Kickstarter Staff Form Union, a First for Major Tech Startup

Employees at the Brooklyn, New York-based crowdfunding platform Kickstarter PBC voted to unionize on Tuesday, making them the first direct employees of a major U.S. tech company to do so. The vote, with 46 in favor and 37 against, came almost a year after the company’s employees announced their plans to unionize.

“It’s an important win, it’s an important battle. This has already started a lot of conversations among other tech workers and tech companies,” said Grace Reckers, a union organizer with the Office and Professional Employees International Union, which represents Kickstarter’s employees. The union plans to start negotiating a contract with Kickstarter “as soon as possible,” Reckers said.