226 employees of Google’s parent company Alphabet said they have formed the Alphabet Workers Union, a labor union. The union was built in line with an unprecedented extension of the recent protests at Google that aim to ensure that employees work at fair wages without fear of harassment, retaliation and discrimination.
Many of the large Internet technology companies do not have or do not have unions, but at least only do so. Even within Google, each employee who protested the issue of sexual harassment by executives or the issue of cooperation with the US military in a form contrary to policy had to voice their own opposition.
The union formed at Google, unlike other unions, does not aim to engage in collective bargaining with the alphabet over wages and working conditions. Prior to this, it can be said that the purpose of a stronger organization is to enable effective future protest activities.
Union representatives say they expect workers to have a meaningful voice in decisions that affect the society in which we live. The union statement states that members are free to deny efforts to projects that do not match their values and are open to all alphabetical staff. The union also added that half of Google’s workers are temporary workers, vendors, and contractors with low wages and low stability.
Regarding the formation of the union, Google and its employees expressed their intention not to accept negotiations through the union, saying that although the workers’ rights supported by the company are being protected, they will continue direct relationships with all employees as before. Related information can be found here .