You got the money.
Now let's get the power.
A national union of people who have been through a guaranteed income pilot. We know what direct cash did. We should be the ones saying so.
The Basic Income Solidarity Community (BISC) Union is a community-led initiative run by people power.
We believe that lasting change comes from organized communities.
Our union, founded by former pilot participants, welcomes people from across the U.S. to co-design a community that supports and advocates for direct cash and its benefits. Our mission is to win a basic income for every person in America by turning curiosity into courage, solidarity into power, and isolation into belonging. We are reclaiming our collective right to economic security and instilling dignity in the process.
Share the union
Point a camera at this to open the app. Show it to someone who was in a pilot — there's nothing to install.
Who this is for
Right now we're starting with people who took part in a guaranteed income or basic income pilot — current or past. That's roughly 40,000 people across the country.
We're starting there, not stopping there. The union opens wider as we grow.
Why join?
Your experience is evidence
Pilots produced reports, studies, and headlines. The people who lived them got measured, but rarely got to say what any of it meant. Together we decide how that story gets told — and who tells it.
You are not the only one
Roughly 40,000 people across the country have received guaranteed income. Most never met a single other participant. This is the room where you do.
Decisions get made without us
Direct cash policy is written in rooms where nobody at the table has received it. A union changes who is in the room and what gets asked before a program is designed.
You get an actual vote
Not an advisory seat, not a feedback survey. Active members hold binding voting rights on what this union does and where it goes.
Skills that stay yours
Training in advocacy, facilitation, running events, and building resources. Whatever else happens, you keep what you learn.
It costs nothing, and it never will
No dues, no fees, no minimum commitment. Show up for what you can, step back when life demands it, and you are still a member.
Ways to take part
Storytelling
Your experience, in your words, aimed at people who make decisions.
Advocacy
Meeting with elected officials and pushing for guaranteed income policy.
Tools and policy tracking
Following what's happening with basic income across all fifty states.
Training
Learning to host events, build resources, and organize — skills you keep.
Join
About two minutes. We don't ask you to prove anything.
What happens after you join
- Minutes
A welcome from us
An email confirming you're in, and what to expect.
- 3–7 days
Your BISC Buddy
A member reaches out the way you asked — call, text, or email. A real person, not a form.
- First two weeks
New member meeting
Monthly, in two sessions so you can pick the one that fits your time zone.
- Ongoing
Work you pick
Storytelling, advocacy, building tools, training. You choose. Nothing is required.
How onboarding works
From hearing about us to holding a vote. None of it is required — it's what's available to you.
Join us
Everything below stays with the union. We won't share it, sell it, or hand it to anyone.
You're in
Welcome to the union.
You're a member as of today. Here's what happens next — nothing needed from you right now.
One thing that helps
Come to a new member meeting when you can. There's one each month in two sessions, so pick whichever time suits you.
Need something now?
Meetings and events
All on Zoom. Nothing to download — you join from a browser link.
Two sessions, same meeting
All meetings run once a month, in two sessions on the same day. Same content — come to whichever works.
The early session is 6:00 PM Eastern. The late session is 6:00 PM Pacific, three hours later. The Second Saturday mixer is one session for everyone.
The rhythm
2nd Wednesday — New member meeting, both sessions · 6:00 PM ET and 6:00 PM PT
Last Wednesday — Full union meeting, both sessions · 6:00 PM ET and 6:00 PM PT
2nd Saturday — Saturday mixer, one session · 1:00 PM PT / 4:00 PM ET
Access
If you need something to take part — a different time, materials in another language, a quieter format — tell your BISC Buddy or write to us. It's not a favor; it's how the union is supposed to work.
Agenda
Agenda
Notes from the last meeting
Sample notes — replace with real ones after each meeting.
New member meeting · Wednesday, August 12
19 members across both sessions. 11 in the Eastern session, 8 in the Pacific.
Who joined us
New members from Stockton, Jackson, Cambridge, Compton, Chelsea, and two people from pilots in Georgia we hadn't connected with before. Four members said this was the first time they had spoken to anyone else who had been through a pilot.
What came up
Several members asked whether joining could affect their benefits. We said we are getting that answered properly rather than guessing, and will bring it back next month. Two members asked whether family members who were not in a pilot can take part. That question went to the Organizing Committee.
Where people wanted to plug in
Storytelling drew the most interest, then advocacy training. Three members offered to help run future new member meetings. One member asked about Spanish-language materials, and that is now with the communications team.
What we committed to
Buddy pairings for everyone who asked, within a week. A written answer on the benefits question by the September meeting. Meeting notes sent to everyone who attended, including those who could not stay to the end.
Later this season
The meetings after the one above.
Saturday mixer
No agenda, on purpose. Drop in, say hello, leave when you like.
