Organizers demand recognition from management.
 🎶
Welcome back to the oral history of Kickstarter’s union. We’re picking back up just after management fired two highly visible organizers, Taylor and myself, and are about to force out a third. A mayday email titled Kickstarter United is Under Attack hits the inboxes of every worker at the company and the third member of the organizing committee, Trav, one of the union’s most active and effective organizers, is called into a meeting with Kickstarter’s CEO, Head of HR, and VP of Community Strategy. As Trav sits down with management, news of the firings is starting to spread on Twitter and Kickstarter’s creator community starts calling for management to stop all anti union activity. Although Trav’s meeting with management begins with Aziz, Kickstarter’s CEO, stating that this is not a firing meeting, it quickly devolves into a messy conversation about how there was no longer a place for Trav at Kickstarter.Â
 Long story short, the way that that meeting ended was them asking me to do the work of putting together a plan of how to fire myself. The meeting ended with my standing up and saying, okay, this has been very confusing. I'm going to need to think about what it would take for me to feel good about leaving this company, that I would be taking some space to do the work that they were incapable of doing. - Trav
Did you really say that? - ClarissaÂ
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, I'm paraphrasing, but I definitely said, you know, like this is not work that I've got to do. And I'm going to spend time to do that. - Trav
Management was using the shutdown of Drip, a large product development effort, to justify Trav’s termination. While managing the creator community for Drip was one of three roles Trav held at Kickstarter, his official title and role was completely unrelated to his Drip responsibilities. For management to position his role as redundant because Drip was being shut down - even while the need for his other responsibilities persisted - rang false to him and his surrounding coworkers. So, after this meeting with management, Trav takes this time to strategize with the union and map out his options. One night Taylor, Trav, and I sit down with our legal rep from OPEIU and we run through every option on the table.Â
Nobody leaves until we have plotted out every potential outcome here. We neglected no possible option. -Trav
We talk through every classic anti union tactic that management could employ next.Â
What do we do in a world where they promote me? -Trav
Even though this strategy session was about how to position Trav in his next meeting with management, each scenario revolves around the immediate goal of halting management’s open and seemingly ongoing assault on the union.
The primary lens through which I was viewing, all of those possibilities was Kickstarter United. -Trav
We decide the best thing for the union is for Trav to stay involved in the union drive for as long as possible. Â
The threat that my leaving the company post at this time to the union seemed really quite significant. - Trav
We need to negotiate for more time for Trav to stay at Kickstarter and continue working with the Union. Trav... would need a significant bargaining chip to give him the leverage he needs to force management’s hand and win more time. Taylor and I decide to file wrongful termination charges with the National Labor Relations Board - the NLRB - to show management there would be repercussions for firing organizers.Â
The world should see what is happening. Because the more the world is watching the more it forces management to behave. If they’re going to play the cartoonish bumbling villain, then we have to show the world. You know, Kickstarter lives and dies by the faith that it’s users, the creators and the backers have in the company and the platform. If you remove trust of Kickstarter from the Kickstarter platform, it won’t work. People have to feel good about Kickstarter for Kickstarter to function. - Taylor
Seth, our legal rep from OPEIU, opens his laptop, goes to the National Labor Relations Board’s public site, and starts to fill out the short simple online forms for three unlawful labor charges.Â
The three cases were very strong cases. If I knew then what I know today, I would have felt even stronger about it. - Seth
One of the charges combined the wrongful termination for Taylor and myself. Seth suggested we file together as a small show of solidarity. The second was to push back on Kickstarter’s inclusion of an NDA in our severance agreements because, hoping this would pressure them not to include this language in Trav’s eventual termination agreement.Â
I also felt strongly and continue to feel today that those NDAs were unlawful. Because it said you can’t speak negatively against the employer. Seems to me that that would limit anybody’s right to participate in a union drive, to be an organizer, to talk to fellow workers. - Seth
And the third… even though he hasn’t been terminated yet, we decide to go ahead and secretly file an unlawful labor practice charge for his eventual firing. At this point, management had made it clear they wanted him out of the company, stating that his role had been dissolved. Trav was in the process of something called constructive termination, a tactic that allows the company to create the appearance of just cause and to deny the framing of an outright firing related to union activity. But because the dissolved role Kickstarter’s management cited was not Trav’s main role or official job title and he had substantial ongoing responsibilities, it was clear the sunset of Drip was not a primary factor in his termination and there was enough evidence to bring this to the NLRB. Since the process for termination had been set in motion by management, we could start the process of objecting to Kickstarter’s conduct. Having this wrongful termination charge will give him leverage for his next meeting with management a few days later.
