Over 40 YouTube Music contractors go on strike, a first for Google, according to the Alphabet Workers Union (or AWU). The action is in response to an in-person back-to-work order next week, which many workers say they cannot do. They demand a return-to-work policy that is “fair, flexible and does not threaten the safety and livelihoods of workers”, according to an AWU press release.
The workers are part of the YouTube Music Content Operations team through Cognizant, a contractor to Alphabet, Google and YouTube’s parent company. Their job is to “ensure music content is available and approved” for the platform, according to an earlier AWU press release.
Objections to the back-to-work plan stem from compensation and availability. According to the AWU, contractors are only paid $19 an hour, making it difficult to pay for moving, travel or childcare expenses they didn’t have to pay when they were working remotely, rather than in an office in Austin, TX. .
An anonymous Cognizant spokesperson said Engadget that the back-to-office policy had been “communicated to [the workers] multiple times since December 2021,” and that they had taken the positions “on the understanding that they were accepting internal positions and that the team would work together in a physical location based in Austin.” Google would not provide an official comment for this story, but the company told the National Labor Relations Board that it does not consider workers to be its employees, according to Bloomberg.
The contractors are currently trying to unionize with the AWU, which filed a petition with the National Labor Relations Board to represent the contractors in October. Last week, the AWU filed an unfair labor practice lawsuit against Alphabet and Cognizant, claiming the return to office was being used to “interfere with fair voting conditions imposed by federal law,” as it said. Sam Regan, one of the workers. A press release.
There have already been union actions organized at Google. In 2018, tens of thousands of workers came out to protest Google’s handling of sexual harassment, spurred by reports that it had paid Android co-founder Andy Rubin $90 million in severance pay after he was charged with sexual assault. And in 2022, a group of Cognizant contractors working on Google Maps were able to push back its return to the office after threatening to strike.
