The union represents a small minority of the company’s 260,000 employees and outsourced workforce. However, unlike traditional unions, the new group will not only negotiate contracts, but will defend a fairer work environment. “Our union will work to ensure that workers know what they are working on and can do their job for a fair wage, without fear of abuse, retaliation or discrimination,” wrote Koul and Shaw.
The Alphabet Workers Union “will be open to all Alphabet workers, regardless of rank, ”they said, adding that half of Google’s workers are temporary workers, suppliers and contractors who generally receive lower wages, less benefits and less stability. “They are also more likely to be black or brown – a segregated employment system that keeps half of the company’s workforce in second-class jobs. Our union will seek to undo this serious inequality ”, says the group.
When Google went public in 2004, he said it would be a company that “would do good things for the world, even if we give up some short-term gains.” His motto used to be “Don’t be bad”.
Silicon Valley companies like Google and Uber have resisted unionizing the tech industry, saying they prefer to deal with employees individually. Google was accused by several former employees of retaliation for union activities, while the company said they violated data security policies. Last month, the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) accused Google of illegally firing two workers who participated in union organization activities.
The new union noted that the organization of Google employees has brought about changes in the past. Google abandoned its plans for the Project Maven AI Pentagon program and censored the Chinese search engine Project Dragonfly after employees left. More recently, the company faced problems with the dismissal of ethical artificial intelligence researcher Timnit Gebru. This caused a backlash among officials and a demand for change, along with pressure from lawmakers to resolve the situation.
In response to the news, Google’s director of personnel operations, Kara Silverstein, gave the following statement to NYT: “We always work hard to create a work environment that supports and rewards our workforce. Of course, our employees have protected the labor rights we support. But, as we have always done, we will continue to engage directly with all of our employees ”.