I remember going to sleep that night, just my head was spinning. I mean, not only am I dealing with the imminent threat of losing my job and my livelihood, but also of how that can impact the work that I have spent months doing alongside these wonderful people, trying to build something better together. - Trav
 🎶
A couple days after we file this secret charge with the NLRB, Trav walks into his second meeting with the Head of HR. This time, he’s prepared, Taylor and I have gone public with our NLRB charges. Stories of retaliation, firings, and management’s larger anti union strategy is printed in almost every major newspaper. Public pressure is mounting and Kickstarter’s community is speaking up in solidarity with the union online, on Twitter, in customer service support tickets, and even offline in visible ways.  Creators invited to Kickstarter HQ for an event organized a mass walkout and protest on the street in front of the building.
… What do stand up fight back. When workers rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back….
…. Clarissa Redwine and Taylor Moore, we stand with you...
… What do stand up fight back. When workers rights are under attack, what do we do? Stand up fight back….
Trav has the support of the union, workers are watching management’s every move, and... he’s holding a thin nondescript envelope as he walks into the room with the Head of HR. They both sit down, and Trav says:
Allow me to go first…   🎶
Trav sets the envelope down and looks across the table at the Head of HR.Â
Inside of this envelope is a charge that I had filed with the national labor relations board on the grounds of unlawful. Before you respond, you should also know that I recorded the entirety of our last meeting in which you [VP Community Strategy] and Aziz, arguably the three most senior members of this organization. Apologize to me on exactly those grounds saying, we have failed. You saying things like, we know how much of an asset you are to this organization. This is on us. You've done everything right at every moment. So you should know that, should I choose to file this, I will win this case. That said, I have a short list of requests that if you can meet them, I'm happy to withdraw this charge as quietly as I filed it. And I will never forget the look on his face in that moment. - Trav
Over the next few days, Trav got everything he and the union needed: more time. Instead of being forced out immediately, Trav negotiated staying on at the company for two more months, just enough time for him to continue organizing and move support for the union well above a simple majority.Â
So I was able to get them to agree to two months, and a large severance package, and letters of recommendation, and basically just able to extend the amount of time I was able to spend telling this story to fellow organizers and folks that had been on the fence. - Trav
But in the process of negotiating his terms, management continued to give away the intent behind forcing him out. When Trav asked to stay on for two more months to November 15th under the guise of shutting down Drip which was slated to be fully sunset on November 14th, the Head of HR had a telling response.Â
His response was, Oh yeah, yeah. That would actually be a great idea. We were thinking that you might leave sooner. But I think that that's a smart thing to think about. My jaw dropped. And I remember thinking if you're not thinking about that, what are you thinking about here? If that is the core of your considerations, then how do you get away with not even considering the timeline of the product shut down. When thinking about asking me to leave, it's just so transparently a huge plot hole in your story of this being about drip. It's just so obviously not about drip. - Trav
The CoverupÂ
Even though Trav came out of this negotiation victorious, management immediately started to use his delayed firing as a smokescreen, obscuring the timing and motivation for his separation from the company. Just after he had struck a deal with management, Trav gets a slack from the Head of HR who had been working with the Senior Director of Communications. This slack said... Â
Here's the narrative that we're going with. You're leaving because you're ready for new opportunities and it doesn't make sense for you to stay after the drip shut down. Does that sound good to you? I remember saying, I mean, no matter how it sounds, it's not true, uh, you know, like there's just, there's no reason to, to make such a lie. And I pushed back on that. Â - Trav
Trav very clearly responds to the head of HR that, no, this framing is not ok with him. And then he goes directly to Kickstarter’s Senior Director of Communications and reiterates that this is not a narrative that reflects reality and he doesn’t want his departure framed this way. But at this point, management had set a disinformation campaign in motion both internally and externally. And Trav saw article after article using this false framing.Â
In response to questioning from reporters,, the Kickstarter comms team says, the third member of the organizing committee, Travis brace, he was not fired for any retaliatory reason. but this was a natural time for him to leave because the projects and products that he had been working on, no longer existed this organization and it just was not true at all.  - Trav
Internally, management continued to spread this narrative and use it to cast doubt on the claims of retaliation from organizers. The union had a majority of support and this moment determined everything. Either workers would believe the union’s claims that these firings were retaliatory and there would be a swell of support or management would successfully double down on the narrative that the union was full of divisive troublemakers and drain support from the union. We were right on the edge. It could go either way. Trav continues to share his story in one on ones but, guarding his delicate agreement with management, he does not speak publicly about his experience and continues to see management twisting his story in the press.Â
