‘tech workers will never be defeated!’

On the morning of Thursday, October 2, 2025, Kickstarter United announced via its GoFundMe page that the majority of its members voted on September 26 to authorize a strike after the crowdfunding platform and its unionized employees failed to reach a new contract agreement. The strike is the latest escalation of the months-long contract fight between Kickstarter and its unionized employees. New contract negotiations began in April 2025, before the previous three-year contract between the crowdfunding platform and the union expired in July.

According to ICv2, after electing to unionize in 2020, Kickstarter United now consists of “59 community support specialists, trust and safety analysts, marketing professionals, software engineers, and other tech workers,” and is represented by the Office and Professional Employees International Union (OPEIU) Local 153. Thus far, contract negotiations between the unionized Kickstarter workers and management have centered on codifying the company’s 32-hour, four-day work week, which has been in place for three years, and a salary floor of $85,000, which the union states is the minimum living wage in New York City, New York, and “would raise the wages of more than 20% of the bargaining unit.”

“We still have folks in the company who are living paycheck to paycheck,” said Arleigh Atkinson, a senior software engineer at Kickstarter based in Portland, Oregon (via Medium).

“People may call our demand for a four-day workweek extravagant,” added Dannel Jurado, another senior software engineer at Kickstarter and union organizer. “People probably said that to the people who wanted the five-day workweek, right?”

However, Kickstarter has refused to accept Local 153’s terms, and the union held a rally on Tuesday, October 7, in Manhattan outside the offices of venture capitalist Fred Wilson, a major investor in the company. A union spokesperson told Rascal that Kickstarter’s management has refused to agree to a four-day workweek, wanting to retain the option to revert to a five-day workweek, and has rejected all proposals for a minimum salary.

“They would like the unilateral power to change working hours back to a five-day work week if a business need arises (‘business need’ of course being up to the discretion of management) — without any compensation for the additional labor hours,” the Local 153 spokesperson told Rascal. “That’s not how it works with a union. Working hours are a mandatory subject of bargaining — and what we’re seeing is management trying to opt out of this and maintain their unilateral power to increase working hours without any compensation.”

The spokesperson continued, “The labor movement is at its strongest when it’s paving the way for working-class people to live full, healthy lives outside of work.”

Kickstarter United’s formation in 2020 was a milestone for the technology labor movement, as it was the first notable tech company to organize. As The Beat has previously reported, unionization efforts began following an internal dispute about Kickstarter’s decision to remove the satirical comic, Always Punch Nazis by Ben Ferrari, from the platform after it drew the ire of alt-right news site Breitbart. Employee pressure ultimately led to the comic’s reinstatement, fueling a growing movement among Kickstarter workers to organize—despite allegations of union busting within the company in 2019.

For now, Kickstarter continues to operate without the striking workers and has released the following statement:

“Kickstarter is built on community – both the people who work here and the creators and backers on our platform,” a Kickstarter spokesperson said. “We’re committed to keeping our community, inside and out, strong and supported. We’ve reached agreement with the union on most items in the contract, and while we are disappointed the union has chosen to strike, we remain committed to resolving the last few items together. In the meantime, Kickstarter will remain open, fully operational and focused on supporting the creators and backers who rely on us every day.”

In response, the union officially voted to go on strike. However, despite the platform’s rejection of Kickstarter United’s proposals, the union is not calling for a boycott. Instead, it says:

“Kickstarter United is not asking anyone to boycott the site. Keep launching projects that help you realize your dreams; keep backing projects that bring you joy! If you are a creator, you can add a message of solidarity to your project descriptions or write a letter to management and let them know how you feel about giving workers a square deal.

For everyone else: please share our posts on social media; talk to your coworkers about what a better workplace looks like for you; and if you can, please donate to our solidarity fund…”

Kickstarter United has shared a community pledge via Action Network, which, as of this article’s publication, has garnered the support of 5,706 letter writers, who have sent letters to Kickstarter management to meet the union’s demands. At the same time, the union has also launched a GoFundMe to support Kickstarter employees who are on strike, which has raised over $32,000 toward its $35,000 goal.

Check out social media posts from today’s rally below: