Congressional Democrats Urge NLRB to Protect Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Members

Last week, workers at YouTube Music received support from Congressional Democrats, who sent a letter to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) urging a swift investigation of the unfair labor practice charges CWA filed after the company illegally terminated the entire Content Operations team in February. The workers, members of Alphabet Workers Union-CWA Local 9009, were blindsided with the news of the mass firing while they were speaking at an Austin, Texas, City Council meeting.

The congressional response was spearheaded by Representative Greg Casar (D-Texas), who said, “Rich and powerful corporations like Google are seeing workers across the country rise up, organize, and win. The NLRB should quickly and thoroughly investigate if the rights of these workers, like the YouTube Music workers in my district, were violated. Union organizing and collective bargaining should be a right—not a fight.”

“We welcome the attention that Representative Casar and members of the Labor Caucus are bringing to Google's continued intimidation of workers who want to organize unions at the company,” said Derrick Osobase, Vice President, CWA District 6. “Swift action by the NLRB in this case will send an important message to the entire tech industry that they are not above the law and that they must respect workers' right to organize and collectively bargain here in Texas and across the country.”

Parul Koul, Software Engineer and President of the Alphabet Workers Union-CWA, also warned, “If Google is allowed to violate its legal responsibilities to its workers and ignore the directives of the National Labor Relations Board in this case, it will set a terrible precedent for the future of workers’ rights in this country.”