I have written before about the unionization fight at Kickstarter. Current Affairs is proud to have produced a statement in support of the union now signed by 450+ Kickstarter project creators, who have collectively raised a staggering $50 million on the platform. We’ve tried to make it clear that by actively opposing unionization, Kickstarter is damaging its brand, hurting its creators’ fundraising, and most importantly, disrespecting its workers.

Yesterday there was an important development in the story: Kickstarter’s union formally asked the company for recognition. Up until this point, while the company had been discouraging workers from organizing, its workers hadn’t actually requested to be recognized officially as a union. When workers do make such a request, a company has a choice: it can either “voluntarily” agree, making the union official, or it can say no, in which case the company will only recognize the union once it is required to do so by law, after a long and complicated election process overseen by the Trump Administration’s National Labor Relations Board.

So now that the majority of Kickstarter’s workers have petitioned for a union, we’re at a critical moment: Kickstarter can either follow through on its previous vow to deny recognition, or it can defer to the majority of workers and grant it.

That means this is the moment we need to maximize public pressure on Kickstarter. They face a decision right now, and if we can convince them that granting recognition is in the best interest of the company, its staff, and its users (which it is), Kickstarter will immediately be a union company.

If you oppose Kickstarter’s anti-union efforts, and believe that the union should be recognized, you need to tell Kickstarter.

The CEO’s email is: [email protected]

Copy the union with your statement here and they will pass on as well: [email protected]

It is critical that as many Kickstarter users as possible tell the company what they think. Kickstarter must not follow through on its threat to deny recognition. They must grant it immediately.

Here is part of the union’s statement:

We’re asking you to join us in urging them to say yes: email [email protected], or anyone you may know personally in Kickstarter leadership, demanding that the union be recognized. Tweet at them expressing your support for Kickstarter United. Whatever channels are available to you, we ask that you activate them to help share our message of solidarity: Kickstarter is ready to be united, and senior leadership must grant us voluntary recognition. […] Your support and allyship have been instrumental in getting Kickstarter United to a place where we were able to ask for recognition. We are so thankful for you, our siblings in labor. Together, we can demand new standards for this industry, starting by making a fairer, stronger, more diverse, more trusting, and more successful Kickstarter.

It is time for Kickstarter’s users to show support for its workers in every way they can.

Below is my own letter to the CEO and Chief Communications Officer: