{"id":17090,"date":"2021-01-05T11:43:00","date_gmt":"2021-01-05T19:43:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=17090"},"modified":"2021-01-05T11:43:03","modified_gmt":"2021-01-05T19:43:03","slug":"hundreds-of-google-employees-unionize-culminating-years-of-activism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/01\/05\/hundreds-of-google-employees-unionize-culminating-years-of-activism\/","title":{"rendered":"Hundreds of Google Employees Unionize, Culminating Years of Activism"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>The creation of the union, a rarity in Silicon Valley, follows years of increasing outspokenness by Google workers. Executives have struggled to handle the change.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/01\/04\/business\/04googleunion1\/merlin_181893858_e7c90826-db94-4aee-a812-297f9d231f1d-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"Chewy Shaw, an engineer at Google, at a video meeting with other workers. He said a union would keep pressure on management.\"\/><figcaption>Chewy Shaw, an engineer at Google, at a video meeting with other workers. He said a union would keep pressure on management.Credit&#8230;Damien Maloney for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>By&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/by\/kate-conger\">Kate Conger<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>Jan. 4, 2021 (NYTimes.com)<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>OAKLAND, Calif. \u2014 More than 400 Google engineers and other workers have formed a union, the group revealed on Monday, capping&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/02\/18\/magazine\/google-revolt.html\">years of growing activism<\/a>&nbsp;at one of the world\u2019s largest companies and presenting a rare beachhead for labor organizers in staunchly anti-union Silicon Valley.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The union\u2019s creation is highly unusual for the tech industry, which has long resisted efforts to organize its largely white-collar work force. It follows increasing demands by employees at Google for policy overhauls on pay, harassment and ethics, and is likely to escalate tensions with top leadership.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new union, called the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/alphabetworkersunion.org\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Alphabet Workers Union<\/a>&nbsp;after Google\u2019s parent company, Alphabet, was organized in secret for the better part of a year and elected its leadership last month. The group is affiliated with the Communications Workers of America, a union that represents workers in telecommunications and media in the United States and Canada.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But unlike a traditional union, which demands that an employer come to the bargaining table to agree on a contract, the Alphabet Workers Union is a so-called minority union that represents a fraction of the company\u2019s more than&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/05\/28\/technology\/google-temp-workers.html\">260,000 full-time employees and contractors<\/a>. Workers said it was primarily&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2021\/01\/04\/opinion\/google-union.html\">an effort to give structure and longevity to activism at Google<\/a>, rather than to negotiate for a contract.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Chewy Shaw, an engineer at Google in the San Francisco Bay Area and the vice chair of the union\u2019s leadership council, said the union was a necessary tool to sustain pressure on management so that workers could force changes on workplace issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cOur goals go beyond the workplace questions of \u2018Are people getting paid enough?\u2019 Our issues are going much broader,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is a time where a union is an answer to these problems.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In response, Kara Silverstein, Google\u2019s director of people operations, said: \u201cWe\u2019ve always worked hard to create a supportive and rewarding workplace for our work force. Of course, our employees have protected labor rights that we support. But as we\u2019ve always done, we\u2019ll continue engaging directly with all our employees.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new union is the clearest sign of how thoroughly employee activism has swept through Silicon Valley over the past few years. While software engineers and other tech workers largely kept quiet in the past on societal and political issues, employees at Amazon, Salesforce, Pinterest and others have become more vocal on matters like diversity, pay discrimination and sexual harassment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/01\/05\/business\/04JPgoogleunion2-print\/merlin_181893660_13611588-844a-4db8-9ccd-e35e990a8b98-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"&ldquo;Our goals go beyond the workplace questions of &lsquo;Are people getting paid enough?&rsquo;&rdquo; Mr. Shaw said.\"\/><figcaption>\u201cOur goals go beyond the workplace questions of \u2018Are people getting paid enough?\u2019\u201d Mr. Shaw said.Credit&#8230;Damien Maloney for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/01\/04\/business\/04googleunion6\/merlin_180772287_0eab29d5-2dd6-42ff-8aa6-6207878c0c82-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"Timnit Gebru, an artificial intelligence researcher, said Google had fired her after she criticized biases in A.I. systems.