Google, Ordered by US Labor Board to Negotiate with YouTube Worker Union

Google's claim that it should not negotiate with a group of workers from YouTube Music has officially been deemed illegal by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). This decision prompted the tech giant to negotiate with the workers' union, which is a group made of YouTube music content operation workers, Reuters reports.

The decision by the labor board reportedly comes after the panel of three judges found that Google and its subcontractor, Cognizant, are, in fact, joint employers of the employees headquartered in Austin who work on data-related projects, such as identifying bugs in its charting algorithm.

This comes as no surprise as, according to a Vice report, the NLRB has already affirmed on two occasions that Google and Cognizant were the employees' joint employers and, as such, both businesses had to negotiate a contract with the workers.

Bloomberg states that serving as the foundation for the joint employer decision by the NLRB was a Trump-era rule that determines whether or not several corporations share accountability and negotiating duties of employees under federal labor law.

Google and Cognizant's United Stand

Google reportedly has previously insisted it had no issues with Cognizant workers choosing to organize a union. The company merely restated its belief that only Cognizant, as its employer, should be involved in collective bargaining.

Cognizant proves to echo this notion as Vice reports that a Cognizant official previously confirmed via email that the company had received the request for a Cognizant negotiating representative from the Alphabet Workers Union. The firm said that although it respects its employees' freedom to form a union, the company has made it clear that it considers itself its employees' only employer.

Bloomberg adds that Google can still appeal the decision under the US Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, which has authority over the state where the unionized YouTube employees are located- and is renowned for its conservative justices.

Alphabet Workers Union's Concerns

In April of last year, the YouTube Music content operation staff voted 41-0 to become members of the Alphabet Workers Union, established three years before organizingng the company's workforce.

The workers' union voted due to the demand made by YouTube Music for the hourly workers to return to their Austin, Texas, headquarters rather than work remotely. The employees, many of whom are employed remotely and get pay as low as $19 per hour, said that it was impractical to return to the office due to extra costs associated with childcare and transportation.

In a statement, union member and YouTube Music employee Katie-Marie Marschner said, as per Reuters, that Google and Cognizant changed working conditions without consultation. These changes included making employees report to work every day and eliminating paid time off.

As per a Vice report, Google's first refusal to bargain with the union saw the workers going on strike in September of last year.