Google Employees Form Union

Google workers along with their peers at other Alphabet Inc GOOG GOOGL units have formed a union that is open to both permanent employees and contractors, Bloomberg reported.

What Happened: The Google employee union was created Monday and is a rare event by Silicon Valley standards. The union will function like many others by collecting dues and electing a board of directors.

The union will focus on issues related to compensation, employee classification and the projects in which Google engages, according to Bloomberg.

Google's union is supported by the Communications Workers of America and anyone who joins the union will also become members of CWA Local 1400.

"We will hire skilled organizers to ensure all workers at Google know they can work with us if they actually want to see their company reflect their values," Google engineer Dylan Baker told Bloomberg.

Why It's Important: The union founders highlighted management's reputation of dismissing employee concerns related to military contracts; how contract workers are treated differently; and a 2018 compensation package given to a top executive accused of sexual misconduct.

It is not yet clear if the union wants formal recognition by Alphabet or if it will attempt to secure majority support among the workforce.

"We've always worked hard to create a supportive and rewarding workplace for our workforce," Kara Silverstein, director of people operations at Google, told Bloomberg.

"Of course our employees have protected labor rights that we support. But as we've always done, we'll continue engaging directly with all our employees."

What's Next: A successful and powerful union could limit executives' authority and pave the way for employees at other tech giants to follow suit.