\"\/><figcaption>Timnit Gebru, an artificial intelligence researcher, said Google had fired her after she criticized biases in A.I. systems.Credit&#8230;Cody O&#8217;Loughlin for The New York Times<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Nowhere have those voices been louder than at Google. In 2018, more than 20,000 employees staged a walkout to protest how the company handled&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/11\/01\/technology\/google-walkout-sexual-harassment.html\">sexual harassment<\/a>. Others have opposed business decisions that they deemed unethical, such as&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/06\/01\/technology\/google-pentagon-project-maven.html\">developing artificial intelligence<\/a>&nbsp;for the Defense Department and&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/interactive\/2020\/02\/18\/magazine\/google-revolt.html\">providing technology<\/a>&nbsp;to Customs and Border Protection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even so, unions have not gained traction in Silicon Valley. Many tech workers shunned them, arguing that labor groups were focused on issues like wages \u2014 not a top concern in the high-earning industry \u2014 and were not equipped to address their concerns about ethics and the role of technology in society. Labor organizers also found it difficult to corral the tech companies\u2019 huge work forces, which are scattered around the globe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Only a few small union drives have succeeded in tech in the past. Workers at the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/02\/18\/technology\/kickstarter-union.html\">crowdfunding site Kickstarter<\/a>&nbsp;and at the app development platform&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/cwa-union.org\/news\/releases\/tech-workers-app-developer-glitch-vote-form-union-and-join-cwa-organizing-initiative\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">Glitch<\/a>&nbsp;won union campaigns last year, and a small&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.theverge.com\/2019\/9\/24\/20882206\/google-tech-contractors-union-vote-pittsburgh-united-steelworkers\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">group of contractors<\/a>&nbsp;at a Google office in Pittsburgh unionized in 2019. Thousands of employees at an&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/12\/22\/business\/amazon-union-vote-bessemer-alabama.html\">Amazon warehouse in Alabama<\/a>&nbsp;are also set to vote on a union in the coming months.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere are those who would want you to believe that organizing in the tech industry is completely impossible,\u201d Sara Steffens, C.W.A.\u2019s secretary-treasurer, said of the new Google union. \u201cIf you don\u2019t have unions in the tech industry, what does that mean for our country? That\u2019s one reason, from C.W.A.\u2019s point of view, that we see this as a priority.\u201dBusiness &amp; Economy<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Veena Dubal, a law professor at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, said the Google union was a \u201cpowerful experiment\u201d because it brought unionization into a major tech company and skirted barriers that had prevented such organizing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cIf it grows \u2014 which Google will do everything they can to prevent \u2014 it could have huge impacts not just for the workers but for the broader issues that we are all thinking about in terms of tech power in society,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The union is likely to ratchet up tensions between Google engineers, who work on autonomous cars, artificial intelligence and internet search, and the company\u2019s management. Sundar Pichai, Google\u2019s chief executive, and other executives have tried to come to grips with an increasingly activist work force \u2014 but have made missteps.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last month,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/12\/02\/technology\/google-nlrb-fired-workers.html\">federal officials said&nbsp;<\/a>Google had most likely wrongly fired two employees who protested its work with immigration authorities in 2019. Timnit Gebru, a Black woman who is a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2020\/12\/03\/technology\/google-researcher-timnit-gebru.html\">respected artificial intelligence researcher,&nbsp;<\/a>also said last month that Google had fired her after she criticized the company\u2019s approach to minority hiring and the biases built into A.I. systems. Her departure set off a storm of criticism about Google\u2019s treatment of minority employees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThese companies find it a bone in their throat to even have a small group of people who say, \u2018We work at Google and have another point of view,\u2019\u201d said Nelson Lichtenstein, the director of the Center for the Study of Work, Labor and Democracy at the University of California, Santa Barbara. \u201cGoogle might well succeed in decimating any organization that comes to the floor.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Alphabet Workers Union, which represents employees in Silicon Valley and cities like Cambridge, Mass., and Seattle, gives protection and resources to workers who join. Those who opt to become members will contribute 1 percent of their total compensation to the union to fund its efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Over the past year, the C.W.A. has pushed to unionize white-collar tech workers. (The NewsGuild, a union that represents New York Times employees, is part of the C.W.A.) The drive focused initially on employees at&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.wired.com\/story\/big-union-make-videogame-workers-lives-sane\/\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" target=\"_blank\">video game companies<\/a>, who often work grueling hours and face layoffs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In late 2019, C.W.A. organizers began meeting with Google employees to discuss a union drive, workers who attended the meetings said. Some employees were receptive and signed cards to officially join the union last summer. In December, the Alphabet Workers Union held elections to select a seven-person executive council.