Tag Archives: worker relations

New York Times: TikTok Rankles Employees With Return-to-Office Tracking Tools

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New York Times: TikTok Rankles Employees With Return-to-Office Tracking Tools. “TikTok employees in the United States expressed frustration and dismay this week after the company introduced a tool for tracking office attendance and threatened disciplinary action for failing to comply with new in-person mandates, in an unusual effort to get workers back into the office with custom data-collection technology.”

Business Insider: Elon Musk poached a Google scientist and justified it by telling Larry Page he shouldn’t have been ‘so cavalier about AI safety’

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Business Insider: Elon Musk poached a Google scientist and justified it by telling Larry Page he shouldn’t have been ‘so cavalier about AI safety’. “In 2015, Elon Musk and Sam Altman convinced one Google scientist to jump ship — with a $1.9 million salary and starting bonus — and join them in cofounding OpenAI. Walter Isaacson’s biography on Musk, written after shadowing the tech billionaire for three years and published on Tuesday, detailed the aftermath of the incident and recounted how Musk justified poaching talent from Google to the company’s then-CEO Larry Page.”

Reuters: UAW union embraces social media as labor talks toughen ahead of deadline

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Reuters: UAW union embraces social media as labor talks toughen ahead of deadline. “The United Auto Workers union is leveraging the power of social media to attract public support in demanding substantial wage increases for hourly workers as a deadline looms with the Detroit Three automakers.”

CNBC: X, formerly Twitter, faces 2,200 arbitration cases and filing fees over $3 million

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CNBC: X, formerly Twitter, faces 2,200 arbitration cases and filing fees over $3 million. “X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, is facing 2,200 arbitration cases that ex-employees filed after Elon Musk took over the company, slashed headcount, and made other sweeping changes there. The filing fees alone for that volume of cases could amount to $3.5 million.”

Bloomberg: Google Illegally Cut Contract Staffers Who Worked on AI, Union Alleges

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Bloomberg: Google Illegally Cut Contract Staffers Who Worked on AI, Union Alleges. “The Alphabet Workers Union accused the internet giant of violating federal labor law, which prohibits retaliation against employees for organizing. More than 70% of the proposed bargaining unit — which includes 118 writers, graphic designers and launch coordinators who create internal and external Google content — were told in July that they will lose their jobs, according to a Thursday filing with the National Labor Relations Board.”

Bloomberg: Twitter Accused of Ducking a Fight Over Musk’s Mass Layoffs

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Bloomberg: Twitter Accused of Ducking a Fight Over Musk’s Mass Layoffs. “The company now known as X Corp. has been accused in multiple suits of numerous labor and workplace violations, including its failure to pay thousands of workers laid off late last year after Musk’s acquisition. About 2,000 former Twitter employees have resorted to fighting their claims in arbitration as the company has demanded — but Twitter hasn’t shown up, according to a complaint filed Monday in San Francisco federal court.”

Techdirt: Twitter’s Lawyers Admit They’re Overwhelmed As Nearly 2000 Laid Off Employees File Arbitration Claims

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Techdirt: Twitter’s Lawyers Admit They’re Overwhelmed As Nearly 2000 Laid Off Employees File Arbitration Claims. “Twitter’s lawyers note that there are four law firms handling the majority of the cases, with the largest (by far) being Lichten & Liss-Riordan (Shannon Liss-Riordan made herself known to Twitter employees basically as soon as Musk took over, so it’s not surprising that the majority of ex-employees went to her firm). Apparently 1,848 of the 1,986 arbitration cases have all come from this firm.”

Courthouse News Service: Fired Twitter employees ordered to arbitrate wrongful termination claims

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Courthouse News Service: Fired Twitter employees ordered to arbitrate wrongful termination claims. “Billionaire and new Twitter owner Elon Musk won a first round in federal court Friday when a judge granted Twitter’s motions to dismiss wrongful termination claims from employees fired last fall, ordering them to arbitration instead.”

Bloomberg: Google Employees Petition Pichai for Better Handling of Job Cuts

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Bloomberg: Google Employees Petition Pichai for Better Handling of Job Cuts. “Almost 1,400 employees at Google parent Alphabet Inc. have signed a petition calling for better treatment of staff during the layoff process, after the company announced it was cutting 12,000 jobs.”

The Verge: Labor board decision could force Google to negotiate with YouTube contractors

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The Verge: Labor board decision could force Google to negotiate with YouTube contractors. “The National Labor Relations Board has ruled that Alphabet, Google’s parent company, should be considered a joint employer for a group of YouTube Music contractors. The workers are currently attempting to organize with the Alphabet Worker’s Union, and the NLRB’s decision could mean that the tech giant has to negotiate with them if they vote to unionize in an upcoming election.”

Bloomberg: Hundreds of Google Staff in Zurich Stage Walkout Over Job Cuts

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Bloomberg: Hundreds of Google Staff in Zurich Stage Walkout Over Job Cuts. “About 250 employees from Alphabet Inc. subsidiary Google in Zurich walked out Wednesday to protest the company’s decision last month to cut about 6% of its global workforce.”

Engadget: YouTube Music workers strike at Google’s Austin offices

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Engadget: YouTube Music workers strike at Google’s Austin offices. “YouTube Music workers in the Austin, TX area who voted to unionize are striking. The Alphabet Works Union-CWA (AWU-CWA), which represents the contractors, says this is the first time a group of Google-affiliated workers has gone on strike.”

Bloomberg: Google Workers Stage Rallies Against Job Cuts, Low Wages

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Bloomberg: Google Workers Stage Rallies Against Job Cuts, Low Wages. “Google employees staged protests on both US coasts this week to call attention to labor conditions for subcontracted workers and support thousands of co-workers who were recently laid off.”

Reuters: Twitter asks judge to toss out proposed sex bias class action

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Reuters: Twitter asks judge to toss out proposed sex bias class action. “Twitter Inc has asked a federal judge to toss out a proposed class action claiming the company targeted female employees during its recent mass layoffs, saying the plaintiffs failed to identify any actual discrimination.”

WIRED: Tech Workers Fight for Iran Protesters as Big Tech Plays It Safe

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WIRED: Tech Workers Fight for Iran Protesters as Big Tech Plays It Safe. “Google’s Iran response has frustrated some employees, rights groups, and US lawmakers. They want the company to deepen its support, including by opening up cloud computing and software development tools to people inside Iran to help protesters communicate securely and circumvent government internet firewalls.”