The Google Workers Union is bringing forth legal charges against Alphabet and staffing agencies Adecco and Modis E&T over violations of the National Labor Relations Act. Specifically, the charges include not allowing workers to communicate with one another about the wages they are being paid.
This interferes with section 8(a)(1) of the National Labor Relations Act which protects workers against retaliation from their employers so long as they are engaging in “protected, concerted Activities”.
“Activity is “concerted” if it is engaged in with or on the authority of other employees, not solely by and on behalf of the employee himself. It includes circumstances where a single employee seeks to initiate, induce, or prepare for group action, as well as where an employee brings a group complaint to the attention of management. Activity is “protected” if it concerns employees’ interests as employees”, says the act.
A supervisor at the Moncks Corner (South Carolina) data center prohibited workers from discussing their wages. Even further, on January 28, 2021 the employer suspended an employee for engaging in union activities.
Even though the Google Workers Union is relatively new, it is coming under fire from the capitalists who attempt to suppress communication about wages with contract employees. The effective communication and organization amongst the workers, especially with regards to wages and working conditions, is a threat to the capitalist class and their profits.
The employers are prohibiting protected activities and acting in a retaliatory manner against unionized workers. Even within the framework of bourgeois law, the capitalists will break their own legal statutes as they are supported by the legislative and judicial systems. As long as the capitalist economic system remains under the dictatorship of the bourgeoisie, the suppression of the workers by the capitalists will continue.