Kickstarter's labor conflict has been building all year. After co-founder Perry Chen handed the CEO job to Aziz Hasan in March, management declined to grant voluntary recognition to Kickstarter United in May and pushed instead for an NLRB election — and employees who trace their organizing to incidents like banning an "Always Punch Nazis" comic under payment-processor pressure have kept pressing the case against a company whose brand is built on backing creators.
Now Slate reports two union organizers fired within eight days, both times for what management calls performance issues. That timing lands squarely in the middle of the recognition fight and forces Hasan, already on record denying retaliation while calling the union framework "inherently adversarial," to defend the firings on their merits.
First-order effects
The two fired organizers lose their jobs mid-campaign, and any retaliation claim they file now runs through the same NLRB election process management chose over voluntary recognition back in May.
Second-order effects
Hasan's "inherently adversarial" framing signals Kickstarter will keep contesting rather than accommodating Kickstarter United, raising the stakes of the pending vote and inviting outside scrutiny from press and organizers tracking the company's creator-friendly image.
Third-order effects
If the pattern holds, mission-branded platforms end up bargaining formally anyway — the eventual negotiated severance and healthcare package with the union shows even contested relationships settle into contractual terms once a vote happens.
The trend: Mission-driven tech platforms are shifting from culture-as-governance to formalized labor relations, with management-labor disputes increasingly routed through NLRB elections and negotiated contracts rather than goodwill.
This morning, after six years of pouring my life into the mission, the staff, and the creators of @kickstarter, I was fired for organizing a union. They offered me no real reasons, but one month's severance for signing an NDA. I will not be signing it.
the cultivation, community outreach, and care that taylor provided on behalf of kickstarter and their supposed guiding principles was remarkable. this is repugnant, and shows that kickstarter cares nothing of the creative values they have co-opted for a 5% fee. unionize. https://…
SCOOP: Kickstarter has fired two union organizers in the past 8 days. In July, another member of the union drive quit, citing a hostile work environment for union organizers https://slate.com/...
This is an amazing scoop by @aprilaser on the hypocrisies and anti-worker actions of a tech company that once had an idealistic mission..all amidst an organizing effort by workers who wanted Kickstarter to do better. https://slate.com/...
The union drive at Kickstarter began quietly after leadership made a “both-sides” call to take down a satirical comic called “Always Punch Nazis.” Since the union went public, Kickstarter has tried hard to dissuade the union. At least two have been fired https://slate.com/...
This is the wildest labor story I've written. It's about Kickstarter, which portrayed itself as the most progressive tech company in the biz, and its tactics to quash its union. Sources say the union drive has well over a majority of staff ready to join https://slate.com/...
This is completely outrageous and antithetical to every value for which @kickstarter claims to stand. Taylor helped me and thousands more find a voice and a path forward as creators, and he and all the other laborers at Kickstarter deserve the right to collectively bargain. https…
Kickstarter fired my friend for trying to start a union and blamed it on “performance-related issues” which is TRULY the LOL MOMENT OF THE DAY. https://twitter.com/...
Beware the company that thinks it's doing a “public benefit” while treating their employees poorly. Solidarity with my former colleagues. https://slate.com/...
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that any company that claims “a union is not right for them” is a place that needs a union to represent employees https://twitter.com/...
Looks like @kickstarter is ramping up its union-busting efforts by firing organizers and fostering a hostile work environment for workers involved in the union drive. The company refused to voluntarily recognize the union back in May. @aprilaser reports: https://slate.com/...
kickstarter idea: some kind of public education campaign to explain to silicon valley that union busting and legalistic acrobatics to avoid paying people liveable wages isn't disruptive, it's *just* regular ole exploitation https://twitter.com/...
I spoke to a former Kickstarter employee who says she was fired last week for union organizing. She would have had to give up all legal claims and agree to an NDA if she wanted any severance https://www.huffpost.com/...