Thanks to a recent ruling by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), Alphabet may be compelled to collectively bargain with U.S. employees for the first time in its history. The parent company of Google and YouTube plans to appeal a decision that granted bargaining rights to a group of YouTube Music employees who are looking to join the Alphabet Workers Union.
The NLRB decision concerned a group of YouTube contractors who were hired by employment firm Cognizant. Those employees staged a walkout a month ago to lobby for a more permissive remote work policy. They hoped to join the Alphabet Workers Union, which was established in 2021 as an unofficial bargaining unit within Google.
Alphabet argued that Cognizant should be responsible for the working conditions of the aggrieved contractors, but the NLRB disagreed. “Google exercises direct and immediate control over benefits, hours of work, supervision and direction of work,” said an NLRB regional director in a statement.
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Both Alphabet and Cognizant have challenged the ruling, which will be appealed. “We are confident the facts and law clearly support our position,” said Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini. “We simply don’t control these workers’ employment terms or working conditions.”
The contractors will now join forces with the Alphabet Workers Union, which is part of the Communication Workers of America. The union has won some victories for its members, though it hasn’t yet achieved official recognition. A unionization vote is expected in the future, though there’s no indiciation of when that might occur.
According to Fortune, if the Alphabet Workers Union does pass its vote, Google will collectively bargain with U.S. employees for the first time ever. The widespread push for improved workers rights seems to have made its way to Mountain View, and that’s good news for people who use Google’s platforms on a professional basis.
Some execs have suggested that content creators need their own union, though it’s not clear who exactly that group would be bargain with. In the meantime, Google will have its hands full with its own group of labor organizers, even if the NLRB accepts the tech giant’s appeal.
