• thejevans@lemmy.ml
      15·
      9 months ago

      I think the team were “contractors” so that google could do this and sidestep other employee protections.

  • edric@lemm.eeEnglish
    30·
    9 months ago

    I read some more context about this. This specific team are not google/youtube employees. They are Cognizant contractors working on YouTube Music. Apparently, their contract was set to expire on that exact day they were petitioning the city council for google to recognize their union. So there are 3 things here:

    1. They are attempting to form a union and get recognized by google, but as employees of a different company working as contractors.

    2. By coincidence, their contract was set to end on that day, which is kinda weird that they weren’t aware.

    3. Technically they aren’t laid off by google, they will just report back to their employer. Now what happens with their employment with cognizant is another question. They will likely be “benched” until another client contract comes up, or maybe laid off as well.

    I’m not defending google/youtube here, just sharing information I got that provides more context. Take that info as you will.

    • [email protected]@lemmy.federate.cc
      3·
      9 months ago

      This is huge context. Had they been Google employees it would have been a clear case of retaliation. But in this case they’re not Google employees, and their own employer was locked in a fixed term vendor contract. I don’t believe Google has done anything wrong under these circumstances.

    • LoveSausage@lemmy.ml
      1·
      9 months ago

      I take it as more supportive action and organization should be made. If everyone at YouTube music, heck YouTube or Google in whole were to go on strike and say hire them. Issue would soon be rectified.