Statement from Julia Nagatsu Granstrom, Senior Writer and member of the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA

“Last week we received news that 80 of our nearly 120 recently unionized Google Help coworkers would be laid off. 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.

It is absolutely unacceptable that Google and Accenture should choose to layoff workers in the midst of an active union campaign with overwhelming support from workers. Similarly to the failed attempt to fire Google Raters for speaking out about their working conditions, these Google Help layoffs are just another attempt to discourage workers across Alphabet from exercising our right to organize. Unfortunately for Alphabet, this decision just further underscores the fact that the greatest accountability mechanism available to workers is a strong union contract. We look forward to taking every recourse possible to support our impacted members and continue to organize workers at Google Help and beyond.”

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Alphabet Workers Union - CWA unites full-time employees, temporary employees, vendors, and contractors at Google and other Alphabet companies in the United States and Canada in collective action to ensure that our workplace is equitable and that Alphabet acts ethically. We are members of Communications Workers of America Local 9009 and currently represent over 1,400 workers across Alphabet. Learn more at alphabetworkersunion.org or follow us at @AlphabetWorkers.

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