Alphabet Workers Form Union: The Information’s Tech Briefing

Tech workers of the world unite! That could be the slogan for the new Alphabet Workers Union, which was announced Monday by the union’s leaders in an opinion piece in the New York Times. It’s an update on a famous version of a line from the Communist Manifesto, which, judging by the opinion piece, would be appropriate.

In their manifesto, the union leaders make clear the union wants to have a role in deciding who Alphabet does business with and what technologies it introduces. They complained that the company has “collaborated with repressive governments around the world” and developed AI technology for use by the Defense Department. “Right now a few wealthy executives define what the company produces and how its workers are treated. This isn’t the company we want to work for,” the union leaders declared. Instead, they wrote, “We want Alphabet to be a company where workers have a meaningful say in decisions that affect us and the societies we live in.”