We’re here to support all activists and organizers across industries, and we focus on the leadership of Black and brown women and non-binary folks, in a way that ensures the most marginalized voices are heard.
We believe our liberation is connected and that none of us are free until all of us are free.
We stand in solidarity with workers and unapologetically support their leadership.
We connect workers to one another because we believe shared decision-making leads to better outcomes.
We are innovating new ways to provide no-strings-attached money and support to workers.
We believe solidarity means standing in action and care with working people to democratize workplaces and the economy.
Thousands of Google employees staged a global walkout. Workers in all US industries went on historic strikes. Numerous grassroots worker groups emerged to take on the biggest companies and institutions. Coworker.org researched financial models, organizational structures, and strategies, hoping to support workers to go further—from raising their voices, to building and using their power.
A group of tech workers approached Coworker.org to create a fund to support each other, after they watched and experienced retaliation. We identified that a new 501(c)(4) organization would be the most effective way to provide groups of workers with a home to set up mutual aid funds to support non-unionized employees, contract workers, and nascent white- and blue-collar crossover organizing.
Coworker Solidarity Fund (CSF) was formed and incorporated as a nonprofit, nonpartisan 501(c)(4) with the mission to increase private social welfare for working people to grow their power and participation in worker-led organizing. A Tech Worker Committee was formed to offer eligibility guidance and oversight. CSF officially launched its pilot fund in December, and started taking applications.
CSF disbursed $130,000 in a first round of 50 stipends to activists and organizers in the tech labor supply chain, including software engineers, retail, warehouse and app-based workers, who used the funds to cover legal fees, pay for organizing needs and materials, develop trainings, and address barriers to participating in activism and organizing.
Fast Company named CSF winner of their 2022 World Changing Ideas Awards. As Starbucks workers in hundreds of stores voted to unionize, the Starbucks Workers Fund launched to provide stipends to workers facing retaliation for their organizing efforts. Just in 2022, the Starbucks Workers Fund supported more than 60 Starbucks workers organizing across the country.
Each fund – currently there are two, the Tech Worker Fund and the Starbucks Workers Fund – has a policy for when to accept applications for a new round of stipends.
The Tech Worker Fund will reopen applications whenever donations cover at least five $2500 [≈ Typical household annual food spending on restaurants, 2009] stipends for workers engaged in activism and organizing in the tech sector. To contribute to that fund, donate here.
The Starbucks Worker Fund plans to reopen applications whenever donations cover at least five $2500 [≈ Typical household annual food spending on restaurants, 2009] stipends for workers engaged in organizing at Starbucks, taking into consideration factors such as the ability of the worker committee and the Fund’s staff to conduct application reviews in a timely manner. To contribute to that fund, donate here.
Yes, payments are considered taxable income. You will be asked to submit a W-9 and payments will be reported to the IRS. You will receive a 1099 for your tax filing purposes. Income tax requirements vary by state. We recommend that you check with a tax professional or tax preparation service for guidance on how to report your payment when filing your state and federal taxes.
Unemployment benefits vary by state. Please check your state’s Unemployment Insurance Benefits (UIB) rules, or check with your local benefits office or caseworker to determine if income from the Fund will affect your current or pending unemployment benefits. Here are links to UIB Rules in CA, NY, TX, MA, and WA:
No. Coworker Solidarity Fund is incorporated as a 501(c)(4) organization. Contributions to 501(c)(4) organizations are generally not deductible as charitable contributions for federal income tax purposes. For more information, please refer to the IRS guidelines on Donations to Section 501(c)(4) Organizations.
Our two current funds – the Tech Worker Fund and the Starbucks Workers Fund – have different eligibility requirements.
To be eligible for funding for the Tech Worker Fund, an individual* must meet all the following requirements:
The Tech Worker Committee recognizes that the ‘tech sector’ isn’t easily defined. To determine whether a company operates in the tech sector, the committee will be looking at how the media generally refers to the company and its influence in the culture, whether a company presents itself as a technology company in its IPO filing or other public records, and how much influence its leaders have in the tech industry.
*At this time, funding is only available for individuals and not organizations.