Learning
Short trainings for your phone. Ten minutes at a time, whenever you have them.
How this works
Nothing here is a course you have to finish. Take any module, in any order, as many times as you want. Nothing is graded and nobody is watching.
Every module ends with one thing to try, not something to memorize. Most are under ten minutes and work on a phone without much data.
Start here
If you only ever do one track, do the first one. Someone who can speak about their own experience on their own terms is already an advocate — the rest is amplification.
Your story as evidence Ready 5 modules
Everything else builds on this one. Start here even if you have been organizing for years.
What lived expertise means
The difference between telling your story and being an expert on it.
What you share, what you keep
Deciding your own limits before anyone asks you to cross them.
From experience to argument
Turning what happened to you into a case about what should change.
Hard and hostile questions
What to do when someone asks something extractive, and how to end it.
Knowing what your time is worth
Rates, scope, and how to say no to unpaid asks.
The case for basic income Ready 5 modules
What the movement is asking for, what the pilots showed, and how to answer the pushback.
Guaranteed income and UBI
The same family, different arguments. Where BISC sits.
What the pilots found
Stockton, Magnolia, Compton and others, in plain numbers.
The four objections
Work, cost, jobs instead, and who deserves it. Answers to each.
The federal picture
Where a national basic income would actually come from.
Changing the pitch
The same case for a neighbor, a council member, and a reporter.
How power actually works Ready 4 modules
Who decides what, and where the money already sits.
Who decides what
City, county, state, federal — which one to aim at.
How a bill really moves
Committees, markups, and where things quietly die.
Reading a budget
Enough to find the money and name it out loud.
Mapping your own area
Finding the people who can actually say yes where you live.
Advocacy in practice Ready 4 modules
The specific things you will be asked to do, broken into steps.
Two minutes of public comment
The most common ask, and the one most people are nervous about.
Meeting an elected official
What happens in the room, and what to do with the staffer.
Writing something that gets read
Emails and letters that do not go in the pile.
Building a coalition
Working with people who are not in this movement yet.
Running the union Ready 5 modules
The work of keeping this thing going. Take these when you are ready to take something on.
Facilitating a meeting
Holding time, handling interruptions, making room for quiet people.
Planning an event
Budget, access, logistics, and what always goes wrong.
Notes people actually use
Recording decisions and commitments, not everything said.
Becoming a BISC Buddy
Welcoming new members and staying with them through the first months.
Conflict and repair
What to do when it goes wrong between members.
Getting it out there Ready 4 modules
Reaching people beyond the room, without putting yourself at risk.
Using what comms makes
Graphics and posts ready to share, and how to add your voice.
Making your own
Filming and writing something short that sounds like you.
Talking to press
On the record, off the record, and how to prepare for it.
Staying safe online
Protecting yourself once you are publicly political.
Something missing?
This list came from the onboarding team, not from a curriculum consultant. If there is something you need that is not here, or something here you could teach, tell us — members are building this.
Try this
About the union
Our story
In June of 2025, more than 80 pilot participants came together at the Basic Income Guarantee (BIG) Conference in Washington DC. We took part in a closed session designed by and for pilot participants to share their experiences and talk about their collective power.
From these conversations, in partnership with Income Movement, an Organizing Committee made exclusively of pilot participants came together in September to envision our future. Coming together weekly, we brainstormed what this group most needed, and documented a bit of what we didn't want to experience, too. Pillars evolved during the visioning process, laying the groundwork for our current work and ethos.
Inclusion means everyone. Religion, age, race, gender, economic status — everyone is welcomed here.
Our values
Common questions
Does this cost anything?
No. There are no dues and no fees. Membership is free.
Will joining affect my benefits?
Draft answer — needs review before launch. Joining is free and no money changes hands, so there's nothing to report as income. If you have a question about your own situation, ask your BISC Buddy and we'll help you find someone who can answer it properly.
Do I have to prove I was in a pilot?
No. You tell us your pilot and we take your word for it. You've been asked to prove enough.
What does membership ask of me?
Nothing required. Come to what you can, take on what interests you, step back when life demands it. You stay a member either way.
What's an Active Member?
Draft — pending confirmation from the structures team. Members who take part in three meetings, events, or volunteer tasks within six months become Active Members, which carries binding voting rights in union decisions.
What is a BISC Buddy?
A member who's been around a while and checks in with you over your first months. They answer questions, point you toward work that fits, and make sure you're not navigating a new organization alone.
Who can join right now?
People who took part in a guaranteed income or basic income pilot, current or past. We're starting there and opening wider as the union grows.
Questions before you join?
Ask anything — whether it costs money, whether it affects your benefits, what you'd actually be signing up for. A person answers.