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But several Google employees who had previously organized petitions and protests at the company objected to the C.W.A.\u2019s overtures. They said they had declined to join because they worried that the effort had sidelined experienced organizers and played down the risks of organizing as it recruited members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2021\/01\/04\/business\/04googleunion3\/merlin_146566200_d3915e7f-f97f-4068-88f1-9dd99f0d7e99-articleLarge.jpg?quality=75&amp;auto=webp&amp;disable=upscale\" alt=\"Google employees staged a walkout in 2018 to protest how the company handled sexual harassment.\"\/><figcaption>Google employees staged a walkout in 2018 to protest how the company handled sexual harassment.Credit&#8230;Bebeto Matthews\/Associated Press<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Amr Gaber, a Google software engineer who helped organize&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2018\/11\/01\/technology\/google-walkout-sexual-harassment.html\">the 2018 walkout<\/a>, said C.W.A. officials were dismissive of other labor groups that had supported Google workers during a December 2019 phone call with him and others.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThey are more concerned about claiming turf than the needs of the workers who were on the phone call,\u201d Mr. Gaber said. \u201cAs a long-term labor organizer and brown man, that\u2019s not the type of union I want to build.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The C.W.A. said it had been selected by Google workers to help organize the union and had not elbowed its way in. \u201cIt\u2019s really the workers who chose,\u201d Ms. Steffens of C.W.A. said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Traditional unions typically enroll a majority of a work force and petition a state or federal labor board like the National Labor Relations Board to hold an election. If they win the vote, they can bargain with their employer on a contract. A minority union allows employees to organize without first winning a formal vote before the N.L.R.B.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The C.W.A. has used this model to organize groups in states where it said labor laws were unfavorable, like the Texas State Employees Union and the United Campus Workers in Tennessee.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The structure also gives the union the latitude to include Google contractors, who&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/05\/28\/technology\/google-temp-workers.html\">outnumber full-time workers<\/a>&nbsp;and who would be excluded from a traditional union. Some Google employees have considered establishing a minority or&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2019\/10\/10\/business\/economy\/labor-book.html\">solidarity union<\/a>&nbsp;for several years, and ride-hailing drivers have formed similar groups.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Although they will not be able to negotiate a contract, the Alphabet Workers Union can use other tactics to pressure Google into changing its policies, labor experts said. Minority unions often turn to public pressure campaigns and lobby legislative or regulatory bodies to influence employers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cWe\u2019re going to use every tool that we can to use our collective action to protect people who we think are being discriminated against or retaliated against,\u201d Mr. Shaw said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Members cited the recent N.L.R.B. finding on the firing of two employees and the exit of Dr. Gebru, the prominent researcher, as reasons to broaden its membership and publicly step up its efforts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cGoogle is making it all the more clear why we need this now,\u201d said Auni Ahsan, a software engineer at Google and an at-large member of the union\u2019s executive council. \u201cSometimes the boss is the best organizer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><a href=\"https:\/\/help.nytimes.com\/hc\/en-us\/articles\/115014792127-Copyright-notice\">\u00a9&nbsp;2021&nbsp;The New York Times Company<\/a><\/li><\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The creation of the union, a rarity in Silicon Valley, follows years of increasing outspokenness by Google workers. Executives have struggled to handle the change. By&nbsp;Kate Conger Jan. 4, 2021 (NYTimes.com) OAKLAND, Calif. \u2014 More than 400 Google engineers and other workers have formed a union, the group revealed on&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2021\/01\/05\/hundreds-of-google-employees-unionize-culminating-years-of-activism\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17090"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=17090"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17090\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17091,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17090\/revisions\/17091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=17090"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=17090"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=17090"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}