And I just wonder if I made the right call in allowing my departure to be portrayed the way that it was. I mean, in one-on-one conversations and to those of us who have been highly involved in organizing everybody knew exactly what had happened. Um, but then there were folks that I wasn't able to have a one-on-one conversation with about the way that this went. - Trav
Press and stories from organizers painted a pretty damning picture of management’s conduct. So to support their own narrative that management had done nothing wrong and was supportive of employees’ rights to organize, they needed a robust, consistent disinformation campaign. Management continued to suggest to our colleagues that Taylor and I had received due process and that we’d both been given and failed performance improvement plans. Just days after firing Taylor and I, our boss, the Head of Community, calls the entire team into a meeting with HR for a spontaneous overview of the company’s firing practices. The bulk of this meeting was going over what they insisted was the standard practice, giving workers performance improvement plans.Â
My expectations for the meeting was that it was going to help us understand how this company that very rarely fires anyone had just fired two people on the same team. And was all of a sudden embroiled in this like really serious public controversy. Instead, it was the most toothless blandly corporate experience I had in my entire time at Kickstarter. It was an HR PowerPoint presentation filled with Just sort of like this is what a performance improvement plan looks like this is the way that discipline works. Here are occasions where someone might be given a verbal warning and it had nothing to do with our specific circumstances it contradicted what many of us knew had already happened. It was really shocking and really felt so unlike the company that I had understood myself to be a part of. - Oriana
This kind of meeting took place all across the company. It was a coordinated, carefully worded disinformation campaign. In each of these meetings, workers pushed back. The VP of Engineering gathered Kickstarter’s engineers to state that the firings were not a pattern of retaliation but standard practice and that what Taylor and I were stating in the press was not true.
It was interesting seeing my coworker is kind of drilled him. It was that meeting that I learned not from not from leadership, but from my peers that We have been waiting on a hiring and firing policy to be formalized for like over a year.  - JohnÂ
At the same time, behind closed doors, Kickstarter’s Senior Director of Communications was speaking to journalists and high profile creators. One day, he hopped on the phone with one of the most outspoken pro union creators, Nathan Robinson, who was running a live funding campaign on Kickstarter for his publication, Current Affairs. This creator had been vocally critical of Kickstarter’s retaliation against the union and was in the thick of organizing a petition with other creators in support of Kickstarter United. Â
Nathan started a creator petition denouncing what management had done and these petitions grew very large. And I think, you know, every creator that signed those petitions, is… you’re gonna be in my heart forever and ever. Everyone everyone who signed those, ya, I’m a friend to. - Taylor
Here’s Kickstarter’s Senior Director of Communications speaking to Nathan and cycling through several narratives that management had been using internally against workers.Â
These news stories dropped in the middle of our campaign and it was quite a surprise and immediately we started being contacted by backers saying “hey, what are you doing? And I’m going “no, no, no, please keep your donation in” because we don’t want to drop below our $50,000 threshold. We beat it, but obviously the pledges haven’t gone through yet. So we’re really trying to encourage people not to boycott at all Kickstarter because there are ongoing Kickstarter campaigns and that’s really important.  - Nathan RobinsonÂ
And… in this call, the head of comms implies very carefully… that the union and the fired organizers... are lying.
The incentives to spread misinformation is extremely strong at this point. That’s an unfortunate truth of— Senior Director of Communications
But that’s true on both sides. - Nathan RobinsonÂ
[indistinguishable] of how the media works in terms of dealing with stories like this. - Senior Director of Communications
I understand what the company’s position is which is that even though these were union organizers fired during the union organizing drive it was performance related and what have you. The problem from our perspective is that the news stories, I mean they’re extremely damaging, right, because Slate says it has five sources. I’ve already been contacted by sources—people inside the company who have given me what I think is pretty strong confirming evidence of their side of the story. But in a certain respect it doesn’t really matter because the real thing is— - Nathan RobinsonÂ
I’m sorry, you said you’ve been contacted by people within the company who— Senior Director of Communications
Yeah, who’ve given me what I think is pretty strong confirming evidence. Right, and so we have a bunch of news stories that do very strongly suggest to creators that Kickstarter is anti-union; statement by the CEO, reports of captive audience meetings, all this kind of stuff, and of course the firing of people who were acknowledged to be union organizers during a union organizing campaign.  It’s not just this news story, but there are prior news stories in which the CEO says if they ask for voluntary recognition the company wouldn’t grant it. And that to me seems like a bare minimum standard to reach is saying that if the majority of workers want a union you’ll voluntarily recognize it. If the union were to ask for—I know they haven’t asked for it yet—but if they were to ask for voluntary recognition and then Kickstarter were to say “no,” from my perspective that would cause a major escalation of this. It would be a serious problem because then you’d have one more thing to convince creators that Kickstarter was not on board with the union and that would be a serious problem. It would be very hard for me to stop them from pulling out. I— - Nathan RobinsonÂ
