January 4, 2021
"More than 225 Google engineers and other workers have formed a union, the group revealed on Monday, capping years of growing activism..."
"... at one of the world’s largest companies and presenting a rare beachhead for labor organizers in staunchly anti-union Silicon Valley.... [U]nlike a traditional union, which demands that an employer come to the bargaining table to agree on a contract, the Alphabet Workers Union is a so-called minority union that represents a fraction of the company’s more than 260,000 full-time employees and contractors. Workers said it was primarily an effort to give structure and longevity to activism at Google, rather than to negotiate for a contract.... [U]nions have not previously gained traction in Silicon Valley. Many tech workers shunned them, arguing that labor groups were focused on issues like wages — not a top concern in the high-earning industry — and were not equipped to address their concerns about ethics and the role of technology in society...."
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This is like seeing your worst enemy marry your crazy ex-girlfriend.
Next the workers will seize the means of production.
Do these "workers" produce anything useful?
Tech workers are not concerned about wages because they generally, make good money.
Unions cicra now area all about promoting The Party.
The role of technology in society was demonstrated clearly this past November.
Technology took sides..,.. Technology smothered any and all negative information about any democrat.
Technology is The Party.
Yeah - that's not frightening, right?
They keep it up and "You will never work in this business again" will again openly appear, and these tech workers do not have access the horse's heads, guns, or bombs.
good luck suckers!
Pay attention to the concept of "minority union" here. It's not at all what we normally think of as a union.
Children playing at union politics. It's not a union. It's a club.
Big tech will further test whether Galbraith's theory of Countervailing Power is more like dogs fighting over a carcass or sniffing each others asses.
Dogs will usually do both.
And lest you forget, you (the end-users) are the carcass.
Looking forward to their Battle of the Overpass equivalent.
One problem with a Google "union" is that one of the key non-wage functions of a union is providing a procedure to challenge terminations or other personnel actions. See, e.g. the "rubber rooms" for teachers who can't safely be allowed to teach children, but also can't be fired thanks to the teacher's unions. But the kinds of employees who are forming unions are probably not willing to defend people like, say, James Damore, who are ideologically impure in their eyes. So what's even the point?
Also pay attention to "engineers and other workers." Is it mostly "other workers" and, if so, who are these workers? It may be that Google has departments that have little to do with what we think of Google doing (maybe some social justice activism support). Will the "minority union" focus on pushing Google to increase resources for these departments?
I'm so glad I never got a job there
Good point, Eric
I bet that "Human Resources" members are "vastly overrepresented" in the ranks of the "Google Union"
Pay attention to the concept of "minority union" here. It's not at all what we normally think of as a union.
>>
The Bolsheviks were never a majority either.
This is not what we normally think of as a union, correct. It will become a blacklist + "activist" group pushing all the usual garbage on workers in order to push all the usual garbage on the world.
Google uses a LOT of contractors - they are specifically included.
I'm with @Jersey sbove. Pass the popcorn.
-XC
Media - never say a bad word about any democrat, ever. No matter how egregious and obvious the crime.
Unions - cannot fire any loyal member to The Party.
Lawmakers get 6.46% pay bump as thousands of Massachusetts residents still jobless.
House Speaker, Senate president to pull down more than $178,000
It must be nice to give yourself a raise while people cannot pay their rent, and many are forced into desperate situations. Celebrate The Party! Pay the Party!
Vote Union! Vote Democrat! Support The Party!
"primarily an effort to give structure and longevity to activism at Google"
IOW, a prog effort to extract Google money for prog purposes.
I'm sure that it will provide equal levels of support for conservative activism as it does for liberal activism.
Timnit Gebru, a Black woman who is a respected artificial intelligence researcher, also said last month that Google fired her after she criticized the company’s approach to minority hiring and the biases built into A.I. systems. Her departure set off a storm of criticism about Google’s treatment of minority employees.
I don't know what this is but it doesn't sound lie a "labor union". I'm still unclear about what they mean by "minority" labor union. Does it exclude white people? Or is it "minority" in some other way, like a minority view point?
