In an email obtained by Motherboard, Google tells YouTube Music workers it will “not be participating in collective bargaining.”
In an email obtained by Motherboard, Google tells YouTube Music workers it will “not be participating in collective bargaining.”
Can someone explain this one to me? They’re Cognizant employees, and Cognizant is a Google contractor. That’s the contention, at least. Google writes Cognizant a check, Cognizant writes them their checks, and so on. I know there’s additional requirements like directing their work or setting their hours that Google denies doing, but leaving that aside and granting their contention is right and Google is a partial employer…
Everyone agrees that the Google appeal process is what’s delaying this. They agree that cognizant would negotiate if Google wasn’t appealing. Why not drop Google from the suit?
My company does this too. In fact the vast majority of people on my team are outsourced employees, but I very much set their hours and direct their work. And I make certain that I do so via email. I also email those above me to let them know when I change someone’s hours.
I also brought up on our employee only DE&I call that the fact we have 1st & 2nd class employees makes it hard to claim we strive for Equity. “We are always evaluating the composition of our workforce and this is just one factor that we consider.”
It’s not just Google. But it Google falls, then everyone else will really start reconsidering things, if they remove Google then the real fight being fought here will be lost.
It’s an extremely common strategy now across many industries. Reduces responsibilities (costs and liabilities) and increases profit margins.
Good to see these workers putting up a fight. There are standards to determine employee vs contractor status, but they’re rarely enforced. And one major reason why is the lack of bargaining power. Many “contractors” have to work together and make a strong case that they are under employee-like control.