Google Employees Celebrate Unionization

Google walkout protest
Bryan R. Smith/Getty
Lucas Nolan

Following the recent announcement of a new Google labor union, employees at the company have reacted to the news with a celebration on social media. One software engineer wrote that “It’s time for tech workers to stand together & say we won’t prop up a world made for the wealthy, the privileged, the white, the male, the heteronormative.”

Breitbart News recently reported that more than 225 Google engineers and other workers have banded together to form a union, following years of growing activism at the tech giant.

The union is quite unusual in Silicon Valley which has largely resisted efforts to organize its workforce. For years Google employees have demanded policy overhauls on pay, harassment, and ethics, publishing multiple open letters to upper management over issues such as government contracts and allegations of sexual harassment at the company.

The new union is called the Alphabet Workers Union and was organized in secret for the better part of a year, electing its leadership last month. The group is linked to the Communication Workers of America, a union representing workers in telecommunications and media in the United States and Canada.

Business Insider reports that following the announcement, Google employees have begun praising the new union, with one software engineer describing it as “a long time coming.”

Another engineer, Andrew Gainer-Dewar stated that “tech workers need unions,” and encouraged others to join.

Alex Hanna, a research scientist at Google, stated that tech workers can’t rely on the “good races of tech leaders” to do the right thing:

Former Google employee Meredith Whittaker also expressed her support of the union calling it an “incredible next step in building worker power,”

Software engineer Raksha Muthukumar demonstrates Google’s infamously progressive culture by first praising the union, then stating: “It’s time for tech workers to stand together & say we won’t prop up a world made for the wealthy, the privileged, the white, the male, the heteronormative.”

Read more at Business Insider here.

Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship. Follow him on Twitter @LucasNolan or contact via secure email at the address lucasnolan@protonmail.com

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