A Google-hired contracting company was accused of violating labor rights. The National Labor Relations Board said that HCL America, a subsidiary of an Indian contracting giant, violates a group of workers' labor rights in Pittsburgh, who formed a union.
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The federal agency issued a complaint against the company, stating that it illegally discouraged workers from belonging to a union and failed to cooperate or bargain with the coalition. Google and HCL did not respond to the accusation immediately.
While the contractor is in a bad position, the National Labor Relations Board did not accuse Google of any wrongdoing. About 90 HCL employees in Pittsburgh, who work as data analysts under the company's contract with Google, decided to form a union last fall. They also joined the United Steelworkers union.
HCL delays wages because of the workers' union
The complaint said that the HCL managers questioned the employees' organizing activities and told them that their wages would be delayed because of the union campaign.
How #PlateSpin Migration Factory delivered an on-budget and ahead-of-schedule move to hyper-convergence platform with minimum business disruption for HCL America | @hcltech @MicroFocusITOPs https://t.co/aV9zzS8Mcn #TeamMicroFocus pic.twitter.com/zttrNAv1eI — Mark Stamm (@MarkPStamm) April 20, 2018
They also threatened the workers that stricter work rules will be enforced if they create the coalition since it is a violation of federal labor law. The federal agency concluded that HCL began shifting some of the work performed in Poland because the laborers voted to unionize.
HCL limitations to workers
The contracting company not only limited the workers' ability to participate in training sessions, but it also required them to take periodic quizzes.
"Sending work out of the country during a pandemic was especially kind of an unconscionable action," said Joshua Borden, one of the active HCL workers, according to NY Times.
"They were trying to take jobs away from us in retaliation for organizing to have a fair workplace," he added.
The Google-hired contracting company was also accused of altering policies related to vacation, breaks, family leaves, and 401(k) contributions.
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Written by Giuliano J. de Leon
