Google employees met with the Justice Department's Antitrust Division last month to share workers' perspectives ahead of the government's expected proposal to break up the company. Your message? That as the Justice Department attempts to end Google's search monopoly, any effective remedy must ensure that workers are protected and empowered to speak.
Three members of the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) met virtually with staff from the Justice Department's Antitrust Division on October 23, said workers who attended the meeting. The edge exclusively. During the hour-long conversation, Google employees urged the government to consider how any remedy imposed by the court could affect workers and to ensure that workers are protected and aware of their rights to share compliance concerns without confronting retaliation.
The government is considering a number of possible solutions aimed at breaking Google's stranglehold on the online search market, which Judge Amit Mehta deemed an illegal monopoly. In its initial high-level solution proposal, it proposed developing Google's Chrome browser and Android operating system, along with less invasive solutions such as banning certain contract terms and requiring licensing of some of its data. The Justice Department is expected to present a more refined version of that proposed solution on Wednesday.
If Google dissolves, some workers could see their jobs change dramatically… or disappear. But AWU members say the company has discouraged them from raising concerns about the company's future. The union filed an unfair labor practices complaint with the National Labor Relations Board earlier this year, prompted by a top executive who asked employees to refrain from discussing the case “both internally and externally.” (Google spokesman Peter Schottenfels said The edge that the company “was simply asking that employees not discuss ongoing litigation on behalf of Google without prior approval”).
“Remedies, whatever they are, will fail if workers remain fearful of retaliation and unable to voice their concerns,” says Parul Koul, a Google software engineer and president of the AWU. Alan McAvinney, another Google software engineer and the union's organizing chair, says that over six years at Google, they've noticed an increased amount of retaliation.
Given instructions from Google management and previous allegations from former employees, Koul says he is aware of the “risk inherent in having these conversations and defending ourselves.” But to improve conditions for workers, Koul says, “we felt it was imperative that we speak up and make sure our voices are part of the conversation, even if there is fear in doing so.”
“Instead of engaging us in this conversation, what they really told us is, 'don't even talk about it.'”
Koul and McAvinney did not advocate for or against any particular remedy, recognizing that there is likely a variety of opinions in such a large workforce. But they want to make sure workers' voices are part of the discussion. “The fact that instead of (Google) engaging us in this conversation, what they really told us was 'don't even talk about that,' that's really our problem here,” Koul says.
Google employees recognize that anything the Justice Department proposes could affect their jobs, whether it alters their day-to-day lives or the number of certain jobs that exist, Koul says. “Our approach really comes from a sense of 'there are no decisions about us, without us,'” he says.
