More than 200 Google employees in the United States have formed a workers’ union, the union’s elected leaders wrote in a New York Times opinion piece Monday.
The “Alphabet Workers Union” aims to ensure that workers work at a fair wage, without fear of abuse, retaliation or discrimination, the union leaders wrote.
Google is under fire from the U.S. labor regulator, who accused the company of illegally questioning several workers who were then fired because they protested against company policy and wanted to organize a union. Google has said it is confident it will act lawfully.
“We are building on years of efforts at Google to create a formal structure for workers,” the union leaders wrote, adding that so far 226 workers have signed unions with the Communications Workers of America.
Chewy Shaw, an engineer at Google in the San Francisco Bay Area and vice president of the union’s leadership board, told the Times that the union needed to maintain pressure on management so workers could force changes in the workplace.
“Our goals go beyond the questions in the workplace: ‘Are people paid enough?’ “Our issues go much further,” he said. “This is a time when a union is an answer to these problems.”
“Our employees have protected labor rights that support us. But as we have always done, we will continue to engage directly with all of our employees, ”said Kara Silverstein, Director of Human Resources at Google.