Google Contract Staff Reach Union Deal Banning Keystroke Monitoring

A group of Google Help staffers reached a union contract with their employer, Accenture Plc, securing protections on remote work and workplace surveillance that could be a template for others in Alphabet Inc.’s sprawling contract workforce.

The collective bargaining agreement between Accenture and the Alphabet Workers Union covers about 25 workers including writers and design analysts. Employees voted Wednesday to ratify the deal, which the union said guarantees permanent work-from-home options, creates a committee where management is required to consider workers’ input on software tools, and prohibits Accenture from monitoring their keystrokes or mouse movements.

The agreement also provide six weeks of paid time off to look for new positions when there are jobs cuts, a particular concern for these employees because the majority of their original bargaining unit was laid off last year.

The Google Help staffers publicly launched their union drive in June 2023, seeking to win collective bargaining not only with Accenture but also with Alphabet, which they argued was a “joint employer.” That’s defined as a company with enough control over them to legally be liable for their treatment, even though it doesn’t sign their paychecks. The US National Labor Relations Board has ruled Alphabet was indeed a joint employer of the Google Help staff and another group of contract staff working on YouTube Music, and so was obligated to negotiate with both those teams. But Alphabet has been unwilling to enter negotiations, maintaining it’s not the boss of its contract staff. The disputes could be resolved in federal appeals court, or by the NLRB changing its position once President-elect Donald Trump takes office and makes his own appointments.

“As we’ve said before, we don’t employ these Accenture workers, so it’s a matter between them and Accenture,” Google spokesperson Courtenay Mencini said in an emailed statement. An Accenture spokesperson confirmed reaching a deal with the union.

AWU, an affiliate of the Communications Workers of America, opted to negotiate a contract with Accenture in the meantime while it continues to push for direct negotiations with Alphabet.

“Joint employer is a lengthy battle, so getting these immediate rewards via the contract helps sustain us during that journey,” said AWU bargaining committee member Tahlia Kirk. The new contract language, which requires the company to consider worker feedback about software tools in good faith, should help curb misuse of AI, Kirk said. “For too long, big tech companies have thought that AI is the answer to solving all of their problems, like it’s the magical wand,” said Kirk. “The voices of the workers can ground those conversations in reality.”

Alphabet has faced waves of scrutiny and organizing in recent years over the treatment of its contract workers, who in 2018 became the majority of its global staff. While the number of workers covered by the Google Help deal is a tiny fraction of Alphabet’s workforce, leaders of the union effort said they hoped it could serve as an inspiration and a template for others at the company and the broader tech sector.

“Being able to have a voice and a platform to weigh in on the stuff that’s affecting our livelihoods and our jobs is too rare in our industry,” said AWU bargaining committee member Mitchell Kernot, a senior writer on the content creation team.

Top photo: An employee arrives at the Google Bay View campus in Mountain View, California. Photographer: Mike Kai Chen/Bloomberg.