Google contract workers demand higher pay
Google workers are once again speaking up in protest of company policies – this time in a push for the search giant to increase pay for temporary workers, vendors and contractors (TVCs).
In a letter to CEO Sundar Pichai – who is scheduled to testify on Capitol Hill next week – workers allege they are treated differently from full-time employees, despite handling an increasing amount of the company’s workload.
“TVCs are disproportionately people from marginalized groups who are treated as less deserving of compensation, opportunities, workplace protections, and respect,” the letter read. “Even when we’re doing the same work as full-time employees, these jobs routinely fail to provide living wages and often offer minimal benefits.”
The letter, whom it is not clear how many workers are behind, said that while Google rakes in billions of dollars and increasingly looks toward temporary workers, which comprise a “majority” of its workforce, they are underpaid and often don’t receive important information. For example, the TVCs allege that they were not given real-time security updates during the shooting at YouTube earlier this year – which were only delivered to full-time employees.
Google did not return FOX Business’ request for comment.
Google workers have taken to the public forum to protest a number of company policies this year. Employee objections contributed in part to the tech giant’s decision to withdraw its bid for a $10 billion cloud contract with the Pentagon, after workers cited concerns over how the U.S. military might use its technology. They have also spoken out against how the company has handled sexual misconduct claims and have called for Google to end an initiative called Project Dragonfly, which is a plan to launch a censored version of its search engine in China.
All of these issues are likely to come up when Pichai appears before lawmakers next week, in a hearing focused on the “potential bias” at Google and the need for greater transparency where its filtering practices are concerned.