Pamela Cruz. Peninsula 360 Press [P360P].
About 225 engineers from Google, as well as from other companies belonging to the parent company Alphabet, announced this Monday the formation of a union, which will be a support point to generate a change in the structure of the company.
According to Parul Koul, executive president of the Alphabet Workers Union, and Chewy Shaw, vice president of the union, "at Google and other subsidiaries of Alphabet, Google's parent company, we have had our concerns about the workplace, which are dismissed by management.
In a letter published in the New York Times, they mention as background the past November 1, 2018, when employees stopped working and left their posts in some cities around the world, to demonstrate for inappropriate behavior in the company.
The company paid tens of millions of dollars to two executives who had been accused of sexual misconduct towards workers, keeping silent about the alleged abuse and letting them go without any consequences for their actions.
They also indicated that the company has used workers' knowledge to collaborate with "repressive governments around the world. They have developed artificial intelligence technology for use by the Department of Defense," to mention just a few problems.
"For those who are skeptical of unions or believe that technology companies are more innovative without unions, we want to point out that these and other more important problems persist," as discrimination and harassment continue.
The union leaders mentioned that "Alphabet continues to crack down on those who dare to speak out and prevent workers from bringing up sensitive issues of public importance," and every time they organize to demand change, the executives only make symbolic promises to them.
As a result, 226 employees signed union cards with the Communications Workers of America, which represents the first step in winning a bargaining unit recognized under U.S. law. "In other words, we are forming a union."
According to Koul and Shaw, they have created an elected leadership and representative structure with dues-paying members, so the union will be open to all Alphabet workers, regardless of their classification.
That's because half of Google's workers are temps, suppliers or contractors, so they are paid lower wages, receive fewer benefits or have little stability compared to full-time employees, even though they often do exactly the same work.
Thus, this new union seeks to undo this serious inequity and "will work to ensure that workers know what they are working on and can do their jobs for a fair wage, without fear of abuse, reprisal or discrimination.
