Kicking Off Union-Backed Temp Work at the World Cup

What if you could pick up a shift when you needed work and get a fair wage, real benefits, and the backing of a union? That’s the dream realized by UNtemp, a new platform reimagining how workers find short-term work. We’re excited to announce this platform, built in partnership with MLK Labor, an affiliate of the AFL-CIO, and MLK Worker Innovation Center, as our 2026 Design Sprint.

What's a Design Sprint?

Our Design Sprints are how we tackle big, stubborn problems. We identify a challenge workers face, bring together people who understand that challenge from different perspectives, and work together with them to design and test a real solution. This iterative process of sketching, prototyping, testing, learning, and improving works. Past sprints have produced lasting change, like our income verification tool for gig workers to access public benefits. We've learned that when you design with the people most affected, you build something that sticks.

This Year's Challenge

Millions of people turn to short-term work to fit into complex lives, needing flexibility that traditional employment doesn’t always afford. But too often, that flexibility comes at a cost: lower pay, no benefits, and few labor protections. We don't think that tradeoff is inevitable. This year's sprint asks how we can offer flexible, on-demand event work that also comes with fair wages, benefits, and a connection to the labor movement.

Meet Untemp

UNtemp is a union-backed worker dispatch platform designed for variable, short-term staffing needs, like large events or seasonal surges, connecting workers looking for shifts with employers who need reliable, short-term labor. Workers provide their availability during event periods, and are in turn matched with opportunities providing good pay, benefits, and the protections of a union contract.

Here's how it works: worker-led, sector-specific co-ops serve as the employers of record, ensuring workers receive fair compensation and protections. Businesses or organizations needing staffing partner with the co-ops, and have workers reliably show up when they need them. The platform itself handles scheduling. The result is a system where flexibility and security work together.

Starting in Seattle

UNtemp’s first pilots will launch in May 2026 in Seattle. The city, in addition to being MLK Labor and Worker Innovation Center’s home, has a strong tradition of labor innovation with workers, employers, and leaders tackling hard problems together. From there, we are excited to announce that UNtemp, through a partnership with the SEA2026 Local Organizing Committee, will help staff jobs connected to the 2026 FIFA World Cup games in Seattle this summer, connecting workers with good, union-backed shift work and showing on a global stage everything this platform can do.

What We're Watching For

This summer is just the beginning. As the pilots roll out, we'll be tracking the impact on workers, co-ops, and communities, learning what's working, where we need to adjust, and how we can grow. The goal is a model that can scale to new partners, new cities, and new worker populations.

We're proud of what we're building and grateful for the partnership that's making it happen. Stay tuned – there's a lot more to come.