About 200 Google employees have announced plans to unionize with the Communications Workers of America (CWA). The elected leaders of the new Alphabet Workers Union said that it is open to all employees and contractors of the parent company.
“This union builds upon years of courageous organizing by Google workers,” said Nicki Anselmo, a Google program manager. “From fighting the ‘real names’ policy, to opposing Project Maven, to protesting the egregious, multi-million dollar payouts that have been given to executives who’ve committed sexual harassment, we’ve seen first-hand that Alphabet responds when we act collectively.”
The US labor regulator accused Google of unlawfully interrogating its employees and later terminating them for their stand against the company’s policies. Google maintains that it was confident it acted legally.
Read: Google Parent Company Alphabet’s Revenue Drops For The First Time Due To Covid-19
“Our employees have protected labor rights that we support. But as we’ve always done, we’ll continue engaging directly with all our employees,” Kara Silverstein, director of people operations at Google, said on Monday.
According to the leaders, the union aims to ensure that employees “work at a fair wage, without fear of abuse, retaliation or discrimination”
The union comes after the sensational firing of Timnit Gebru, a prominent AI ethicist in December.
“The firing has caused outrage from thousands of us, including Black and Brown workers who are heartbroken by the company’s actions and unsure of their future at Google.” the union leaders said.
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