Posts tagged Joint Employer
Google lays off contractors who unionized last month
July 17, 2023 // “Last week we received news that 80 of our nearly 120 recently unionized Google Help coworkers would be laid off,” said Julia Nagatsu Granstrom, Senior Writer and member of the Alphabet Workers Union- CWA. “We had exercised our right to organize as members of the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA in order to bring both Google and Accenture, a Google subcontractor, to the bargaining table to negotiate on several key demands, including layoff protections.” Nagatsu Granstrom describes the layoffs as “absolutely unacceptable,” given the timing of an active union campaign “with overwhelming support from workers.”
Commentary: How Much Longer Will Democrats Support the PRO Act?
June 29, 2023 // When the act was introduced in 2019 and 2021, I voted against it both times. Members should not be fooled by the so-called pro-worker rhetoric that has accompanied the PRO Act. You can be pro-worker without hitching your wagon to a poisonous bill that advances an ideological attack on small business owners. So next time your sink backs up or your chimney needs sweeping, think of the PRO Act and those who are pushing it.
BACKGROUNDER: Employee Rights Act
June 26, 2023 // Sponsored by Rick Allen (R-GA) The Employee Rights Act of 2025 safeguards and strengthens the rights of American workers. It guarantees workers’ right to a secret ballot election, ensures they can work directly with their employer if they opt-out of union membership, protects worker privacy, allows workers to choose to fund union politics or not, provides legal clarity for small business owners and independent contractors, and guarantees fair representation for all American workers.
In Advance of Senate HELP Markup, AFP Leads Coalition Urging Senators to Reject PRO Act
June 21, 2023 // Instead of supporting these bills that prioritize top-down government mandates and the preferences of union leadership over the needs of America’s workers, we call on lawmakers to defend and expand choice and flexibility for workers so that they are best able to address the challenges of and maximize opportunities in the 21st century economy. We strongly urge you to reject the Protecting the Right to Organize Act, the Healthy Families Act, and the Paycheck Fairness Act, and we look forward to working with you to pursue a path forward that puts workers, not special interests, first.
Google Contract Staff That Helped Train AI Seek To Unionize
June 9, 2023 // The group is organizing with the Alphabet Workers Union, and said it has signed up the vast majority of its proposed bargaining unit, which includes about 120 writers, graphic designers and launch coordinators who create internal and external Google content, including all of the materials for Google Help support pages. They’ve also recently helped to review AI-generated content. The workers said they hope to bargain for changes including increased paid time off, control over accepting assignments outside the scope of their usual work and competitive pay that reflects their skill sets. The employees are asking management to voluntarily recognize and negotiate with the union. The workers contend Alphabet is a “joint employer” — a company with enough control over a group of employees to be liable for their treatment and obligated to negotiate if they unionize, even if it doesn’t sign their paychecks.
It’s a Gloomy Outlook for Jobs Under Biden. Here’s the Formula to Change That.
May 19, 2023 // For the sake of personal and societal happiness, for the sake of the financial well-being of American families, for the sake of solving America’s dire fiscal situation, and for the sake of preserving the foundation of American society, policymakers need to recognize the value and rewards of work. By protecting individuals’ rights to pursue the type of work and compensation that is best for them, expanding alternative education and job-training opportunities, and not forcing workers into unions, policymakers can expand opportunities for people to achieve meaningful and rewarding work. Work truly affects every aspect of American life. Our economy, our personal financial and physical well-being, our nation’s fiscal sustainability, and even our national security depend on it.
Push to unionize tech industry makes advances
April 28, 2023 // Organizing efforts are coming for office workers just as many tech companies are shedding staff, potentially giving employees new incentives to consider unions. The union pushes also come at a moment when workers in tech, as in many other fields, are feeling insecure about their future in the face of rapidly developing and increasingly capable AI-powered bots.
Google contractors vote to unionize in historic landslide election
April 27, 2023 // The unionization vote passed 41-0. The National Labor Relations Board representative counting the ballots said 49 workers were eligible to vote. The employees work for the subcontractor Cognizant on content operations for Google’s YouTube Music, resolving bugs and completing other tasks to ensure the streaming service runs smoothly. Google continues to argue that Cognizant is the workers’ sole employer and says the Mountain View-based tech giant should not be forced to negotiate with the workers. Held via mail-in ballot, the election creates a bargaining unit with the Alphabet Workers Union — an organization affiliated with the Communications Workers of America that, until now, has represented only one office of unionized Google workers, a contracted Fiber retail shop in Missouri. Those workers opted to drop Google from their petition.
Why Congress Should Follow Tennessee’s Lead on Labor Reform
April 26, 2023 // And now, federal legislation aims to give them a similar guarantee. The Employee Rights Act, introduced by Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) and Rep. Rick Allen (R-Ga.), envisions secret-ballot elections becoming the norm for almost all private-sector employees, in all states. It also secures workers’ privacy, giving them a choice about what information is shared with a union. For example, instead of workers having all their personal information—their cell phone number, their home address, and personal email—handed over to the union, workers can select a single piece of information to share. The legislation also modernizes outdated labor laws. With more than one-third of Americans now identifying as independent workers, this reform is sorely needed. The Employee Rights Act protects entrepreneurs by standardizing the federal definition of independent workers. This safeguards workers from being treated as employees for the purpose of unionization.
Employee Rights Act Is Back
April 25, 2023 //