[liberationtech] Google Appears Ready to Crack Down on Employee Activism

[Yosem Companys]

As it deals with worker accusations that it has retaliated against
organizers of a global walkout and cracked down on dissent inside the
country, Google has hired a consulting firm with a union-busting reputation
to advise management. The New York Times reports that IRI Consultants
apparently works frequently for hospitals and other healthcare
organizations and boasts of its “union vulnerability assessments” and
success in helping a national healthcare company persuade employees to
avoid a union election. Google’s hiring of IRI is further evidence of a
feud between company management and a group of activist employees that have
pushed the limits of the company’s traditionally transparent,
worker-friendly reputation. The hiring was a surprising turn in the Silicon
Valley culture where union organization and labor unrest have been rare
because employees have been generally well-paid and treated well. Google
employees around the world walked out last fall in protest of the company’s
handling of sexual abuse complaints, while the free-wheeling discussion
boards that have defined Google’s culture have increasingly turned into
contentious debates over politics or company policies.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/technology/Google-union-consultant.html
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