More than 200 Google engineers and employees form the first major tech union after years of serious tension between employees and government management over discrimination, sexual harassment and other offensive behavior. The need to form union comes after years of raising conflicts between employees and management at the tech firm located in Mountain View, California. As The New York Times points out, it’s not a traditional kind of union. The Alphabet Workers Union focuses a little more on policies of the organization than on negotiation for increased salaries. Lately, Google workers has been blasted for firing Timnit Gebru, the top artificial intelligence expert who was among the few women in colour in the industry. Thousands of Google staff also signed a petition opposing her firing. Sundar Pichai, Google’s chief executive, and other executives have tried to come to grips with an increasingly activist work force but have made mis-steps.The formation of the union is particularly unusual for the tech industry, which has long defied attempts to unite its predominantly white-collar workers.
