A group of Google engineers and other workers
announced they have formed a union, creating
a rare foothold for the labor movement in the
tech industry.
About 225 employees at Google and its parent
company Alphabet are the first dues-paying
members of the Alphabet Workers Union. They
represent a fraction of Alphabet’s workforce,
far short of the threshold needed to get formal
recognition as a collective bargaining group in
the U.S.
But the new union, which will be affiliated with
the larger Communication Workers of America,
says it will serve as a “structure that ensures
Google workers can actively push for real
changes at the company.” Its members say they
want more of a voice not just on wages, benefits
and protections against discrimination and
harassment but also broader ethical questions
about how Google pursues its business ventures.