Let me give you, I hear you. Let me give you a little more context. The day after the organizers announced “hey, we’re starting a union push” um several members of the staff sent out an email to the whole company saying “hey, wait a minute. Do we think this is a good idea? Like, does Kickstarter need to be the poster child for unions in tech? Is this really—we’re skeptical and we want more information and we want to talk about it.” So it’s basically like a plea for dialogue around this. So it was clear very early on that there was no consensus among the staff about this and I think one more point of evidence for this is that it’s been six months, right, since that moment when the staff announced this. So part of the leadership’s job is to make sure not just like “oh yeah, a union, bring it on!” it is to hear from all the members of our staff who are eligible to be in a union and protecting their right to express themselves. It’s not a given that the staff is going to think Kickstarter needs a union, it’s not a given that the tech industry is going to be unionized. The organizers announced themselves in March. The leadership sort of debated on this for two months and then went back to the staff and said “This decision is entirely up to you. We want to inform your decision making by telling you that we don’t think that a union is going to benefit Kickstarter” and gave a list of reason that I won’t go into right now, because I don’t think it’s going to change your mind. I don’t have a feeling that that is going to change. If that makes Kickstarter an anti-union company then uh—   - Senior Director of Communications
Well, it does actually. This is the problem. It kind of by definition. that really is quite definitive. The CEO said he doesn’t want a union. The company said they don’t think unionization is good. If most the workers voluntary ask recognition— - Nathan Robinson
The company didn’t say unionization isn’t good. - Senior Director of Communications
For the company, right? - Nathan Robinson
[indistinguishable crosstalk] unionization isn’t the right thing for Kickstarter is a different story. - Senior Director of Communications
Ok, it’s the same thing in this context, which is the opposition to forming a union. I think we are at a kind of impasse because the company has made its position on the union clear and that’s what the creators are objecting to - Nathan Robinson
I hear you. I would ask a question: Do you think a company can tell its employees that it doesn’t think a union is the right path and still leave that decision up to the employees?  - Senior Director of Communications
No, I think companies should stay out of it. I think it’s for workers to decide among themselves, because the problem is when it comes from above because there’s a huge power differential it’s interpreted rightly or wrongly as kind of a threat. And so it is something that when the CEO expresses their preference that carries a lot of weight and it really does hurt the democratic process of workers, as you said, working it out among themselves.  - Nathan Robinson
I hear you. I would say that perhaps as an employee of such a company you who is concerned about its future you might want to hear what management’s opinion is to inform your own opinion, among the various other inputs that you get on that.   - Senior Director of Communications
But if you want to hear it you can ask. - Nathan Robinson
You can do what? Â - Senior Director of Communications
You can ask. If the employee wanted to hear their opinion they could ask. - Nathan Robinson
what would make you feel better about Kickstarter— - Senior Director of Communications
[indistinguishable crosstalk]
Yeah, I mean to be honest the first thing is though. You don’t want the workers to unionize, which, again, that’s your position, but the creators that are coming to us just disagree with that position fundamentally.  - Nathan Robinson
Right, right. Understood. So, yeah… - Senior Director of Communications
 🎶
The creator community’s outrage continues to swell. Backers and creators across every category continue to express solidarity with Kickstarter workers. And the union gets ready to leverage this moment of public pressure.Â
They fired three prominent union organizers who to my view are were fucking incredible employees and did great work. And we're beloved by their co workers. And I'm not just saying that because I'm talking to you right now.... But yeah, the end effect was a really significant blow to the organizing efforts and three, you know, three, three strong Union votes suddenly out of the picture. Come on. That is a union busting act. Regardless of what your intentions are. There's the Union reaction inside which was like shit, this is, this is, I didn't think that Kickstarter would do something that blatant. - Patrick
Holy shit they just fucked up majorly. This is going to light some fires under some asses, because at this point in the timeline. I was 100% convinced of my worker apathy theory. Yeah, and suddenly Management themselves had given other workers a reason to give a shit. Right, and I was brimming with possibility because all of us, because all of a sudden they had fucked up in more ways than one. Giving us a fistfull of ammunition. - Dannel
In mid September, just a few days after Taylor, Trav, and myself were fired, the union holds one of the largest union meetings to date in the campaign. We’re all huddled in Taylor’s studio around the corner from Kickstarter. The lights are low, voices are hushed, and Trav opens the meeting by asking Taylor and myself to share our stories.
