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We are Frank — a platform for worker voice. Workers use Frank to make demands of their employer, and if not heard, to organize collective action.
Frankly, work isn’t working for most people. This is something that is felt everyday by most working people in America. That your bosses and company are more focused on benefiting themselves than truly valuing your time, your labor, or your livelihood.
Over the past 40 years, wages for the typical worker in the US have grown by just 12%, while CEO pay is up 940%. There has been a systematic and intentional attack on worker power, and the result is corporations with record profits, power, and executive compensation. They have used this power to shift $1T per year in GDP that used to go to worker wages, over to shareholders. $1,000,000,000,000 per year out of pockets of working people, and funneled directly to the top 10%.
It’s bullshit. It’s infuriating. It’s one of the biggest problems facing society today. The idea of working just one job, working 40 hours a week, and feeling secure in your job, your housing, your access to healthcare, or to an affordable education are distant memories of past generations. This modest dream of simply working to live has been replaced by 2nd jobs, side hustles, gigs, or furloughs.
The labor movement and its core institution, labor unions, exist to be a counterbalance — to support workers fighting to have a voice and representation in their workplace. Unions delivered American workers things like the 40 hour work week, 22% higher wages (on average), expansion of retirement and healthcare benefits, workplace safety regulations, and even brought us the weekend. But modern corporations and bosses have chipped away at — or spit directly in the face of — these basic worker rights. In the ongoing war on working people, one side has been consistently winning.
This will change. A new labor movement is building across the country. Workers are standing up, speaking out, and demanding more. And not just through traditional unions. The unfortunate reality is that labor unions have been weakened — facing dwindling membership and harsh regulation, partly from decades of assaults by corporate interests. But, to be frank, also due to bureaucracy, infighting, lack of trust, and huge investments in politics over innovation.
For the ~90% of workers in the US that aren’t members of a union — they don’t have representation and need a place to start. To organize, identify issues, create plans, determine actions, and collectively bargain with management. A private and dedicated space to build solidarity. We believe that solidarity — unity among individuals with a common interest — is key to workers winning again.
Introducing Frank
So for the past year, we’ve been preparing to launch Frank — a platform for worker voice and collective action. We envisioned a small beta release in late May, followed by a national launch by Labor Day. Then, COVID-19 changed the world — and like many others, we challenged ourselves to ready Frank to be a helper as quickly as possible. So as of today, we’re releasing a beta version of Frank to workers that desperately need help now.
How it works
- Organize. Privately invite your non-management coworkers to join you on Frank. We help verify their identity.
- Campaign. Create campaigns around issues you care about and want to see improved at work. These can be issues like wages, benefits, or concerns related to COVID-19.
- Unite. Build solidarity with your coworkers on the top issues and align on the actions you are willing to take to achieve them.
- Win. Frank helps to privately send your campaigns to management and works to ensure you are heard.
Frank is free. We do plan to offer subscriptions in the future, but for now, the product is free.
Frank is only available for use by non-management workers. Management and those in legal or HR functions will never be allowed to use Frank. Management attempting to use Frank will be in explicit violation of our Terms, and may also be in violation of federal labor law. Frank will fight to protect workers, and will pursue violations to the fullest extent of the law. (See our Terms of Use)
We will never sell or share your data. We will never partner with employers or take a dollar from your company. Frank exists for workers. Workers are our only customers. (See our Privacy Policy)
We hope to earn the trust of workers through transparency, and to maintain it by consistently and relentlessly focusing on worker outcomes. We know that trust and privacy are paramount because there are risks when speaking up and organizing at work. But there is strength in numbers. Power in solidarity. (See our Community Guidelines)
We understand there are many potential solutions to building solidarity (coworker.org, unionizing, walkouts, worker centers, group chat, etc), and many people currently fighting on behalf of workers who have an entirely justified distrust of tech. It’s fair and valid. We believe that technology can and should play a role in revitalizing the labor movement. That creating an environment for more tools, built with purpose, and focused on solving specific problems can provide greater accessibility and empower more workers.
Get Frank
We are launching Frank months earlier than we planned, and we know that may be evident — the product doesn’t have all the planned polish and, in many cases, we’ll be doing work by hand. We’re working hard to serve more workers and expand our capabilities, but in this beta release we do have limited bandwidth as a small team.
If you have ever thought about making a demand of management, but feared they wouldn’t listen — get Frank. If you have thought about talking to your coworkers about issues at work, but didn’t know where to start — get Frank. If you have tried organizing with your coworkers about making changes, but couldn’t find the right tool for the job — get Frank.
If you are ready to stand in solidarity with your coworkers to make work actually work for you, please apply for early access now.
In solidarity,
Frank is proudly built by @loganlahive @charlieaufmann @maryumcc @zekenierenberg @drevets as a distributed team and headquartered in Chicago, IL.
Feedback, questions, or input from workers is welcomed — send us a note at Frank@getfrank.com or message us on twitter @getfrank_com.
