A vote by a gathering of Google contract laborers has led to a successful unionization. This decision deems Google as a "joint employer" to Accenture's staff who work on Google's material, comprising of Search and Bard. Workers assert the firm made them view "obscene and shocking" content and that they were discharged when they vented their grievances..
A group of Google contractors employed by Accenture, some of whom have worked on Search and Google's artificial intelligence chatbot Bard, have achieved success in their unionization efforts. The group of 120 writers, graphic designers and coordinators filed for unionization in June, claiming they were asked to help train Google's generative AI answers with inadequate preparation and were expected to deal with "obscene and graphic" material. Allegations were made that subsequent to the proceedings for unionization, the team was told more than half of them would be let go, an action which the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) asserted was retaliatory. The AWU subsequently partnered with the Communications Workers of America in 2021 to act as a minority union. The AWU-CA also requested that the National Labor Relations Board recognize Google and Accenture as joint employers, prompting a duty to bargain over terms and conditions of employment. On Monday, the NLRB confirmed that the workers voted 26-2 in favor of union representation. Google disputed the ruling, proclaiming it as incorrect and appealed to overturn the decision. In a statement, a spokesperson for Google, Courtenay Mencini, noted that the company "has no objection to these Accenture workers electing to form a union," but also that Google is not a joint employer since it has no control over employment terms or working conditions. Jen Hill, a designer on Google's support team Google Help and an AWU-CWA member, lauded the decision as a victory and expressed anticipation for collective bargaining with Google. The NLRB's ruling is the second of its kind to identify Google as a joint employer with its contractor, with an identical decision made in April regarding the YouTube Content Operations Team and Google's contractor Cognizant Technology Solutions. Both decisions were appealed to by Alphabet.
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