Google and Accenture, who operate a joint business venture, are facing allegations of violating federal labor laws in the United States, as reported by Bloomberg.
The Alphabet Workers Union lodged a complaint with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board on August 3, asserting that Alphabet Inc. acted in contravention of the law that prohibits retaliation against employees for organizing.
The union alleges that Alphabet terminated the contract employment of a significant number of Google Help workers who were in the process of unionizing.
This affected over 70% of the “proposed bargaining unit,” which included 118 writers, graphic designers, and launch coordinators responsible for generating content for Google both internally and externally.
Notably, workers handling Google search engine optimization and AI chatbot responsibilities were employed through Accenture.
One affected worker, Anjail Muhammad, a writer with Accenture, described the job loss as “retaliatory.”
The timing of these job cuts raised suspicions, prompting the union to file an unfair labor practice charge against Google and Accenture. The union aims to hold the companies accountable for their actions.
In response, Google maintained that organizing matters were solely between the workers and their employer, Accenture, adding that it did not control the terms and conditions of their employment.
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Despite the complaint, Google stood by its previous statement and reiterated that the changes in employment contracts were driven by cost-saving measures and efforts to improve efficiency.
Earlier in the year, on January 20, Google had reportedly laid off 12,000 employees. It’s worth noting that several tech and crypto companies also conducted large-scale layoffs around the same time.
In April, Google underwent restructuring within its AI research and development unit, Deepmind.
Furthermore, Google has been embroiled in legal disputes, including a class-action lawsuit filed on July 12 concerning its recently introduced AI data scraping privacy policy.
The allegations from the Alphabet Workers Union highlight the growing concerns about labor practices within major technology companies.
As the case progresses, it may prompt further scrutiny of Google and Accenture’s business practices in relation to their employees’ rights and organizing activities.
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