected, which apparently hasn't happened yet.
As far as I can tell from the various articles, there are some members of staff who are working on "forming" a labor union called Kickstarter United.
The party of stupid and the party of evil get together and do something both stupid and evil, then call it bipartisan.
You've never heard of shareholders forcing a CEO out?
I would love to be 'forced out' with the type of golden parachute that CEOs get.
Neat. I love anecdotal data. I work in a union shop as well. We all bust our asses and receive a 10% contribution to our 401k's and a 10% cash bonus each Christmas. Your workers are lazy because you work for a shit company with shit hiring managers and pay bottom-of-the-barrel salaries. Have fun being treated like bitch your whole life.
The problem is the problems of today are not the problems a hundred years ago, however, the Unions are structure roughly the same way.
100 years ago most communities were centered around one or two factories. People had limited transportation available to them, the idea of transporting from one town to the next one 10 miles away was a big deal. So you worked for the company, lived in company housing (which your rent came out of your pay), having to buy food at the company store. If you got injured and couldn't work, you have lost your job and your access to housing and the company store, which is a big part of the community you lived in. In short, the company owned you, and you were really one step above being a slave.
Today (and thanks to the effort of these unions of the past) The conditions are now much different, we have the ability to find work in different towns and cities, even go across states for commuting isn't unheard of. There is a social safety net where there are unemployment payments where you can pay you enough to keep your home for a while, where you can find another job.
However, Unions play on the idea that you are stuck to your job. Where today being stuck, just means, we don't want to risk getting another job. But It is a different environment. While today's economy and the workers need support in negotiating with the company, today's Unions are seeming more fixed on gaining a power base, then actually helping the employees with useful things like wage parity, health care, benefits.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
Say "hello" to bad employees you can never fire....
This is a very misinformed myth. It's the same myth as the welfare queen. Someone finds a handful of examples and then misrepresents those individuals as representative of the entire group.
Cops in any state and NY teachers come to mind. The former have plenty of examples of outright massive fuck-ups or corruption that don't get addressed because of the strength of the police unions. NYC teachers are so infamous for this that there are numerous stories about it, and it even has a Wikipedia article.
I'm not one of those people who believe all unions are evil or that they shouldn't exist. I personally wouldn't be likely to want to join one, but if other people want to start one, that's their business and not mine. However, it's not a misinformed myth that unions will keep people around who really should be fired. Nor are the infallible in their decision making and they're as capable of any vice as the company board.