A recent vote could usher in a new era of Google labor relations. In Texas, a group of YouTube contractors has officially decided to form a union, through which they plan to collectively bargain with the video platform’s parent company.
According to Bloomberg, roughly 41 of 50 eligible employees voted to organize. None of the contractors voted against the union. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) could formally certify the bargaining body as soon as next week.
The workers wish to negotiate with Google holding company Alphabet in order to challenge their status as contractors. Though they were hired through staffing firm Cognizant, the laborers work on Alphabet platforms like YouTube Music. They staged a walkout earlier this year in an attempt to improve Alphabet’s remote work policy.
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The NLRB gave the unionization effort a big win last month when it decreed that “Google exercises direct and immediate control over benefits, hours of work, supervision, and direction of work” for the affected staffers. Google and Cognizant disagreed with the ruling, arguing that Cognizant should be responsible for the working conditions of its contractors.
One vote later, the disgruntled laborers are set to join the Alphabet Workers Union, which is affiliated with Communications Workers of America. Despite that decision, it could be years before Alphabet concedes to collective bargaining with its contractors. Bloomberg noted that officials in Mountain View could follow the example set by corporations like Starbucks and Amazon, which have vowed to appeal unionization efforts led by their respective employees.
Even if Alphabet ties up its Workers Union in court, the recent vote suggests that Google and YouTube’s hiring practices may need to change. In 2019, a New York Times report described Alphabet’s temps and contractors as a “shadow work force” that “outnumbers” the corporation’s full-time employees. If the NLRB’s decision holds up, that workforce could become eligible for the same benefits afforded to their counterparts.