We finally have a space to talk like normal people and be like, what, what the fuck is going on. And it was it was painful. And it was cathartic and there was, it was Like It just, just a as a human being essential to have that moment that we couldn't have otherwise. Yeah, yeah. And a bunch of obviously a bunch of people showed up because they like me were like I'm I'm clearly not getting answers anywhere else. Maybe here. And it turns out, yeah. Yeah, that's where, that's where you get your answers. - Tom
I tell the group that I was never given a PIP, had exceeded every performance metric, and had been crushed for months under targeting from management. Taylor plays a recording of our manager congratulating him on passing his performance improvement plan months earlier. Â
We both felt that, we had to, we couldn’t just tell people oh it’s bullshit, like, we had the receipts, and we can show, very easily, materially, here are the lies. - TaylorÂ
But we couldn’t share everything. We knew a large meeting like this would have leaks and like past meetings, it was likely anything we said would be reported back to management. Taylor and I were preparing to give affidavits to the NLRB and Trav couldn’t jeopardize his extended time at the company. So there was a lot we couldn’t say. But for union members who had watched management carry out months of anti union strategy, the signs were clear, this was retaliation and a strike against the union was a strike against us all. And this level of damage from management could not stand.Â
Those firings lit a fire under the remaining union organizers like we had never seen. I mean, I had never seen such anger, determination, enthusiasm, and… righteousness. - TaylorÂ
What do we do now, now that we have all these people here knowing that we had the most people maybe ever at one of these meetings all all fired up and like, what do we do now. - Tom
By the end of this meeting, the union had decided it was time to ask for voluntary recognition. The union was interested in voluntary recognition because it was a much faster and easier way to get recognition, secure a seat at the table, and get back to work. We had a majority of support from workers, we had signed union cards, and we had pressure from Kickstarter’s community. In granting voluntary recognition, Kickstarter’s management would be essentially stating that, because the majority of workers wanted a union, they recognized the union and would begin negotiating a contract instead of being forced to recognize the union by the NLRB after an election. This tactic would give management the opportunity to alleviate some of the public scorn after the firings. And… if management refused, it would be another clear sign that leadership was anti union which could help bring in even more yes votes, strengthening the union’s support as they were forced into an NLRB election.Â
This felt like a material step forward, like a bold move. - JanelÂ
So the union’s strategy working group starts working on a plan to ask management for voluntary recognition as soon as possible. The union knew this would be a challenge because Kickstarter’s management had declared that they would never voluntarily recognize the union and were pushing employees to an NLRB election. And there was strategic reason management wanted the union to go through an NLRB election. This process gives the employer more time to hold captive audience meetings, to send anti union communication, and to put pressure on employees to vote against the union. Usually the weeks between filing for an NLRB election and voting, are an intense and draining time for organizers as management assembles all the power and resources of the organization to pressure employees to vote No.Â
They were like we should just have secret ballot elections that way anyone who felt pressured could like revoke their signature, um, under the cover of darkness essentially. Um, and so they didn't want voluntary recognition for that point. And also in going through an NLRB election, there are a lot of opportunities for the NLRB to intervene. So given that we're a ye, um, sorry. Uh, so given that we're the first tech union we knew that there was opportunity for a lot of back and forth with the NLRB in terms of what qualified as a union position. So we saw that Kickstarter pushing for, um, an NLRB election was also then pushing for an elongated timeline in which they could fight us in court in terms of like, well, this position actually shouldn't be allowed to vote, whereas this one should be. And so we were really, um, so we, um, and we knew that like our colleagues, were getting really fatigued with the union process and with the continued union busting from Kickstarter. - RV
Grace, one of our organizers from OPEIU sat down with us and explained in detail why Voluntary Recognition aligned with the union’s values and Kickstarter’s stated values.Â
At the end of the day Union is not about management. It's not about the employer. It's not about the executives, it doesn't include them. We don't seek out their opinion on unionization. It's not about them. It's about democracy was in the workplace and that is for the employees themselves. So, I think why voluntary recognition is so important is because it shows that employees have organized themselves and have actually come together to make a request and show strongly that you know we stand together united behind this. And now you have the ability to Voluntarily recognize us before we actually have to go to an election and bring in the NLRB and go through a longer process. - Grace
With the help of OPEIU, the union starts to draft a written request for voluntary recognition.