Now, what would be funny is if all the sane white males, and other sane people, at Google decided to form their own "minority union"
There ought to be at least 225 people there who are NOT leftwing kooks.
Call it the "Friends of Damore" union.
And once they've formed their union to project their political beliefs, any action against them for their political beliefs becomes "union busting".
So, maybe I'm sad I'm not working there after all. Because that could be a lot of fun
Cuz people with mad CS skilz are known to have highly optimized notions of "morality."
Listen-up conservatives...
The NLRA protects employee rights to engage in protected “concerted activities,” with or without a union. To be protected by Section 7, the concerted activity must occur for the group’s “mutual aid or protection” (29 U.S.C. § 157). Federal courts and the NLRB construe this phrase broadly to include collective bargaining activities and other activities by a group of employees or by an individual working on behalf of a group of employees to improve the terms and conditions of employment.
Wages are one thing, and Silicon Valley does pay well. However, work/life balance and reasonable schedules is entirely different. When I worked in the valley, 100 hour work weeks were common with Saturday and Sunday just two more days of the week. Fortunately, I was contract labor and came home every third week to a relaxing 40 hour work week in Texas. That said, it doesn't seem like this new ABC union is concerned about employee families and health, and more interested in protecting activist employees. I doubt that activism will push back on abuse of H1B visa employees. "That's a nice home you have there, it would be a shame if you lost your job because you didn't stay to work overtime and HR reported the severance to INS."
Just more of that progressive division.....
Not over money. Over power, a turf battle among the most powerful entities in the world. (Of course not an incitement to violence, but...) When is it time to start shooting them?
"Or is it "minority" in some other way"
Well, it is less than one-tenth of one percent of the workforce, so it's definitely a minority in that way.
It sounds like an intra-company special interest group that happens to have some connection to the CWA. I tried to access the link wherein they explain their agenda, but the NYT paywall foiled me. I think, though, I have a pretty good general idea of what Chewy and friends want.
@Leland - I thought CA was a sanctuary state and the INS was the new Nazi party?
I jest, maybe.
-XC
"Workers said it was primarily an effort to give structure and longevity to activism at Google, rather than to negotiate for a contract."
Because 'activism' has become the highest standard on the left. Not a direction, not with any vision, just being an activist for the sake of 'activism' seems to be the standard. Hence, a generation of hyphenated professionals such as, teacher/activist, actor/activist, florist/activist, pie baker/activist, tattoo artist/activist, Vice-President/activist.
Google will implode at some point. Too many unmoored people making too much money with no governors on their power. What cannot go on forever will not go on forever.
I trust nothing in/from the NYT. The WaPoo, too.
This just makes it easier to know who to fire...
And these guys are supposed to be smart?
Its not a union, its a collective.
Wince said...
Big tech will further test whether Galbraith's theory of Countervailing Power is more like dogs fighting over a carcass or sniffing each others asses.
Dogs will usually do both.
And lest you forget, you (the end-users) are the carcass.
I thought we were the dogs' asses?
@Expat(ish)
That's only for hourly and seasonal labor. Once you are salaried, it all changes.
I prefer to think of it as the camel's nose under the tent.
"Do these "workers" produce anything useful?"
If it's code, then yes. Incredibly useful (and profitable) to Google...
Ann: Is it all about men with autism today?
"This is like seeing your worst enemy marry your crazy ex-girlfriend."
Except we have to baby-sit the kids.
Timnit Gebru, a Black woman who is a respected artificial intelligence researcher, also said last month that Google fired her after she criticized the company’s approach to minority hiring and the biases built into A.I. systems.
It appears that she only worked for Google for a couple of years before being fired. I find it a bit unusual that Google would hire someone who was supposedly prominent in an emerging field like AI (with the requisite six figure salary) and then fire them over voicing concerns/criticisms. Of course a lot would depend on how the concerns/criticisms were voiced. A memo to the CEO/Board is a lot different than publishing something company wide and stirring things up.
