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The council meeting was streamed live online and has since spread on social media. Contractors see the firing as retaliation for unionizing, but Google and IT subcontractor Cognizant said it was the normal end of a business contract. The ability for layoffs to spread through social media highlights how the painful experience of job loss is frequently made public, from employees sharing recordings of Zoom meetings to posting about their unemployment.
The growing tension between YouTube and Google contractors comes as mass layoffs continue to hit the tech industry, leaving workers unsettled and companies emboldened. Google has already suffered rounds of cuts in the last two years.
Google has been in a long-running battle with many of its contractors as they seek the perks and high salaries that full-time Google workers are accustomed to. The company has tens of thousands of contractors doing everything from food service to sales to code writing.
YouTube workers, who work for Google and Cognizant, voted unanimously to unionize under the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA in April 2023. Since then, workers say Google has refused to negotiate with them. Thursday’s firing signifies continued tensions between Google and its workers, some of whom formed a union in 2021.
Google maintains that Cognizant is responsible for the employment and working conditions of contractors and is therefore not responsible for negotiating with them. Cognizant said it offers workers seven weeks of paid time to explore other roles in the company and use its training resources.
Last year, the National Labor Relations Board ruled that Cognizant and Google are joint employers of contractors. In January, the NLRB sent a cease-and-desist letter to both employers for failing to negotiate with the union. Since then, the question of joint work, which would ultimately determine which company is responsible for the negotiation, has reached an appeals court and has not yet ruled. The Alphabet Workers Union said Google has never negotiated with either of its two bargaining units. Google said it is not responsible for negotiating with the union of Cognizant workers.
“We have no objection to these Cognizant employees choosing to form a union,” said Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini. “We simply believe it is appropriate for Cognizant, as your employer, to participate in collective bargaining.”
Cognizant did not comment on the workers’ claim that it refused to negotiate with the union, but offered the following statement: “While we respect our associates’ right to unionize, our philosophy is that we work better together with open dialogue and direct and collaboration. ”said Bill Abelson, a Cognizant spokesman.
The team, which was responsible for ensuring music content is available and approved for YouTube Music’s 80 million subscribers, unionized to fight for better pay and benefits. Workers say they receive no sick pay, receive minimal benefits and are paid as little as $19 an hour, forcing some to work multiple jobs to make ends meet.
Workers have participated in two strikes: a month-long walkout in February 2023 over Cognizant’s return-to-office policy, which led to the departure of about 20 percent of the team, and a one-day pause in September over Cognizant’s return to office policy. refusal to negotiate. After the strikes, workers were asked to train agents in India on how to do their jobs so they could replace them during vacations or if workers ever went on strike, Benedict said.
Benedict thought Thursday was going to be a victorious moment, as the council was expected to vote in favor of a resolution supporting the workers. Instead, 10 minutes before the meeting, the council told workers that the vote would be postponed, but that they would still be allowed to speak. During the speech, the team working in the office was called into a meeting and told that they no longer had a job. They texted workers at the council meeting to let them know.
“I don’t think they could have broken the news at a worse time,” Benedict said. “It looks very bad for them.”
Sam Regan, a data analytics contractor at YouTube Music, was in the office when the layoff occurred. The atmosphere was suspicious, he said, as security guards joined a brief morning meeting where company leaders “coldly” informed the workers that their project was being cut. The workers had about 20 minutes to gather their belongings and leave the premises before they were considered trespassing.
Regan said he was one of the last to leave. As he left, he heard one of the security guards call the non-emergency police line to report the intruders.
“It was really unpleasant,” he said. “It was just one of the most dehumanizing experiences of my life.”
Workers say they are shocked but plan to keep fighting.
“That clip (of the town hall video) is going around everywhere and we’re seeing a lot of traction,” he said. “We’re not going to sit back and let them do this.”