Google workers from around the world are joining forces to create a global union alliance.
The new union, ‘Alpha Global,’ was formed in partnership with UNI Global Union, which represents 20 million workers across the globe.
The alliance is made up of unions in 10 countries, including United States, Germany, Switzerland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
A joint statement announcing the alliance said:“[Google] is a place where many workers came to change the world—to make it more democratic—only to find Google suppressing speech and cracking down on worker organizing while consolidating monopolistic power.”
The unions of Alpha Global aim to create a common strategy to support each other’s demands and collective goals, work together to build local organisations that reflect the values of employees, fight for the rights of direct Alphabet employees as well as temporary, vendor, and contract workers, and call on other trade unions to support the movement for Alphabet and all tech workers.
The alliance said that Alphabet had failed to stick to its motto “don’t be evil.”
The move comes a few weeks after more than 200 Google and other Alphabet Inc employees in the US and Canada established a labour union to address working conditions.
The creation of the “Alphabet Workers Union” represented a continuation of years of protests by employees about the conglomerate’s alleged poor business practices.
Because there were only 200 members, Google-owner Alphabet was within legal rights to deny or ignore any demands the union made.
But with the new alliance spanning 10 countries, it’s likely the BigTech will now be forced to pay attention to employee concerns and demands.
The UNI’s Amazon Global Union Alliance has successfully spearheaded international actions around common demands.
Alliances at ICTS companies like Orange and Telefonica have also helped establish and enforce global principles—like respect for labour rights.
“The problems at Alphabet—and created by Alphabet—are not limited to any one country, and must be addressed on a global level,” said Christy Hoffman, UNI’s general secretary. “The movement launched by tech workers at Google and beyond is inspiring. They are using their collective muscle to not only transform their conditions of employment but also to address social issues caused by increasing concentration of corporate power.”
National Technology News has reached out to Google for comment.








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