We're forming a union!

We'd known each other for almost ten years through community and worker organizing spaces - marching in protests together, collaborating in planning meetings and on email threads - before we ever went on a date or even looked at each other in *that way.* It took two intense organizing campaigns to bring us together for good. In the early days of the pandemic, we worked side by side organizing Amazon workers who were fighting for better working conditions, and we became each other's confidants through the many highs and lows - from staging walkouts across the country to managing a then-unknown assistant manager named Chris Smalls. In each other, we found the same sense of humor and drive to win. Within months, we'd started going on our first dates - the first one a two hour-long bike ride to Brighton Beach, where Asya introduced Zack to Central Asian hot buffets and Zack got Asya to stretch her biking limits. While we were still casually dating then, things took a turn the next spring when we both landed on a campaign to win a fund for workers who had been excluded from any financial support during the pandemic. Zack helped lead organizing on the campaign, while Asya led press strategy. Together, we made a great team, pushing each other to be more thoughtful, driven, and creative. We began to get closer as the campaign stretched on and grew more intense, including a 23-day hunger strike, and by the time the campaign ended in early April, we were both smitten. (Zack still says April 2021 is our official anniversary.) The rest is history. We've continued to push each other to go outside of our comfort zones, whether it's a week-long biking trip through Croatia or a 10-hour hike up a snow-covered mountain. We're so excited to be able to celebrate in the park that helped bring us together as a couple, where we did bike and picnic dates in the early days and where we still bike together now. We can't wait to celebrate with all the people we love, to build community, and most importantly, to dance until the early hours!