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#Alphabet Workers Union

cohostunionnews
@cohostunionnews

Youtube Music workers laid off by Google as Austin City Council urges company to bargain with workers

(h/t @DonutRush)

Last year, Youtube Music workers unanimously voted to unionize; beat Google's effort to avoid being recognized as a joint employer, and went on strike to protest Google's refusal to bargain with them. Yesterday, it appears they were laid off as their home city—Austin—was set to urge the company to do so.

The moment was actually caught on camera as several Youtube Music workers spoke in favor of the resolution during the Austin City Council's debate of it.

At least one worker alleges that "as [Youtube Music employees] were leaving the premises- members of HR physically assaulted our coworkers to remove them from the premises as they packed their personal items, leaving bruises and scratch marks."

What will happen next is not clear. Alphabet Workers Union had this to say on the matter:

Today Google informed workers on the YouTube Music team that they would be laid off, hours before a scheduled vote by the Austin City Council on a resolution calling on Google to bargain with these same workers in good faith.

These workers unanimously won their union election in April 2023. In response Google has publicly stated it would not engage in bargaining with them. The NLRB has ruled that Google’s continued refusal to bargain with these workers is unlawful.

The YouTube Music team is based out of Austin. Even as workers contribute to the success of the billion dollar platform, they are paid as little as $19 dollars an hour and receive minimal benefits. Many workers are forced to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.

cohostunionnews
@cohostunionnews

BRIEF: Youtube Music workers of the Alphabet Workers Union are on an unfair labor practice strike today!

There's not much information this as it was just announced around 30 minutes ago, but Google is refusing to come to the bargaining table with Youtube Music despite two NLRB rulings in favor of AWU—so the Youtube Music workers of AWU will be on an unfair labor strike today! Presumably informing the decision is the fact that AWU are currently in the throes of "dealing with a COVID outbreak at the Austin office" with "No PTO, no working from home AND Google [not giving] free COVID tests."

cohostunionnews
@cohostunionnews

Alphabet's appeal fails, NLRB finds them to be joint employer of Youtube Music employees!

Transcript of image
“Today is a historic day for workers across industries. Finally, tens of thousands of vendorized workers will be able to hold major corporations accountable to their obligations towards workers. The NLRB has once again reviewed our substantial evidence proving that Google exercises control, directly and indirectly, over YouTube Music employees, including on things like our everyday work tasks, performance evaluations, benefits, timecards and more. Google attempts to distance themselves from workers like us by assigning sole responsibilities to contracting companies.

This false divide benefits Google and other Alphabet subsidiaries by denying responsibility and culpability to workers, who spend their entire day working exclusively on Google branded products. Tech corporations like Alphabet rely on a split workforce of full time employees and thousands of contract workers who are denied the same quality benefits and pay that full time employees get, even when they are performing the same job. After overwhelmingly winning our union election we are eager to move forward and meet both Google and Cognizant to the bargaining table and secure our first union contract.

— Neil Gossell, Music Generalist and member of the Alphabet Workers Union

Two months ago, Youtube Music workers associated with Alphabet Workers Union voted unanimously to unionize. At the time, their status as Alphabet employees under the law was unclear—they were subcontracted through Cognizant, which Alphabet maintained was their ultimate employer. An NLRB regional director rejected this, but Alphabet was in the process of appealing at the time Youtube Music's workers won.

Now, though, it's settled: Youtube Music workers are employed by Alphabet, and accordingly must bargain with them. An NLRB panel comprised of Chairman Lauren McFerran and members Gwynne A. Wilcox and David M. Prouty found yesterday that:

Google possesses and exercises such substantial direct and immediate control over one or more essential terms or conditions of the petitioned-for employees’ employment as to warrant a finding that Google “meaningfully affects” matters relating to their employment relationship and is therefore their joint-employer under Section 103.40(a).

For the more labor-law inclined, the case number and info here is Case 16–RC–305751. Cognizant Technology Solutions U.S. Corporation and Google LLC, Joint Employers and Alphabet Workers Union—Communications Workers of America, Local 1400. There seem to be four major sticking points as to what makes Alphabet (through Google) the joint employer of Youtube Music's workers. These are, in order, that it: