 |
| Google employees form a global union federation |
Google employees from all over the world came together to form the World Federation of Trade Unions. The new Alpha Global Alliance is made up of unions representing 13 different unions. These unions represent workers from 10 countries / regions, including the United States and the United Kingdom. And Switzerland.
The WFTU announcement began weeks after workers from the United States and Canada formed the Alphabet Workers Union of American Trade Union (AWU). AWU grew from 230 members to over 700 members in the week after its founding.
Alpha Global is part of the UNI Global Alliance, a trade union association that represents 20 million people around the world, including Amazon workers.
"We know that global companies like Alphabet's judicial oversight are not limited to national borders," Parol Cole, CEO of Alphabet Workers Union and software developer at Google, said in a statement.
Trade unions like AWU gain strength by promoting solidarity among workers. Thanks to the AWU architecture, Google entrepreneurs can also be included as well as full-time employees.
It also means that the union has not yet been approved by the National Labor Relations Committee and cannot force Google to negotiate.
Alpha Global has evolved by bringing together Google employees in different countries. However, Allianz will not enter into any legally binding agreements with the company.
In the future, the alliance may try to pressure Google to sign a neutrality agreement that would require Google to support attempts to form a union, although it is doubtful that the company will accept these terms.
The mandatory changes for Alpha Global may not require the signing of a neutral agreement as UNI Global Union helped organize Make Amazon Pay, an international strike on Black Friday in 2020. With the support of more than 400 legislators.
"The problem of discourses is not confined to one country, but must be solved globally," said Kristi Hoffmann, Secretary General of the UNI Global Alliance.
Alpha Global organizers announced that they will address some domestic issues such as the treatment of content brokers in some countries and international concerns such as workers' obligation to sign confidentiality agreements.
The federation includes unions from the United States, Switzerland, Ireland, the United Kingdom, Italy, Germany, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Belgium.
Alpha Global Alliance is another sign of the accelerated struggle to form a technology alliance. If successful, it could provide other tech giants with a blueprint for researching unity in offices and warehouses around the world.