Google employees in the United States of America have established a worker’s unions, in an effort to fight for equal rights. Alphabet Workers union would be open to all employees and contractors at any Alphabet concern (120,000 people in all]). The newly formed union added that it wanted an end to “unfair disparities” between casual employees and benefits paid to full-time staff.
Leaders of the union recently went public saying they wanted a workplace “without fear of abuse, retaliation or discrimination” and accused Google of abandoning its founding “don’t be evil” ethics in current artificial intelligence (AI) projects.
“A few wealthy executives define what the company produces and how its workers are treated. This isn’t the company we want to work for,” wrote Parul Koul, Union Chairperson and Chewy Shaw, Vice Chairperson in their New York Times opinion piece.
Google’s Director of People Operations, Kara Silverstein responded to the accusations: “We’ve always worked hard to create a supportive and rewarding workplace for our workforce. Google would continue “engaging directly with all our employees,” she said.
Darrell West, Governance Studies Director at the Brookings Institution in Washington and prize-winning author of books on AI and the future of work said the formation of the new union, which will be affiliated with the Communication Workers of America, was part of a “growing techlash” against very wealthy tech giants.
“This unionization drive differs from the past ones from the industrial era in focusing not just on pay and benefits, but the broader role of technology in society,” noted West.
Union leaders Koul and Shaw, both software engineers, accused Alphabet executives of dismissing workplace concerns. In 2018, thousands of workers protested worldwide over the company’s handling of allegations of sexual harassment. Executives accused of sexual misconduct toward co-workers that year had reportedly left with exit packages worth “tens of millions of dollars,” they recalled.
“Our bosses have collaborated with repressive governments around the world. They have developed artificial intelligence technology for use by the US Department of Defense and profited from ads by a hate group. They have failed to make the changes necessary to meaningfully address our retention issues with people of colour,” wrote Koul and Shaw.
They cited the dismissal in early December of a Black artificial intelligence ethics researcher, Timnit Gebru, in a dispute over the societal dangers of AI and her questioning the giant’s record on diversity.
More than 1,200 Google employees signed an open letter calling her ouster “unprecedented research censorship” and faulting the company over racism, reported news agency AFP. To win recognition by Alphabet via its diverse structure, the new union would need at least 30% membership support, said Arthur Wheaton, Labor Relations Specialist at Cornell University.
“Union organizing drives take a long time with no guarantees of success. US labour law is not very good for workers’ rights. It’s heavily tilted in management’s favour,” said Wheaton.
