Over 200 employees of Google in the US and its parent company, Alphabet, have come together to form a union, which will be open to all staff members as well as contractors, irrespective of position or hierarchy. Called the ‘Alphabet Workers Union’, this formal body will work to ensure that employees never have to face any abuse, discrimination or retaliation, and always receive fair wages. It will collect dues, pay the organising staff and also have a board of elected directors.
The union leaders reveal that about 226 employees have signed up to be part of the union. It has the support of the Communications Workers of America (CWA). All members will also be members of CODE-CWA Local 1400.
Communications Workers of America has had the back of Google activists since last year, following a complaint with the National Labour Relations Board that accused the technology company of terminating employees for taking collective action.
Google, on the other hand, has maintained that it has always supported workers’ rights and that the employees who complained of injustice were the ones who were penalised for gravely violating Google’s policies and were found to have breached the trust.
This move to unionise is an effort on the part of the employees to ensure that they have a say in the Company’s significant decisions. This unionisation, may also encourage more activism in the Silicon Valley, where this is not very common.
