Alphabet, Google's parent company, had allegedly violated a federal law protecting the rights of workers, according to a complaint filed before the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB).

Specifically, the Alphabet Workers Union said the company had allegedly prevented the workers to access the pay transparency data.

Allegation of Violation

In a filing on Thursday, Nov. 3, the union alleged that Alphabet and two of its staffing companies violated a federal law protecting the right of workers to know their working conditions.

The union named Alphabet as one of the two employers, referred to it in the filing as "joint employer," of the contract workers. As a co-employer, the company has control over the working conditions of workers.

The company, the union claimed, had withdrawn the access of workers to information about comparative pay rates among contract workers in the different parts of the world. It also interfered, prevented, and pressured its employees, the complaint said.    

Alphabet's treatment of contract workers, comprising the majority of the company's employees in 2018, had been the source of tension between the company and its employees.

The treatment of Alphabet over its contract workers was the main focus of AWU, a part of the Communications Workers of America. 

Access to the spreadsheets showing the different pay rates of Alphabaet's workers worldwide would help the contract workers identify issues related to pay rates. Denying access to these data, the union said, will leave the workers without knowledge about their working conditions.

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Direct Employees' Access

Direct employees of Alphabet had access to the data in Google Sheets posted on the company's intranet. 

Laura Greene, a contract worker, who discovered the existence of the document from Australian Workers' Union (AWU) in July, shared the information with her co-workers. Previously, her co-workers knew of the document, using it as the basis for their demand for pay rates hike.

A day after Greene had informed her co-workers of the document, the workers had discovered they could no longer access it on the intranet.

Other workers on subcontract status in other work sites had also lost access to the document.

Freedom of Information

The workers want freedom of information, Greene, who is on a team with Accenture Plc responsible for creating articles and graphics for Google, Alphabet's daughter company.

It is vital for the workers to have access to the document to help them know how much they have contributed to Alphabet through their sweat, Greene said.

Through the document, now being withdrawn by the company, the workers will if the company compensated them fairly, she said.

No CBA

Although AWU has no existing Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) with Alphabet, the group has employed several tactics to address the workers' concerns.

AWU brought the labor board last month to task about the rights of the subcontracted workers at YouTube Music workers to hold a union vote. In that petition, AWU asked the board to consider Alphabet as a party to the  joint employer.

Designating Alphabet as a joint employer is crucial to the contract workers' petition to hold a union vote. It will also force the internet company to negotiate with the contract workers as a labor organization. 

Victory 

AWU filed a complaint with the NLRB last year. That complaint resulted in victory where Google and one of its staffing companies agreed to allow workers to discuss their working conditions.

The tech company, however, refused to admit it has wronged the workers in one particular case involving its data center in South Carolina. In that center, AWU alleged in its petition, the management team prohibited pay discussions and even suspended an employee because of his pro-union post on Facebook.

Cutting the contract workers from the pay transparency spreadsheet was a violation to that agreement, AWU said.

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