Sounds like a little group of Wokes getting taken for a ride by an organized labor group only too happy to take their money.
Here, that's how you get fired.
Because non African-American people are the root cause of society's ills, let's form a union that fights racism with more racism. That's the ticket!
These soulless robots draped in human skin can piss off.
Death to the Alphabet Corp.!!!
Sirius cybernetic corporation.
Why would a commercial enterprise that produces a product or service engage in activism? What is this need for structure and longevity in activism focused on? Issue activism? Political activism?
Two Hundred Twenty-five, a nicely precise number, is obviously a very small minority of the total number of employees. I don't think that is what they are referring to though when using the word minority.
In their NYT Op-Ed piece (separate, I think, from the one Ann linked) they list concerns: yes, "woke" stuff like racial sensitivity training and sexual harassment and the dearth of anything-except-white-and-Asian-able-bodied-cit-het-men; &c., but also Google's collaboration with the US military (not a problem for me) and with the Chinese "Great Firewall." That last is a problem for me; "Don't Be Evil" IMO ceased being Google's slogan a very long time ago.
But what is the point of such a small group "organizing"? Yes, Ann, I do get the idea of a "minority union," but this is a tenth of a percent of Google's workforce; I can easily see the company telling them to get their 225 skanky behinds out the door and leave the work to the 99.9% who actually want to do it.
"...to give structure and longevity to activism at Google"
Can't wait to find out what this evolves into when translated to actual action. Perhaps an increase in United Way donations, no?
I predict a massive influx of H-1B Visa holders in 2021, none of whom will ever join a union.
So, the Evil Empire now has a progressive-minded union of employees. Um, yeah, about that... (couldn’t resist the Office Space quote)
Before long, they will be dropping their high-minded ideals once Google starts putting the screws on them over labor issues and become a regular labor union. Plus, there are a lot of workers in Asia who will work for a lot less money doing the same high tech functions, either as employees of Google or subcontractors. Mrs. Scott’s employer has discovered this cost saving device with a subcontractor in India, costing a number of high tech jobs here in the USA. And with Google’s unholy alliance/partnership with China on controlling Chinese citizen access to the internet, one of these days China will be calling the shots at Google for censoring the rest of the world. When that happens, the social activists at Google will be gagged unless their activism helps China. Google, its employees, and now its first union are all Useful Idiots for the Chinese Communist Party in its bid for world domination.
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This has potential. Not in the way they want. In America, it is illegal to form worker's councils like in say Germany. Worker unions have to be adversarial in the traditional sense. But this 'union' is not after wage and benefit concessions. And a worker's council is right up the collective ideas of the Silicon Valley lords and ladies. If the push is for workers to have a say they'll have to change US labor union laws first weakening the adversarial union model we are familiar with. A war among Democrats is likely brewing
Blogger Jersey Fled said..."This is like seeing your worst enemy marry your crazy ex-girlfriend."
...and then you remember that your crazy ex-girlfriend knows everything about you and has keys to everything you own.
Timnit Gebru, a Black woman who is a respected artificial intelligence researcher
AFAI can tell, her only AI[sic] "research" consisted of showing that more pickup trucks in a neighborhood = more deplorables in that neighborhood; the vehicle-recognition software (and)was written by other people. The rest of her activities seem to consist of complaining about facial recognition software.
A war among Democrats is likely brewing
A schism of the diverse sects is in progress.
At least 90% of the time, if you replace "activist" with "narcissist," you end up closer to the truth.
Needs a "men in shorts" tag.
Why would a commercial enterprise that produces a product or service engage in activism?
Google, under the Alphabet umbrella corporation, has been engaged in passive activism (e.g. steering, truth checking) for a very long time. Now, a minority of their employees want to be community leaders for their special and peculiar causes, too.
People... persons playing with double-edged scalpels.
The Bolsheviks have been emboldened.
This handful of apparatchiks seek to control not workplace conditions, but to control the Internet itself and, hence, control information itself.
