Google contractors reach tentative contract
A group of tech contractors at Google’s Bakery Square headquarters in Larimer have reached a tentative first contract with the firm HCL America Inc.
The United Steelworkers, which has been representing the 65 employees in their unionization efforts, announced Friday that the union and the Google contractor HCL America had reached a tentative agreement. USW could not disclose specifics but said the proposed contract would offer additional paid time off, including language safeguards to provide job security and address pay parity and wage increases.
“Nearly two years ago, HCL’s employees voted to organize and bargain collectively for a fair contract, and the company fought viciously against it for as long as it could,” USW International President Tom Conway said. “Thanks to the solidarity and determination of these workers and the leadership of our committee, we have reached this important milestone of a first tentative agreement.”
HCL America Inc., based in Sunnyvale, Calif., is a subsidiary of global tech company HCL Technologies Ltd.
According to the USW, HCL America staff had been working side by side with Google employees for less pay and fewer perks. The workers voted to unionize in September 2019.
More than a year later, the regional National Labor Relations Board issued a series of complaints starting in October 2020 against HCL America, alleging the company’s failure to bargain in good faith.
The allegations included preventing union members from distributing buttons at nonwork events to changing policies around employee job performance metrics. The complaint also alleged that the company had shifted work from the Pittsburgh office to its facility in Krakow, Poland.
Vice President Kamala Harris spoke personally with a group of workers from HCL America when she visited Pittsburgh in June. She had been in town to promote the expanded child tax credit and pro-union advocacy and wanted to meet with them to show solidarity, White House press officials said.
“In spite of the company’s best efforts to discourage participating in the union and to avoid negotiating in good faith, we remained united to make our voices heard and demand a fair contract,” said Renata Nelson, a member of the USW bargaining committee. “We work hard, and we deserve what all workers deserve, an agreement that reflects our important contributions to the company’s success.”
A ratification vote for the membership is scheduled for July 30, according to a USW news release. If ratified, the proposed contract would take effect immediately.