- Alphabet’s union has sued Google and Accenture.
- The firms are accused of violating labor laws.
- 118 workers want to be fired for union involvement.
The Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) has filed a petition with the U.S. National Labor Relations Board. It accuses Google of violating labor laws and firing employees without just cause, Bloomberg reports.
According to a statement from the AWU, more than 70 percent of employees who were going to join the union were warned of possible dismissal. They include 118 writers, graphic editors, product launch managers, and other professionals responsible for content creation. Their duties included improving the quality of the search engine and artificial intelligence chatbot.
The organization alleges that Alphabet Inc, Google’s parent company, acted contrary to a law that prohibits prosecuting professionals for participating in organizations. In addition, the layoffs involve Accenture, the firm that recruited the workers.
In July, when the first job cuts began, Google said it was not involved in the terms of employment and offered to “resolve all issues with the employer, represented by Accenture”. According to AWU, company officials said on the day the complaint was filed that “any changes to labor contracts are related to savings and efficiencies.”
In July, Google updated its privacy policy for AI training. The corporation can now use any data on the network to improve the quality of artificial intelligence.
The corporation can now use any data on the network to improve the quality of artificial intelligence.