Google cut contractors off from online 'Share My Salary' spreadsheet, union claims
(2022/11/04)
- Reference: 1667568642
- News link: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2022/11/04/google_nlrb_complaint/
- Source link:
The Alphabet Workers Union (AWU) claims the company blocked access to a shared spreadsheet in which it reckons "hundreds" of subcontracted workers had shared their salary details and "up to 50,000" of those staffers are now prevented from looking them up.
The group, also known as the Google Union, [1]said it filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) yesterday, naming both parent company Alphabet and the companies that hired the affected contractors – affiliates Accenture Flex and Crowd Staffing.
The document, or so the AWU claims, is an internal "worker-created spreadsheet that detailed Alphabet- and contractor-wide wages" and was created in 2021 so that folks in jobs across subcontractors for the company could compare their pay. Such workers are known as Temporary, Vendor, and Contract (TVC) staff.
[2]
According to the union, Alphabet withdrew access to the spreadsheet "on July 11, 2022 and July 14, 2022." It noted that workers employed directly by Alphabet still have access to their own, employee-run "Share My Salary" spreadsheet.
[3]
[4]
Cutting employees off from access to pay information, or stopping them from [5]discussing or disclosing their pay , would be a violation of Executive Order 11246, and is also protected under Section 7 and 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which would be [6]the part [PDF] the Feds would be interested in if the complaint is upheld.
[7]War declared on bosses using 'omnipresent surveillance' tools to quash union efforts
[8]Google datacenter contractors claim 'retaliation' for talking workers' rights
[9]Amazon accused of singling out, harassing union organizers
[10]Big Apple Apple Store workers hope to form union
Laura Greene, a worker with one of the contractors, Accenture Flex, commented in a statement released by the union: "When we had access to a shared spreadsheet we could see how across companies, workers were being paid vastly different amounts for their work. This is powerful information that we have a right to know and hope Alphabet does the right thing and returns access to all workers immediately."
The complaint has not yet appeared on the NLRB website, but should surface [11]here when it does.
According to Bloomberg, the spreadsheet was a Google Sheet that was hosted on the company's intranet, and we have asked the union for confirmation of this. Far be it from us to suggest Excel Online on OneDrive might be a plan.
[12]
The NLRB said [13]earlier this week it plans to crack down on the growing use of technology by bosses to monitor and measure staff as it is feared this software may be used to kill off efforts to organize and unionize.
A memo from NLRB's General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo noted actions taken by outfits like Amazon, whose monitoring systems [14]scrutinize workers .
We have asked Google for comment. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://alphabetworkersunion.org/press/releases/tvc-salary-sharing-ulp/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y2VFM2M5HuWnA6nUz2xm1wAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y2VFM2M5HuWnA6nUz2xm1wAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y2VFM2M5HuWnA6nUz2xm1wAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/executive-order-11246/ca-11246
[6] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-11/pdf/2015-22547.pdf
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/01/employee_tracking_nlrb/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/13/google_datacenter_contract_workers_nlrb/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/23/amazon_nlrb_union_ruling/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/19/apple_union_amazon/
[11] https://www.nlrb.gov/reports/graphs-data/recent-filings
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y2VFM2M5HuWnA6nUz2xm1wAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/01/employee_tracking_nlrb/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/01/amazon_staff_spying/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
The group, also known as the Google Union, [1]said it filed an Unfair Labor Practice charge with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) yesterday, naming both parent company Alphabet and the companies that hired the affected contractors – affiliates Accenture Flex and Crowd Staffing.
The document, or so the AWU claims, is an internal "worker-created spreadsheet that detailed Alphabet- and contractor-wide wages" and was created in 2021 so that folks in jobs across subcontractors for the company could compare their pay. Such workers are known as Temporary, Vendor, and Contract (TVC) staff.
[2]
According to the union, Alphabet withdrew access to the spreadsheet "on July 11, 2022 and July 14, 2022." It noted that workers employed directly by Alphabet still have access to their own, employee-run "Share My Salary" spreadsheet.
[3]
[4]
Cutting employees off from access to pay information, or stopping them from [5]discussing or disclosing their pay , would be a violation of Executive Order 11246, and is also protected under Section 7 and 8 of the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), which would be [6]the part [PDF] the Feds would be interested in if the complaint is upheld.
