Bandcamp has all the time been often called an artist-friendly different to streaming companies like Spotify, the place you should buy music straight from the musicians themselves. Now, employees on the on-line audio distributor owned by Epic wish to guarantee they’re handled the identical as its creators by forming a union referred to as Bandcamp United. In accordance with rolling stone And TechCrunch, most employees are in favor of unionization, and all 62 non-management and non-control folks within the US will make up its negotiating unit. These 62 workers are made up of help employees, designers, engineers, writers, and different platform workers.
Apparently, since final summer time, Bandcamp workers have been quietly engaged on their group. In the end, they determined to affix the Worldwide Union of Workplace and Skilled Employees 1010 native tech employees union, which is identical group that helped Kickstarter staffers get organized again in 2020. right wage inequality and promote “equitable situations and financial stability”. They wish to make sure that employees have entry to paid break day and that their wages “develop to fulfill financial want.”
rolling stone says they’re additionally trying to deal with the dearth of transparency from administration following the takeover of Epic final 12 months. Employees had been reportedly requested to signal new labor contracts when Fortnite The developer bought the platform and so they got a restricted period of time to assessment its phrases with out the potential for negotiation.
Ethan Diamond, CEO of Bandcamp, informed publications that administration “is conscious that some… workers are looking for to arrange a union and [is] consideration of the petition to grasp their considerations.” Bandcamp United has already petitioned the Nationwide Labor Relations Board (NLRB) to carry union elections and can maintain them to make all the pieces official as soon as they’re accepted.
