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| Google moves jobs to Poland in retaliation for contractors |
A Google entrepreneur who recently joined the union said the process of moving business to Poland has been slow and thoughtful.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) filed a lawsuit highlighting allegations against HCL America, a US IT services and solutions company that works with Google contractors.
The complaint stated: Jobs were outsourced to report union activities under mixed law and to discourage employees from engaging in such activities.
The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) specifically stated: The reason for this behavior is that employees joined the union, supported the union, and participated in coordinated activities.
No regular Google employees are among the affected employees specializing in technical and IT tasks for HCL America.
In 2019, 80 Google entrepreneurs working for HCL America voted to join the union in Pittsburgh, a big win for American technicians.
According to the complaint, the company was unable to negotiate with the newly formed union, make unilateral changes, and transfer the work previously done by the team to Polish workers, in violation of US labor law.
Contract workers are a critical part of Google employees' business. For example, a general memo said that full-time seconded workers in March called for better treatment than contract workers.
The number of temporary workers, suppliers, and contractors exceeds the number of full-time Google employees, who typically get lower wages and less job security.
In May this year, Google abruptly canceled more than 2,000 contracts on the grounds that the global pandemic had led to cost-cutting measures.
Since workers have not signed a contract yet, these measures are not considered legal dismissal and therefore workers are not entitled to unemployment insurance.
The National Labor Relations Act 1935 prohibits employers from retaliating against workers who engage in union activities, and requires employers and unions to negotiate changes in trade union policies and positions.
The complaint alleged that HCL America's management had signed a contract with Google to interview employees about union activity and had told employees that the union would delay awarding promotions and promotions.