A group of contract workers employed by Accenture Plc, who have helped to develop generative AI answers for Google's search engine and chatbot, are launching a unionization campaign in order to gain more of a say in the company. The Alphabet Inc. contract workers are seeking to negotiate directly with Alphabet, as they believe the company is also their employer. They commented that they are being tasked with work on Google's most high-profile products, and so they believe they deserve a greater voice.
The workers, numbering around 120 writers, graphic designers and launch coordinators, have created both internal and external Google content, from Google Help support pages to recently reviewing AI-generated content. They have banded together with the Alphabet Workers Union and claim the majority of their bargaining unit has already joined. They want to negotiate better working conditions such as increased paid time off, control over taking on additional work and competitive pay that reflects their skill sets.
The group hopes management will voluntarily recognize and begin negotiations with the union, arguing that Alphabet is a "joint employer," meaning the company has enough control over them that it is liable for the treatment of workers and must negotiate if they unionize, irrespective of whether Alphabet directly pays the workers in question.
Laura Greene, a multimedia team leader with Accenture, expressed the group's position, saying: "We’ve spent two years organizing and are trying to get a fair shake. Basically, we decided that the only way to get real, lasting change is to formally unionize and, ideally, negotiate at the bargaining table."
At least one worker has lodged a complaint with Accenture's human resources department about the work, which at one point required the workers to handle obscene, graphic, or offensive prompts while reviewing AI-generated content.
The outcome of the contract workers' unionization efforts may not be immediate. By law, when a majority of employees at a work site sign up to unionize in the US, a company can either voluntarily recognize and negotiate with the union or refuse to do so unless the union wins a government-run election. In the latter case, the process to determine who is eligible to vote in an election can take weeks or months, and companies employ tactics such as mandatory anti-union meetings to fight organizing efforts.
Such battles can be protracted once union recognition is secured – the legal battle between Alphabet and YouTube Music workers, hired through Cognizant Technology Solutions, for example, could drag on for years. Nevertheless, the Accenture workers expressed they are undeterred and are willing to engage in a lengthy campaign to get the autonomy, respect, and longevity they seek from Google.