New York, N.Y. (Feb. 18, 2020) – The Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU), AFL-CIO, is proud to announce today that 85 engineers, directors, analysts, designers, coordinators and customer support specialists and others at Kickstarter have voted to affiliate with OPEIU Local 153 in New York, becoming one of the first unions for tech workers in U.S. history.

The workplace issues that more than one year ago spurred the creation of the new union’s organizing committee, known as Kickstarter United (KSRU), are identical to the issues resonating with professionals throughout the unorganized tech industry. Kickstarter employees felt their employer, a public benefit corporation, should live up to the foundational progressive values it espouses by ensuring trust and transparency from management, guaranteeing equal pay for equal work, implementing more inclusive hiring practices and giving employees a voice in the decision-making process,

“We believe unionizing provides a path toward furthering all of our goals,” said Oriana Leckert, a KSRU spokesperson who is a senior journalism outreach lead at the company. “It was truly an honor to get to have deep conversations with so many of my colleagues around these issues. Utilizing our collective power to improve our workplace and our professional lives will increase Kickstarter’s ability to have a radical, positive impact on society by allowing us all to advocate for workers’ rights, which is a core pillar of the fight against inequality.”

Our sisters and brothers at the American Postal Workers Union (APWU) need our help! On Feb. 25, postal workers and the communities they serve will be standing up for our public Postal Service. See below to learn how you can help protect one of America’s most cherished institutions.

The USPS Fairness Act (H.R. 2382) passed the House of Representatives last week with a huge two-thirds majority.

A bipartisan vote of this size could not have happened without the work of hundreds of thousands of people just like you across the country. The message is clear. Our elected leaders must take the unfair prefunding mandate off of the back of the USPS.

Let’s savor this win, but we must remember there is more work to do. We need all of our strength to get the USPS Fairness Act’s companion bill, S. 2965 passed in the Senate. That’s why we are organizing a nationwide call-in day on Feb. 25.

Applications now are being accepted for the 2020 OPEIU educational scholarships, and all members are encouraged to apply. Full details, rules and applications can be found at OPEIU.org under the Member Resources link, as well as on the OPEIU app*.