There are certain practices and there are certain things that you should include a set of best practices, but it's not Something, since it's not governed by the NLRB, you know, carry out a voluntary mission request. There's nothing that needs to be in there by law. Â Â - GraceÂ
And organizers, including me Taylor, and Trav, kick off a wave of outreach conversations to reaffirm and grow support for voluntary recognition. The union had passed the 60% support mark but OPEIU was pushing for 65%. This is lower than the number they usually aim for, a super majority of 75%, but at this point it seemed like we had hit a wall. This would be a tight win.Â
We knew that we had the support that we needed. And we knew that because we had had extensive conversations with people. The organizers within the committee had spent months not talking to people, confirming support. We knew that we had a majority vote. We also knew that was gonna be a tight margin. And we were very aware of that and I think they have ever been in election that has been such a tight margin. But the reason why we decided to go forward with it because that's what the employees wanted. They wanted to vote and we were not going to say no to that. - Grace
But for some, management’s continued anti union rhetoric within the walls of Kickstarter was still working. Unrest started to grow as management expressed agitation for the union’s public pressure campaign. Talking about the firings, which were circulating in the press, was starting to make outreach conversations harder and suggesting management took these actions in retaliation wasn’t landing either.
They would try to spin it, right, like, you know, if someone's unjustly fired and they bring a national labor like an NLRB case against Kickstarter, they are harming Kickstarter than like that is a that is an attack on Kickstarter is public brand, and as such. Since you the employees should identify with Kickstarter personally You should take that as like an attack on this great place that you work at which is. Didn't you say it's the best job you've ever had and like don't you love working here like This person is talking shit about that. Don't you think that's bad. - Patrick
It was hard to navigate and I did have a couple of conversations where I brought it up explicitly at the beginning and then I think that that was when we all realized these this talking point is not landing with folks. - ToyÂ
At that point, if you're against unionization and you hear that happen. I think it's one of two things must be going on in your mind. One is, like, yes, they were fired because of performance reasons I believe that, and I'm just going to choose to believe that and go with it. And I think some people did do that but I think a lot of other people like I think I think a lot of other people thought, yeah, they can they can just fire, whoever they want for whatever reasons and they don't have to justify that. That's how it works. That just means that I need to look out for myself and that if that means like not joining up with the Union or if it means just like keeping my head down and not worrying about this. That's what I'll do. And so I think if anything. I don't think it like encouraged a lot of people to be against the Union. Or for the Union, necessarily. I think it just Had the effect of beating people down. that that sort of idea of, like, Yeah, see, we can't change like even the people who tried to do something. They got fired. And that's just how it is. So like we might as well just not speak up. - Patrick
It felt so strange because it was very obvious that there was a counter campaign in that regard. Like, it was obvious that there are folks who were spreading disinformation about what had actually gone gone on. Â - Toy
It became clear that talking about the retaliatory firings, or criticising management’s actions was not going to win the union any more votes. So organizers set the topic of retaliation aside in outreach conversations leading up to the voluntary recognition request.
That was really hard, because it didn’t feel right. Because we all believed that ya’ll were fired for organizing. And I think this was one piece of the strategy which didn’t sit well with me but I also realized was necessary for not alienating folks. In order to finish this process for all of us, including you and Taylor, like we need to do what's worked what works. And that was frustrating because it didn't feel right because y'all were our comrades in. I mean, you were like casualties essentially. It wasn't easy. No, it really fucking sucked. We none of us wanted to do that.  - ToyÂ
 🎶
Trav’s Goodbye PartyÂ
The union’s strategy working group sets a date to ask management for voluntary recognition. Over the next week, all energy for the union was focused on outreach one on ones to confirm support and attempts to move people on the fence to solid Yes votes, building support for voluntary recognition. But in this period, Kickstarter’s leadership turned up their own campaign in preparation for the union’s next move. Management emphasized their internal disinformation campaign about the firings and continued to staunchly deny any accusations of retaliation. And then, one day, management carries out one of the most effective components of their disinformation campaign... it’s a surprise for Trav.Â
I am so ups that made me sick to my stomach. They so they like surprised him essentially like surprised Trav with a party with champagne and cake and everybody was like, Oh, we're gonna miss you so much. This is the you're like, you're the best and Like fucking Aziz made a toast. And then it was like we are going to let trap say a few words. So he has to perform at his own firing party. And it's like this. I think I was standing with Patrick and Robert at the time, and Tom And we just looked at each other and were like this is criminal. Like this is one of the cruelest things that I've ever seen anyone have to deal with. Like I was, I was so pissed off after that because it was like I knew, I knew what he'd been through. - ToyÂ
The party starts to wind down and Toy walks over to Trav.
