On Friday, Feb. 16, members of Nava United (NU)/OPEIU voted overwhelmingly to ratify their first collective bargaining agreement, which will bring unprecedented job security protections to more than 180 staff members at Nava PBC. Nava United is now the largest recently organized unit of private sector tech workers under contract in the United States. Now, city, state and federal governments can hire Nava when they want the quality work of a union shop.
In addition to securing many of the current benefits Nava workers enjoy, such as unlimited sick leave, the contract provides new benefits, including across-the-board wage increases and just cause protections. This contract follows the lead of other OPEIU tech units, moving to establish certain protections as the new standard for unionized tech workers, including no intrusive monitoring, limiting the use of contracted and temporary workers in favor of full-time employees, and transparency around compensation and promotions.
Members of Nava United began forming their union in fall 2020 with the goal of improving working conditions. After Nava grew, they saw an increased need to ensure they had a say at work, and organized to increase equity and sustainability for all workers. Nava United accomplished these goals with a contract that ensures equity and gives workers an ongoing voice in the direction of the organization’s work. Most importantly, this contract means staff at Nava can keep building together in the long term and continue making government services accessible to all.
“The years of collective effort that went into this contract demonstrate the power workers in tech can harness to push for equity and fair working conditions,” said Sean Fern, a senior infrastructure engineer at Nava since June 2019 and a member of the bargaining committee.
Nava voluntarily recognized NU in March 2022, and contract negotiations began in June 2022. NU members leveraged their collective power by standing in solidarity to make this contract victory possible. Together, the workers of Nava held the organization accountable to hearing workers’ priorities, and in doing so, set a standard at the organization for what it means when workers have a seat at the table.
“With this first contract under our belts, we’ve set a foundation for workers at Nava to build on for years to come,” said Claudia Wynn, a product manager at Nava since Oct. 2021 and a member of the bargaining committee. “I am excited to see what ripple effect our contract has across the civic tech sector, and hope more workers take up the mantle to leverage their collective power at work.”
ABOUT NAVA UNITED
Nava United (NU) is the staff union representing workers at Nava PBC where they make government services simple, effective and accessible to all. NU organized with OPEIU and won voluntary recognition in March 2022. Made up of workers across the organization, NU represents designers, engineers, operations staff and more. NU works to promote transparency, ensure equity, increase staff well-being and retention, attract new talent and add to the long list of reasons why members are proud to work at Nava.
ABOUT OPEIU'S TECH WORKERS UNION LOCAL 1010
OPEIU’s Tech Workers Union Local 1010 is organizing workers for a better future through collective bargaining in their own workplaces and beyond. Local 1010 is a local union within OPEIU created for and run by tech workers. Local 1010 is formed around a core of engineers, community support agents, designers, trust and safety analysts, product managers, salespeople, operations specialists, finance administrators and every other person that makes tech companies run. Learn more on their website: https://www.techworkersunion-1010.org/about-us