NLRB Complaint: Google and Accenture Violated Labor Laws by Laying Off Contractors Who Voted to Unionize

Google parent company Alphabet and Accenture are facing allegations of violating labor laws, after about 80 Google Help subcontractors who recently voted to unionize were laid off. The workers have filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) that claims the layoffs were in retaliation for the union vote.

Engadget reports that around 80 Google Help subcontractors who recently voted to unionize were fired, prompting accusations that Alphabet and Accenture violated labor laws. The Alphabet Workers Union-Communications Workers of America (AWU-CWA) has filed a complaint with the NLRB, claiming the layoffs are retaliatory and in violation of labor laws.

Google walkout protest (Bryan R. Smith/Getty)

“When my coworkers and I announced our union with overwhelming support, Google and Accenture management refused to acknowledge us,” said general writer at Accenture and Google, Anjail Muhammad. “A few short weeks later they announced their response — that they would be laying off dozens of employees. These jobs aren’t going away though, we’re just being asked to train our replacements abroad.”

The team, primarily involved in content creation, will be reduced from 130 people to around 40. They were reportedly instructed to train replacements working from India and the Philippines.

Alphabet’s response to the situation has been to distance itself from the issue, stating that “Google does not control [the contractor’s] employment terms or working conditions” and that the situation was “a matter between them and their employer, Accenture.” The company further added that the layoffs were for savings and efficiency and no other reason, and that it “chooses its partners and staffing agencies carefully and reviews their compliance with its Supplier Code of Conduct.”

The situation has raised significant questions about the rights and protections of contract workers, especially in the tech industry, where the majority of Google’s employees have been contractors since 2018.

“We had exercised our right to organize as members of the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA in order to bring both Google and Accenture, a Google subcontractor, to the bargaining table to negotiate on several key demands, including layoff protections,” said senior writer and union member Julia Nagatsu Granstrom.

“If it’s Accenture and Google’s goal to demoralize us, they have failed,” said Casey Padron, a general writer on the team scheduled to lose her job in August. “We are more united than ever and will continue to fight for this job that so many of us love and rely on.”

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