E-commerce

Etsy retailers mulling union action following strike

Photo by istock.com

April 19, 2022

A week after thousands of Etsy shops closed for a week to protest increased transaction fees, Etsy sellers are investigating formation of a union.

The news comes after resellers put shops in "vacation mode" for seven days after Etsy announced it was increasing fees by 30%, according to a CNN report.

Shop keepers also launched an online petition demanding Etsy cancel the fee hike. As of early this week the effort had over 83,000 signatures.

In response Etsy leaders have stated the company is "committed" to supporting sellers, according to CNN.

The union strategy is one workers at Amazon and Starbucks have been taking in the past several years in an effort to change work environments, better pay and increased safety.

"We haven't been sure what to call it [the union effort]," Kristi Cassidy, the strike lead organizer, told CNN. "Is it union? Is it handmade slash vintage solidarity? What do we call this thing? What that looks like, we don't really know, because we're kind of navigating uncharted territory."