Google lays off contractors who unionized last month

Union busting is as American as apple pie.

The first recorded recipe for apple pie was written in 1381 in England.
Apple Pie Is Not All That American
- An import thriving in the US? That is about as American as it gets.
- I also came here to say this. Also I hear "Dutch apple pie" a lot, but never "American apple pie". "American Pie" though, that I hear occasionally 😉
How can we change this?
- By unionization..... The stronger the labour force is, the less they are able to get pushed around like this.
- Get everyone to do it. Division is the enemy.
- Why should I care?

That is such clear retaliation that I don't know how Google hopes to get away with it.

Well the penalty is a slap on the wrist to a company of googles side.
- The cost of doing business
No offense, but it seems like a really dumb idea to unionize in the middle of mass industry layoffs.
Maybe you would do it when things are going good, but if everyone around you is getting laid off and you unionize, it almost seems self-evident who's going to get laid off next.
Is it illegal? Probably. Are they going to get away with it? Probably.
Everyone should remember that big tech companies aren't your friend.
- When working conditions are getting worse and people are being fired, that’s when you need a union more than ever.
- Layoff protection was listed in the article as one of their reasons for unionizing. Being able to better negotiate severance, the right to be rehired, etc. The auto industry has layoffs, but unionized workers get recalled when jobs pick back up.
Why shouldn't companies retaliate? Anchorsteam workers unionized and it went bankrupt
- European companies somehow survive just fine with people being in unions. There are many strong protections in place, which is why we have 6 weeks vacations, maternal leave and so on.
- People unionizing have never bankrupt any company.
  Don’t buy this crap propaganda that treating workers with respect will break a company.
- Because it’s illegal? Unless you’re a million/billionaire it’s foolish to not vigorously support labor over capital
- Because a modern country would have laws to protect unions, so companies can't over-exploit their employees without facing legal consequences.
- That was due to mismanagement by Sapporo
- Why should government grant businesses corporate charters and give them special privileges in the first place, if they're mistreating the citizens who work there?
  (See also: https://reclaimdemocracy.org/corporate-accountability-history-corporations-us/)

How does a contract union even work? Isn't the whole point of contractors that it's a less binding temporary position that can be terminated if needed?

Most contracts are through contract companies, who then employs (ala W2) the workers.
I could see all tech workers that work for these companies forming a union—that could make a real, honest change in the tech workforce overall.
Surprised this wasn’t talked about in the article or anywhere else in the comments. I feel like it doesn’t make sense for contractors to unionize during a contract job as that would change the terms of the contract.
- Many contractors for Alphabet companies do functionally the same work as employees yet get paid a fraction with a fraction of the benefits. Several friends of mine who are contractors and employees have affirmed that the work contractors do is for the most part very similar and both agree that this is a fucked up situation for the contractors.
  Think of it like gig economy drivers who are frequently exploited for 'contract based work' when the reality is that this is a full time job for many drivers in everything but pay.
Contracting isn't always that cut and dry. Different industries and sectors of employment can use it for indefinite employment, and as such, many people can end up relying and hoping for longest possible work. I.e., USA Federal Contracting. Creating a union to protect workers and fight for financial fairness isn't something that Contractors should be excluded from -- it is still work after all. And in the case above-mentioned the actual workers do not negotiate with the contract issuer, but the middleman, a contract company -- human capital.
- That's interesting, my company takes a different approach, if we don't go contract to hire in a year, we choose a new person to fill the role.
  I wasn't mentioning it as a preclusion, more as a how the heck would they expect a tech union to work. The Screen Actors Guild (SAG) is an example of a union for contractors, but that's more nice role as the positions are very difficult to fill for and the roles often can't be reasonably replaced. Tech workers though, that pool is HUGE. If you had a tech union it would need to contain a significant portion of 8% (26,000,000) of the US population. It would seem they would lack the bargaining power as they're easily replicable. Perhaps if you were unionizing inside a single company that provided contractors you could destroy their workforce by all walking at once, but google doesn't need to fire these people, they can just terminate the contract with the company that provides them.
  If the contractors were employees, there would be a massive lawsuit incoming (may be anyway) as the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) protects the rights of employees to organize and join unions, but it generally does not cover independent contractors.
  California seems to have some at-will variances for unions but it's still listed as employees. Should be interesting to see this play out.
Every major contract I've worked on has has a union presence.
How does a contract union even work?
It works because a company far too transparently pretends that "contractors" aren't employees. I also helps to prove to be BS when the "company being contracted to" sets the rules of employment and decides who is a suitable "contractor" and who is not.
In my little experience, I assume, now that they’ve formed a union they can collectively bid on contracts as a shop and ask for a prevailing wage to complete it.
I would be surprised if Accenture wasn’t pretty upset by this as well. Not a great selling point for potential clients: go with our contractors and they just might join your employees union!

These fucking companies. We need more unions. I wish I was in a union.

Why wish when you can start the process yourself?
Aflcio.org/formaunion

Don't be evil, mhm

There's a reason they got rid of that slogan.
Yeah they ditched that slogan in... 2009? 2010?
I remember everyone was side-eyeing pretty hard when they did.

Ya, that's a lawsuitin

I find it hard to believe that the workers didn't see this coming....

They're contractors. They're not permanent employees. They can, generally, be let go at any time for any reason whatsoever - or no reason at all. It's crap, but they're some of the risks of being a contractor. The benefits of higher pay, choose your own hours, choose your own workplace, etc have to be weighed against said risks.

It's a bit misleading. They're not private contractors but employees of a different company instead. The union busting in the US is pretty extreme. I just hope these people can put their talents to work in a company that doesn't have so many issues complying with the rule "don't be evil".
- Yeah Google is well known for employing "contractors" which is just really a way for them to avoid any of the annoying regulations you have with actual employees, by having them be employed by a third party but really they're just working for Google full time. Also looks better on the balance sheets.

Contracting isn't always that cut and dry. Different industries and sectors of employment can use it for indefinite employment, and as such, many people can end up relying and hoping for longest possible work. I.e., USA Federal Contracting. Creating a union to protect workers and fight for financial fairness isn't something that Contractors should be excluded from -- it is still work after all. And in the case above-mentioned the actual workers do not negotiate with the contract issuer, but the middleman, a contract company -- human capital.

The infinite firing trick. Contractors.

I mean here in Argentina, we IT workers push against unions. When we have issues at work, be it salary or whatever, we just leave and jump ship into the next one Most work is remote and beyond junior positions, salaries are good. We don't even have to worry about compliance with law because most work in IT has to be taxed.

Negotiations? We do that when the relationship between both parties begins. Firing? Sure go ahead and do it, we don't give a shit.

I imagine IT workers in USA have even better salaries and benefits, so this measure makes no dent. Obvious even, given the size of the union, I mean 80 people come on.

I tell you, this isn't the news item they are making it out to be

After all, Argentina isn't known for its economic smarts.
- Indeed, that's why it has about 3500 unions. None work at all thanks to the leftist in charge of the country
You might be in need of distance glasses.