Bulletins

Google workers from 10 countries are forming an international union

Alphabet workers across 10 countries have formed a global union alliance with the Alphabet Workers Union called Alpha Global.

Organized in partnership with the UNI Global Union, which coordinates worker movements internationally, the Alpha Global union will represent unionized workers from at least 10 countries, including Germany, Switzerland, Sweden and the United Kingdom (in addition to the U.S. workers).

While Alpha Global will not have a legally binding contract with Google — much like the Alphabet Workers Union in the U.S. — the unions and workers internationally have committed to coordinating their efforts and advocating for shared goals. (Google representatives did not immediately respond to a request for comment.)

UNI's Amazon Global Union has coordinated similar actions, such as the series of international strikes, walkouts and protests as part of a "Make Amazon Pay" campaign over Black Friday that inspired lawmakers internationally to commit to new legislation regulating Amazon.

"The problems at Alphabet—and created by Alphabet—are not limited to any one country, and must be addressed on a global level," said Christy Hoffman, UNI's General Secretary, in a statement.

 Anna Kramer

Anna Kramer is a reporter at Protocol (Twitter: @ anna_c_kramer, email: akramer@protocol.com), where she writes about labor and workplace issues. Prior to joining the team, she covered tech and small business for the San Francisco Chronicle and privacy for Bloomberg Law. She is a recent graduate of Brown University, where she studied International Relations and Arabic and wrote her senior thesis about surveillance tools and technological development in the Middle East.

unions google activism
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