ActBlue Lays Off Employees, Union Accuses Democrats' Fundraiser of Mismanagement
Union: ActBlue layoffs are "against our values, anti-labor, and weaken our ability to accomplish ActBlue's mission."
ActBlue, the online fundraising platform for Democratic candidates and committees, is laying off 54 employees, including 32 union employees, according to a tweet from the ‘ActBlue Union’ on Monday.
“Layoffs unfairly punish union employees who are both not responsible for the current financial difficulties & have invested considerable effort into making @actblue what it is today,” the union stated.
The union is one of two unions that represent ActBlue workers, and is affiliated with the Campaign Workers Guild.
ActBlue voluntarily recognized the ActBlue Union in December of 2020, while the ActBlue Tech Workers Union—an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America (CWA)—was voluntarily recognized in October 2022.
Despite the fact that the organization has raised, according to its website, nearly $12 billion since its inception in 2004, and $30 million in a 12-hour period when Ruth Bader Ginsburg died, over $20 million on the day the U.S. Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, as well as over half a billion dollars between April 1 and June 30 last year, the online platform is struggling financially, suggested the union.
“Prioritizing executive profit over rank and file workers’ livelihoods does not live up to @actblue’s progressive values.” — ActBlueUnion
“During the 2022 cycle, over 7.4 million unique donors gave 86 million contributions to 27,305 campaigns and organizations, totaling $3.5 billion,” ActBlue announced in in January. “Compared to the 2018 cycle, total contributions and dollars raised doubled, and nearly 2.5 million more unique donors were a part of the small-dollar donor movement.”
The layoffs come less than four months after the online platform announced Regina Wallace-Jones to serve as its CEO and President.
In a statement obtained by The Hill, Wallace-Jones claimed that the decision “was necessary to control costs and streamline operations ahead of the 2024 election cycle.”
However, in its lengthy Twitter thread, the union accused ActBlue executives of ‘mismanagement’ and stated that “management was unwilling to explore the alternatives we brought to the table with us.”
The union also claimed ActBlue executives refused to take pay cuts “multiple times” and that executives intransigence “highlights how incredibly out of touch Leadership is, not only with @actblue workers, but also with our mission.”
Although the union has negotiated a severence agreement on behalf of the laid off workers, the union is also setting up a fund to help support them, the union tweeted.
In a show of solidarity, the ActBlue Tech Workers Union tweeted that the layoffs are “against our values, anti-labor, and weaken our ability to accomplish ActBlue's mission.”
Comments in reaction to the ActBlue Union’s thread were mixed, with a few saying the announcement was “depressing” and “this ain’t right,” while others were more pointed towards ActBlue.