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

[Mark @ OC]

Thanks for the Nostalgic reminder .. 

> On 22 Nov 2019, at 04:44, Renee Lloyd <reneelloyd at mac.com> wrote:
> 
> Wow.  Read this and immediately went back and read their S-1 filing when they went public in 2004.   In the letter from the founders, Larry and Sergey write:
> 
>  
> “GOOGLERS
>  
> Our employees, who have named themselves Googlers, are everything. Google is organized around the ability to attract and leverage the talent of exceptional technologists and business people. We have been lucky to recruit many creative, principled and hard working stars. We hope to recruit many more in the future. We will reward and treat them well. 
>  
> We provide many unusual benefits for our employees, including meals free of charge, doctors and washing machines. We are careful to consider the long term advantages to the company of these benefits. Expect us to add benefits rather than pare them down over time. We believe it is easy to be penny wise and pound foolish with respect to benefits that can save employees considerable time and improve their health and productivity. 
>  
> The significant employee ownership of Google has made us what we are today. Because of our employee talent, Google is doing exciting work in nearly every area of computer science. We are in a very competitive industry where the quality of our product is paramount. Talented people are attracted to Google because we empower them to change the world; Google has large computational resources and distribution that enables individuals to make a difference. Our main benefit is a workplace with important projects, where employees can contribute and grow. We are focused on providing an environment where talented, hard working people are rewarded for their contributions to Google and for making the world a better place. “
> 
> 
>  
> This was followed by ‘Don’t Be Evil”.   
> 
> 
> Attached link to Google S-1 in case any of you folks want to read it.  
> 
> https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312504073639/ds1.htm <https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1288776/000119312504073639/ds1.htm>
> 
> Sent from my iPhone
> 
>> On Nov 21, 2019, at 11:00 PM, Yosem Companys <ycompanys at gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> 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 <https://www.nytimes.com/2019/11/20/technology/Google-union-consultant.html>  
>> -- 
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