Independent
Built from the inside
Union IQ exists because union offices deserve software made by someone who did the work it replaces.
- Started
- 2025
- Based
- Alberta, Canada
- No investors
- Self-funded
- With a small number of unions
- Beta
The problem I saw
Most union offices still hold their work together by hand. Records live in a dozen places, an expense claim waits on someone’s desk for a signature, and finding what the agreement actually says about seniority means reading it clause by clause. Every hour spent chasing that paperwork is an hour taken from the members the office exists to serve.
I spent years inside a union’s operations watching good people work around bad tools. Union IQ started as the tool I wished we had. It became a platform when other unions asked for it too.
What I believe
- Built with unions, not just for them. Every module started as something a union office actually needed, and the people doing that work shape what gets built next.
- The core platform is free. Unions are at their strongest when every resource they have can go toward being a voice for their members. Premium modules are priced per staff seat; the platform itself costs nothing.
- Independent. No investors. Nobody pushes me to raise prices, sell the company, or ship things unions did not ask for.
- Your data is yours. You upload it, you control who sees it, and you can take it with you.
Who’s behind it
I’m Chad Horchuk, and I built Union IQ from Alberta, Canada, after more than fourteen years working inside unions. I still set the roadmap with the unions on the platform, and when you write to support, the person who built the feature is the one who replies.
Built to last
The fair question to ask any small vendor is what happens if they go away. Here is my answer.
- Your data is stored and processed in Canada. The database, every file you upload and the servers that handle your requests are all in Canada, and your data is never used for anything but running your organization’s Union IQ. The privacy policy states exactly where each part of the platform runs, down to email delivery.
- Everything comes back out. What you put in is exported in standard formats on request. There is no proprietary container to be trapped in.
- Leaving is one switch. Terms are monthly. Switch a module off at the end of any month and the bill stops with it.
- No surprises. Nothing changes for an existing customer without 60 days of written notice.
- Open foundations. Union IQ runs on open-source PostgreSQL and standard web infrastructure, not on anything only I know how to operate.
Union IQ is in beta. The unions that join now shape what gets built and keep their beta rate for 12 months after the beta ends.