Joe Smith said...
Do these "workers" produce anything useful?
"If it's code, then yes. Incredibly useful (and profitable) to Google..."
You don't understand the way a mature modern tech corporation works. A modern tech corporation has a tenuous grip on an income stream, which is like a firehose, thrashing about in every direction, except it emits money. In a mature modern tech corporation, HR has proliferated like kudzu, and its tentacles are everywhere. That money-hose has been tamed, and while it still spews money, much of that money is consumed by a vast horde of completely useless people who schedule and attend meetings, write blogs and give talks about how difficult it is to be an XXXXX in tech, and just generally annoy the people who keep the pump running. HR and the CEO are cut from the same cloth, and they not only tolerate all this bullshit, they encourage and reward it. Until some errant fringe of it gets in the way of their pet agenda, at which point the blade falls swiftly and without mercy.
The reason successful companies are in thrall to their HR departments is that the HR department exists to protect the company from the vulnerability to government harassment that results from having employees. An unprotected group of competents, allowed to hire others like themselves, will get he company eaten alive by EEOC lawsuits, so an HR department is essential, to generate and exude an inky cloud of documents, lies and bullshit to baffle and frustrate enemy attorneys. But while HR is seldom really ambitious, neither is it subject to incentives. It is an insensate blob, devoted to the observance and proliferation of arcane regimens. It can be deflected, but not stopped, and it oozes almost unopposed into every crevice of management.
Jupiter said...
HR and the CEO are cut from the same cloth, and they not only tolerate all this bullshit, they encourage and reward it.
I had a manager once, who used to say that HR departments were living proof that CEO's had idiot relatives.
Blogger Jupiter said...
...so an HR department is essential, to generate and exude an inky cloud of documents, lies and bullshit to baffle and frustrate enemy attorneys.
Wow, what a depressingly accurate description.
4 unions here. They were good for job security and wage stability. Only one of them was violent. None of them liked me staying overtime by my own initiative. Had to learn to clock out with the crew and stop work.
"You don't understand the way a mature modern tech corporation works."
I guess I was sleeping during the last 35 years of working in Silicon Valley start-ups.
What the hell does HR have to do with my comments about engineers/coders?
I'm not a fan of HR as a rule, but you went off on a tangent...
I would be surprised if Google spent more than a small fraction on HR.
Even if they did, they can afford it.
And I don't believe their CEO is 'cut from the same cloth' as the HR department...that's insane.
"4 unions here. They were good for job security and wage stability. Only one of them was violent."
My college-job union was pointless...all of our dues went to the mafia...
The only problem with unions is the law that ways the employer has to negotiate with them.
It violates the fundamental principle that X and Y can't gain more rights against Z by joining than they had individually.
There's probably a lot of room for unions, to be honest.
For a company that has a reputation for pampering its workers, they're not a particularly happy bunch. Lots of H1Bs and contractors (who don't get all the pampering). I think the average worker stays 3 1/2 years, which is awful considering that they pay high wages in a desirable location and are hiring from a pretty great pool of candidates to start with.
Think about it: four years in college, multiple years in grad school, famously slow 6 month to a year hiring process, only to leave a prestigious, well paying job in three and a half years. You can't tell me that's a happy company.
Here's a quora thread on the surprisingly short average tenure at Google:
https://www.quora.com/Why-do-Google-employees-have-such-a-low-average-tenure
They combine a high stress environment with a young workforce just out of school and used to getting their way.
"...only to leave a prestigious, well paying job in three and a half years. You can't tell me that's a happy company."
Many people in Silicon Valley tech (my wife among them) stay for four years, get their stock vested, and go somewhere else (pre-IPO) and start again.
Often times it's a way to get a promotion and more money, but it's also a way to diversify your stock portfolio...
It's a strategy...
I trust nothing in/from the NYT!
It's a pretendsee union. Like a BLM sign on a three-story suburban home.
The plan to force negotiations over just which kinds of evil they will do.
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