The Alphabet Workers Union late last month filed a complaint with the National Labor Relations Board alleging YouTube and a staffing company rolled out stringent rules to take effect this month. Refusing to come back to the local Austin office for work would be deemed “job abandonment” and “voluntary termination” under the new rules, the union said in its complaint. Alphabet didn't answer a comment request before publication deadline.
The complaint also calls out staffing company, Cognizant Technology Solutions, which oversees the workers, and notes that Alphabet is a “joint employer,” which means it has enough control over the contract workers to make it legally responsible for how they are treated. As a joint employer, Alphabet is required to negotiate if the workers vote to unionize, the complaint notes.
Cognizant noted in a statement that employees “were fully aware of the intention to return to the office prior to the filing of a petition.”
“All associates working on this project were hired with the understanding that the jobs were based in an Austin office location,” Cognizant spokesman Jeff DeMarrais said.