Afterwards, I was like this. This is cruel and I love you. - ToyÂ
Management threw this party for Trav, but it wasn’t really for Trav, it was for everyone else. This was another smokescreen to obscure the fact that he had been forced out of the company. And organizers were livid. This party and the general cloying cheer surrounding Trav’s termination was strategic.Â
Ya, to cover up the fact that they’d fired him. - ToyÂ
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Voluntary Recognition Collective ActionÂ
While combating management’s anti union disinformation campaign, the union finalizes a logistics plan for how to approach management to ask for Voluntary Recognition. Considering how much strategy was getting leaked back to management, the details of this plan would need to be kept as quiet as possible for as long as possible. The small strategy working group starts to discuss who in Senior Leadership would be the best person to present the letter to, who was scheduled to be in the office on the day, when and where to do it so that the entire union could be involved, and how they would coordinate with a large number of supporters on the day of. And the plan starts to come together. The union would do this as a group, in person. Everyone who could show up at the office on the day would be led to Aziz and the union would stand together as a printed letter requesting voluntary recognition is handed to Kickstarter’s CEO.
We knew we wanted it to be a show of solidarity. We knew that we wanted our colleagues to like, have signed onto the letter and to like all show up and deliver it together but beyond that, we were like trying to figure out what to do. - RV
Earlier in the campaign, management had stated they would never voluntarily recognize the union but maybe this show of solidarity combined with the public pressure roaring outside the walls of Kickstarter could force them to reconsider.Â
It was exciting because we had decided that we were ready to make, you know, a public a public step. We had planned it. We had a lot of conversations about who you know what we were going to say, and who we were going to say it to We had planned a we were intending to hand the formal letter to Aziz and we had everybody was going to put on their buttons. We were going to like make this a moment, you know, to capture The, the forward momentum that our unionizing campaign had and, you know, share that with the world, is this really exciting time and then It was choreographed we knew. Like, who was going to stand up and go where, at what time and say what to whom. - Oriana
Once all of these logistics were set in stone and every detail had been mapped out, organizers notify all union members to share the date and meet point on the day of. The plan was for everyone to gather in Kickstarter’s kitchen and walk together to Kickstarter’s CEO, handing him the letter as they stand in solidarity. But something had changed.Â
Oh shit, like, has anyone sees Aziz in the office today? Â - RVÂ
Management had gotten wind of this plan and at the last minute, Aziz, Kickstarter’s CEO canceled his in office meetings and stayed home.Â
Aknd so we like are like walking around trying to be super conspicuous, being like, is he in the office? Like, is he working from home today? What's going on? And we realized that he can't be the target of, uh, of the action because he's nowhere to be found. Um, and so our contingency plan had been to target our VP of people. He seemed like a good, he seemed like a good target and like had caused a lot of strife for a lot of folks. So we were like, all right, Andrew, Blanco's like, that's, it's gonna be him. And then we're walking around looking for [Head of HR]. Oh no, no, no, no. It's like, it's like me and that, and I think ya'll trick. So me and one other colleague who are planning this action, like trying to do our due diligence the day of being like, where are people? Um, and, and we realized that [Head of HR] not in the office either. Â - RVÂ
Both Kickstarter’s CEO and Head of HR had cancelled their planned meetings in the office and stayed home. Organizers are now rushing around as union supporters start to gather in the kitchen, trying to get eyes on any member of Senior Leadership that they could hand the voluntary recognition request to in person.Â
 We've told the bargaining unit that this is when we're gonna deliver the letter. Like, we need to find someone who we can approach at this time, because you know, like people have different schedules. We, um, we're like trying to make sure that everyone who said they wanted to participate in the action can still participate. So we're like, all right, we have a time locked in. We've got a contingency of people. We just need to figure out who we're fucking delivering this to. - RV
So RV and the other organizers coordinating this collective action decide to target one of the few members of Senior Leadership who they had seen in the office, Kickstarter’s General Counsel.Â
And so then we're like, alright, [General Counsel] makes sense. - RVÂ
After a rough start, the group was ready to carry out this collective action. The energy becomes electric.Â
We wanted to do it as a group and not just a few people to show Kind of that this is you should take this seriously. - Corey
As the group of union supporters waiting in the kitchen grows, organizers, for the first time, see the sheer number of people who are in support of the union. They got to see how many people were willing to stand up and fight for this thing they’d been working so hard for…. Then, the union walks together through the halls of Kickstarter. Union supporters flood the hallway leading up to the General Counsel’s desk and start to form a wide semicircle around him. To many organizers, it felt as if Kickstarter’s General Counsel had been waiting, as if he knew this was coming.Â
They were ready for us. - CamillaÂ
There’s this gulf of open space between him and the union. And then… RV steps forward, crosses this open space, looks up, and speaks directly to Kickstarter’s General Counsel.
I'd like to give you this voluntary recognition letter. - RV
And Kickstarter’s General Counsel looks down at RV and say’s...
