Open Society Foundations’ Union Staff Fight Back Against ‘Gigification’ of Foundation’s Work

New York, N.Y. – Members of the Communications Workers of America (CWA) Local 1180 employed by Open Society Foundations are speaking out against the harm that efforts to replace full-time staff with contractors will do to the foundation’s grantees.

Today, CWA Local 1180 publicly released a letter from the union staff to OSF’s leadership and global board, including Alex Soros, Chair of OSF, and Mark Malloch Brown, President of OSF. Workers have called on the foundation to stop the harmful practice of outsourcing jobs to contractors.

Grantmaking is a profession built on relationships. Many staff members at OSF are hired from the communities that the foundation serves because those relationships are essential to the work of the foundation. But the ‘gigification’ of the foundation’s work erodes the very relationships and trust between grantmakers and grantees that have made OSF so effective for three decades. Union staff report seeing delays when working with contractors.

The foundation’s proposed move to replace essential staff functions with contractors and temporary staff outside union protection is a form of union busting, antithetical to OSF’s commitment to strengthen workers’ dignity and rights.

“The dedicated members of staff come from the communities that we serve and we’re here to do the work,” said Vee Campbell, a Senior Grants Coordinator for OSF. “Management loses sight of our purpose when they replace union staff with short-term contractors without the relationships or institutional knowledge to serve our grantees.”

“As professionals, we have earned and deserve fair pay and job security,” said Lauren Ammons, an Operations Officer at OSF. “Instead, our humanity and our desire to do what is best for our grantees is weaponized against us to undercut fair compensation and a fair contract.”

###

About CWA: The Communications Workers of America represents working people in telecommunications, customer service, media, airlines, health care, public service and education, manufacturing, tech, and other fields.

cwa-union.org @cwaunion