Several third-party workers at YouTube Music who were employed by the IT company Cognizant, an Alphabet subcontractor, are on strike due to alleged unfair labor practices.
40 striking employees allegedly claimed that the management of both companies had “leveraged unfair labour practices to get in the way of their union drive,” per a report in The Verge.
They said that the vast majority of them are prepared to vote “yes” in a National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) election.
Sam Regan, general manager of YouTube Music, stated at a walkout in Austin, Texas, “In an act of retaliation, our employer is forcing an end to remote work before the vote, which would dramatically interfere with the fair voting conditions mandated by federal law.”
Early next week, the content operations team for YouTube Music is expected to return to the Austin office.
The majority of employees, according to the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU), were hired remotely.
The AWU stated in a statement that “Workers are paid as little as $19 dollars an hour and thus, cannot afford the relocation, travel or childcare costs associated with in person work.”
The AWU had complained to the NLRB about unfair labor practices.
Recently, Alphabet fired 12,000 workers, or 6% of its total workforce.
This week, Google employees protested in the US to draw attention to the working conditions for subcontracted workers and to show support for their thousands of recently laid-off coworkers.
Following parent firm Alphabet’s announcement of fourth-quarter profits of $13.6 billion, over 50 Google employees also protested in front of a company on Ninth Avenue in New York.