You know, I can't accept that. Um, I was like, actually, I don't know that. I just, I'm trying to give you this letter as a member of our senior leadership team. And he's like, no, I can't take that… Imagine a man built like a house… now imagine this house being angry, standing and towering over in you and you, and being like super condescending. Like, you know, I can't take that. It's like stop it. Like, I don't feel like, no, you can take this piece. Like, it is literally a piece of paper you accepting this piece of paper is not like legally binding or anything. - RV
RV really fucking courageously brought like volunteered to hold that letter and like stand, you know, while we were all in a group behind them and Hand it to the GC and say, like, we're asking for voluntary recognition and they did it and RV held at that letter. - Patrick
RV stands there in front of the General Counsel, holding this letter, not backing down.Â
I think it became much more confrontational feeling than it really had to be. Literally we just wanted to hand this piece of paper to somebody. It’s scary to be in a little group like that and be wearing your allegiances on your sleeve publically and be met with this outsized resistance.  - Janel
Another member of the union’s organizing committee, Camilla, is standing a few feet behind RV with everyone else in the semicircle. She looked around at the few members of management who were standing with the General Counsel.Â
They were looking at us like we were the enemy. I really tried to keep my focus on RV through the entire thing and making sure that they were ok. - CamillaÂ
In that moment, I remember thinking, wow RV. You are so strong and this is incredible. Â - ToyÂ
This is when Camilla breaks from the semi circle and steps forward to stand with RV.Â
And they stood there and I remember Camilla walked up behind RV and just like put her hand on our shoulder, just like because it was so scary. - Patrick
It was great because our like it just like embodied that that level of support that we were there for each other. It was just like, I'm here. We're here, you're, you're not alone in this, we're doing. We're all here with you and it was beautiful.  - ToyÂ
Yeah, it was one of those things that happens in literally like a minute but feels like a million years. Yeah all power to RV, they are fucking rock star. Goodness gracious. - Tom
But, Kickstarter’s General Counsel was not backing down either. And the two of them stood there in a stalemate.Â
I don't think we anticipated this like a response where the GC would not take the letter. Like it just seemed like Holding a piece of paper is not a legally binding like It's just a rude thing to do as a human like we are like where your coworkers. Here's a letter. That's it. Like, you don't have to do any, you know, if, like, write your name and blood on the paper anything. - Corey
And so like, I'm like, okay, well we like, and he was like, you know, that we're not offering you voluntary recognition. Um, like, you know, the answer is no. And I was like, we haven't even asked you for voluntary recognition yet. We would like to see that in writing, um, please accept this letter so that you can respond to it in writing. Um, and he was like, I can't take that. - RV
Like we were vampires or something. And like you have to, you have to invite in the vampire, you know, like, just by taking this piece of paper. He would be crossing some legal line in the sand that like he could not come back from or something which I seems very strange to me. And honestly, very disrespectful to not just like take a piece of paper that someone is handing us so that they don't have to stand there holding it, but he wouldn't. - Patrick
There wasn’t much more the union could do in that moment. The General Counsel wasn’t cooperating. Slowly, RV backs away still holding the letter and the union walks together back to the kitchen. This exchange with Kickstarter’s General Council, as strange as it was, emboldened organizers. Â
So we all sit around and really felt like we had this huge groundswell momentum then we walked into the kitchen and we took a group photo and we were very excited. - Oriana
Immediately after the union snaps a few photos to commemorate this collective action, workers slowly filter out of the kitchen and go back to their desks full of energy. Organizers promptly send a prepared email with the letter attached to Kickstarter’s senior leadership team, giving management one last chance to recognize the union. This was a turning point, if management wouldn’t collaborate with a mobilized majority of workers, then it was time to finally embrace the public pressure surging outside the walls of Kickstarter. This experience galvanized union organizers and gave them the fuel they needed to push forward.Â
The next day, management sent an email to the entire company officially declining to recognize Kickstarter United and stating again that they will force workers into an NLRB election. At this point, there are still two paths in front of the union. Organizers could continue to build public pressure and hope it’s enough to force management’s hand to voluntarily recognize the union, or, organizers could start planning for an NLRB election. For good measure, they decide to do both.
“We essentially say, ok that’s what we expected. Time to turn up the heat publicly. - RV
Next in the oral history of Kickstarter’s union, as workers continue to push for voluntary recognition, organizers turn up the heat and so does management. The union fights against management’s disinformation campaign, the No Committee is emboldened, and organizers prepare for the most important day of the union drive.
That day was just agony. I don't like I don't bite my nails anymore. But I think like my nails were just like destroyed at the end of that day. - Patrick
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The Kickstarter Union Oral History is brought to you by the Engelberg Center on Innovation Law and Policy at NYU Law. It is released under a Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike 4.0 International License. And the music was composed by Michael Simonelli over at the podcast production company Charts and Leisure.