The application should take approximately 10-20 minutes to complete and can be completed via computer, tablet, or smartphone. You can also save your application and come back to it later if you do not wish to complete it in one sitting. You will be asked four questions, each with a 50 word limit. Some of the the questions are:
You may upload any files that verify your activism such as screenshots, documents, videos, social media posts, etc.
The application ends with an optional demographics section. This section does not have any bearing on your application, and it will not be shared. Data from this section will only be used internally and in aggregate to improve the work of the Fund going forward.
At this time, funding is only available for individuals and not organizations. However, recipients in the past have redistributed funds to other workers or donated them to other organizations upon receiving them.
We trust that you will choose how to best use the funds awarded to support your activism work. Examples include, but are NOT limited to:
We recommend that you DO NOT use your work email for any workplace activism or organizing activities.
While the National Labor Relations Act offers certain protections, the law as currently written falls short in shielding employees from employers spying during the digital age. According to an FAQ on employee surveillance by Workplace Fairness, a comprehensive online resource for employees about their workplace rights, “employers can legally monitor almost anything an employee does at work as long as the reason for monitoring is important enough to the business. Employers may install video cameras, read postal mail and e-mail, monitor phone and computer usage, use GPS tracking, and more.”
You can learn more about the use of company-owned digital tools for workplace organizing in this post.
Within two weeks of submitting your application, you will be notified of your application status via email. If your application is chosen to move forward in the process, you will be asked to schedule a 30-minute phone call to discuss your application. You will receive a final decision on your application within 2 weeks of your phone interview.
Applications are first reviewed by our staff who ensure that submissions meet the eligibility requirements. Eligible applications are then reviewed by members of the appropriate Worker Committee and Fund Staff who evaluate the applications based on the eligibility criteria (see above) and decision criteria (see below). Visit the Our Team page to learn more about the Fund staff and Worker Committees.
The Fund will consider the following criteria (developed by the Worker Committees in partnership with the Fund’s staff and board) in deciding whether or not to recommend funding:
You may choose to have your payment made electronically to a US bank account or by check. Payments are made in one lump sum.
No. This is money to support you and your leadership. We won’t require you to do anything in exchange for these funds beyond what you’ve already done or plan to do in your workplace. That said, we’d love to stay connected and support your efforts to organize in your workplace and/or industry. Please contact us if you would like to explore other layers of support that we may be able to provide.
We send all fund recipients an optional survey to complete 2-3 months after receiving payment. The questions in this survey will inquire about your experience with the Solidarity Fund and how the funding was useful to you.
For the Tech Worker Fund, the Fund is only giving one stipend per person at this time.
For the Starbucks Fund you can apply for another stipend if it has been 12 months or more since receiving your last stipend.
At present, the only company-specific fund is the Starbucks Workers Fund.
All donations to the Tech Worker Fund specifically support our pilot fund for workers across the tech industry. Upon completion of the pilot, our aim is to support worker-led solidarity funds from multiple companies in the tech industry. However, we will also keep an eye toward solidarity. If a worker in need from a company without a current fund applies for funding, other company funds may choose to support this worker.
Coworker Solidarity Fund relies on contributions from individuals and philanthropic institutions. We also received in-kind support from Amalgamated Bank. You can make a donation to support our work here.
No. While Coworker Solidarity Fund, a 501(c)(4), and Coworker.org, a 501(c)(3), share vision and values in supporting worker-activists, the organizations are autonomous, financially and legally independent, and governed by separate Boards of Directors. Each does all of its own fundraising and makes its own decisions.
Yes! It’s a great privilege to support your leadership and workplace activism, and we think you’re doing incredibly important work. If you’d like to talk about our support for your organizing and activism, we suggest language like, “The Solidarity Fund has awarded me a $2500 [≈ Typical household annual food spending on restaurants, 2009] stipend to support my workplace organizing efforts at [company name].”
Our sister organization, Coworker.org, can provide you with coaching and training on how to take action in the workplace. Send an email to [email protected] to get connected to an experienced organizer.
If you are interested in learning more about starting a petition on Coworker.org, please click here.
To learn more about staging a workplace walkout, please visit “So you want to stage a workplace walkout. Here are a few things to consider.”
Be a part of a community of care and action that centers workers. Donate today to give workers the money and resources they need to organize and fight for a better economy for all.
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