About 200 Google employees have established a union to organize workers across the tech giant's global operations, according to a Jan. 4 Wall Street Journal report.
Five things to know:
1. The Alphabet Workers Union will be affiliated with Communications Workers of America Local 1400 and is backed by about 200 of Google's 132,000 employees.
2. The union is the first open to employees and contractors at any Alphabet company and will be supported by members paying 1 percent of their annual base pay and bonus every year, organizers told the publication.
3. Union organizing efforts started more than a year ago, and the group said its immediate goal is to push for employees to be able to speak out about Google without facing career repercussions.
4. The employee group said Google has retaliated against workers who were critical of the company and has not done enough to address complaints of discrimination and harassment. Last month, the National Labor Relations Board filed a complaint alleging Google interrogated and fired employees for participating in workplace organizing; a company spokesperson denied the claims.
5. In a statement to the Journal, Google People Operations Director Kara Silverstein said: "We've always worked hard to create a supportive and rewarding workplace for our workforce. