First-Ever Google Workers Union Gets Nod from Bernie Sanders
Google (GOOGL) - Get Report made headlines Monday morning when its workers announced the formation of its first ever union.
Parul Koul and Chewy Shaw, the executive chair and the vice chair of the newly formed Alphabet Workers Union, made the announcement in a New York Times Op-ed.
“Our union will work to ensure that workers know what they’re working on, and can do their work at a fair wage, without fear of abuse, retaliation or discrimination,” they said.
More than 200 Alphabet - Google's parent company - employees have become members, where even contractors of Alphabet, are free to join.
Politicians such as Bernie Sanders quickly took to Twitter (TWTR) - Get Report to voice their support to the group.
"I stand in solidarity with Alphabet Workers who are organizing to form a union at Google. What these workers are fighting for is not radical. They want fair wages and a workplace free from abuse, retaliation, intimidation and discrimination. And that is exactly what they deserve," Sanders tweeted.
For the past few years, there have been a few times when the relationship between the company's leadership and its workers turned sour. Lately, in December 2020, a Google AI researcher Timnit Gebru made headlines when she claimed that she was fired for having a critical view of the company.
Seeing the announcement of the union, Gebru also took to Twitter to lend her support.
"Everyone at Alphabet — from bus drivers to programmers, from salespeople to janitors — plays a critical part in developing our technology. But right now, a few wealthy executives define what the company produces and how its workers are treated," she tweeted.
The tech giant, which employees more than 132,000 people, has also responded to its workers' move.
CNN reported that Kara Silverstein, Google’s director of people operations, said that Google “will continue engaging directly with all our employees.”
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