[7]War declared on bosses using 'omnipresent surveillance' tools to quash union efforts
[8]Google datacenter contractors claim 'retaliation' for talking workers' rights
[9]Amazon accused of singling out, harassing union organizers
[10]Big Apple Apple Store workers hope to form union
Laura Greene, a worker with one of the contractors, Accenture Flex, commented in a statement released by the union: "When we had access to a shared spreadsheet we could see how across companies, workers were being paid vastly different amounts for their work. This is powerful information that we have a right to know and hope Alphabet does the right thing and returns access to all workers immediately."
The complaint has not yet appeared on the NLRB website, but should surface [11]here when it does.
According to Bloomberg, the spreadsheet was a Google Sheet that was hosted on the company's intranet, and we have asked the union for confirmation of this. Far be it from us to suggest Excel Online on OneDrive might be a plan.
[12]
The NLRB said [13]earlier this week it plans to crack down on the growing use of technology by bosses to monitor and measure staff as it is feared this software may be used to kill off efforts to organize and unionize.
A memo from NLRB's General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo noted actions taken by outfits like Amazon, whose monitoring systems [14]scrutinize workers .
We have asked Google for comment. ®
Get our [15]Tech Resources
[1] https://alphabetworkersunion.org/press/releases/tvc-salary-sharing-ulp/
[2] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=2&c=2Y2VFM2M5HuWnA6nUz2xm1wAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D2%26raptor%3Dcondor%26pos%3Dtop%26test%3D0
[3] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y2VFM2M5HuWnA6nUz2xm1wAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[4] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=3&c=33Y2VFM2M5HuWnA6nUz2xm1wAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D3%26raptor%3Deagle%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[5] https://www.dol.gov/agencies/ofccp/executive-order-11246/ca-11246
[6] https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/FR-2015-09-11/pdf/2015-22547.pdf
[7] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/01/employee_tracking_nlrb/
[8] https://www.theregister.com/2022/10/13/google_datacenter_contract_workers_nlrb/
[9] https://www.theregister.com/2022/09/23/amazon_nlrb_union_ruling/
[10] https://www.theregister.com/2022/04/19/apple_union_amazon/
[11] https://www.nlrb.gov/reports/graphs-data/recent-filings
[12] https://pubads.g.doubleclick.net/gampad/jump?co=1&iu=/6978/reg_offprem/front&sz=300x50%7C300x100%7C300x250%7C300x251%7C300x252%7C300x600%7C300x601&tile=4&c=44Y2VFM2M5HuWnA6nUz2xm1wAAAJE&t=ct%3Dns%26unitnum%3D4%26raptor%3Dfalcon%26pos%3Dmid%26test%3D0
[13] https://www.theregister.com/2022/11/01/employee_tracking_nlrb/
[14] https://www.theregister.com/2020/09/01/amazon_staff_spying/
[15] https://whitepapers.theregister.com/
Kev99
I guess losing data saved to the web is a new experience and has never happened before.
Dinanziame
I assume the spreadsheet is still available to employees, just not contractors
Why?
stiine
Why did they even have it in the first place? Also, why would a contractor want Google to know that information? If Google finds out that your employer is only paying you $8k/month when they're paying $20k/month for you, you can rest assured that they're going to be renegotiating your contract, or terminating it outright.
Google knows everything
Anonymous Coward
Including what you are for lunch.
The problem is that they want to keep control of all of the data of the world and you only get a glimpse of a little bit if you pay them handsomely.
Let's go Google!
Oh, and you can't ban me because I don't have any accounts on your shite services..
How the story really ends
"Illegal. How quaint," the executive said. His assistant recognized his mirthless smile, like an adult pretending to care about the prattle of someone else's child.
A quick, almost imperceptible gesture from the executive galvanized the assistant into action. After few quick phone calls and money transfers -- a few seconds of profit for the company, but a fortune to the mere millionaires in Congress -- the new law written by one of the company's many lobbyists had replaced the old, inconvenient one.
The assistant checked "gut labor law" off of the to-do list. There was no reward or acknowledgement from the executive, nor should there be. Bribing lawmakers was just another repetitive, low-skill task, like picking up the dry cleaning or berating the dog walker.