More than 200 Google employees in the United States have formed a workers’ union, the union’s elected leaders wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times on Monday.
The “Alphabet Workers’ Union” aims to ensure that employees work at fair pay, without fear of abuse, retaliation or discrimination, union leaders wrote.
Google is being criticized by the United States labor regulator, who accused the company of illegally questioning several workers who were fired for protesting company policies and trying to organize a union. Google said it was confident it acted legally.
“We are taking advantage of Google’s years of organizational efforts to create a formal structure for workers,” wrote union leaders, adding that so far 226 employees have signed union portfolios with Communications Workers of America.
Chewy Shaw, a Google engineer in the San Francisco Bay Area and vice chairman of the union’s leadership council, told the Times that the union was needed to sustain pressure on management so workers could force change on site issues of work.
“Our goals go beyond the workplace issues of: ‘Are people getting enough?’ Our problems are being much broader, ”he said. “It is a time when the union is the answer to these problems.”
“Our employees have protected labor rights that we support. But, as we always have, we will continue to engage directly with all of our employees, ”said Kara Silverstein, director of personnel operations at Google.