Google AI: Google lays off 80 contract workers who joined union last month – Times of India

Around 80 contractual staff who are part of Google Help and recently joined the Alphabet Workers Union-Communications Workers of America (AWU-CWA) found last week that their jobs have been cut short.
Last month, in June, a group of 120 employees who work for Google on a contract basis announced their unionisation effort. However, weeks later, around two-thirds of the workers received notification about the layoffs, leaving 40 employees at work.
The team is composed of writers and graphic designers who are responsible for creating content for the search giant, including Google Help support pages.
Julia Nagatsu Granstrom, a Senior Writer and member of the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, shared that they received news last week about the layoff of 80 out of their nearly 120 recently unionised coworkers at Google Help.
After being reassigned from their usual tasks to work on Google Bard, an AI-driven conversational software, says the group why decided to unionise. Workers claimed this vastly differed from their previous responsibilities of generating content for Google’s help and support pages.
The unionised workers exercised their right to organise and demanded negotiations on several key demands, including layoff protections, with both Google and its subcontractor, Accenture.
John Seals, a team leader working for the Google help project in South San Jose, recently learned that his last day of work would be in November.
According to Seals, Accenture has been hiring more team members in the Philippines, where the job can be done at a lower cost. While Seals suspects that the decision to let him go may have been motivated by cost-cutting, he finds the timing of the decision highly questionable.
Last month, a group of Google contractors, called raters, who review and evaluate Google search results were terminated when they expressed their intention to join a union. These individuals are often exposed to alarming content. The group was employed by Appen and had workers throughout the country, with some working remotely.
However, after the group claimed unfair labour practices with the National Labor Relations Board, they were reinstated with their back pay.
The situation has become more complex as they have started a hearing this week with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) concerning joint employment for contractors.