Google Help workers claim layoffs are retaliation for unionising

Google Help workers file Unfair Labor Practice charge against Google and Accenture over alleged “retaliatory layoffs”, which they claim was a response to their recent unionisation efforts.

In early June 2023, a group of 130 workers – mostly composed of writers, graphic designers and other content creators who produce both internal and external material for the search giant, including its Google Help support pages – filed for a union election with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

The Alphabet Workers Union-Communications Workers of America (AWU-CWA) said that, by June 8, 70% of the 118 union-eligible workers had signed authorisation cards indicating their desire to have a union collectively bargain on their behalf.

While Accenture acts as a subcontractor for Google, the union said that because both firms play a “direct role” in shaping work conditions, both have been listed as joint employers by the unionising workers.

“Because they answer to both Accenture and Google, workers lack job security and clarity around their current and future responsibilities,” said the AWU-CWA at the time. “To avoid similar discrepancies in the future, workers have listed both Google and Accenture as joint employers in their election filing with the National Labor Relations Board.”

However, just under a month later on 6 July – the same week workers were attending an NLRB hearing over their claim of being jointly employed by Google and Accenture – the companies announced they would be laying off around two-thirds of the recently unionsed workers, reducing the number of people from 130 to around 40.

“When my coworkers and I announced our union with overwhelming support, Google and Accenture management refused to acknowledge us. A few short weeks later they announced their response that they would be laying off dozens of employees,” said Anjail Muhammad, who works as a general writer at Accenture and Google.

“These jobs aren’t going away though, we’re just being asked to train our replacements abroad…We will continue to organise and exercise our legal right to a protected voice on the job.”

Tahlia Kirk, a general writer at Accenture and Google and AWU-CWA member, added: “The timing is suspicious and shows a clear disregard for the organising rights of workers.”

The first batch of layoffs began on August 7, and will continue on a rolling basis until the end of the year.

“Google and Accenture's decision to terminate over 70% of the bargaining unit was (1) in retaliation to the employees’ decision to organise a union; (2) in retaliation to the employee’s decision to file a petition for an election with the NLRB; (3) and in an attempt to interfere with, restrain, or coerce employees’ exercise of their right to join or form a union,” said a copy of NLRB form seen by Computer Weekly, which was officially filed 7 August.

While a decision over whether workers are jointly employed by the two firms is pending from the NLRB, the AWU-CWA allege that, during the initial hearing in July, Google claimed the decision to layoff workers was made well in advance of the announced unionisation effort. However, they added it was unable to present documented evidence to support this point.

“It’s interesting that Google claims they’ve got no responsibility to us as workers, even though we spend everyday working on Google products, under conditions set by the company. Google has also claimed that the decision to layoff workers was made before we announced our union – yet, in our recent joint employer hearing, they couldn’t cite any documentation to prove this point,” said Kirk.

“Despite their efforts, our union remains strong and we’re confident that we’d win an election no matter what, but we’d prefer if all our coworkers had a chance to have their voices heard. We cannot force Google and Accenture to follow basic labor law, but we can and will continue to organise.”

Key demands of the workers attempting to unionise include increased paid time off, competitive pay to appropriately reflect the highly skilled nature of their work, and assurance that team members will not be randomly assigned to projects outside the scope of their workflows.

If their unionisation is ultimately successful, the AWU-CWA said these workers will become the union’s third largest bargaining unit.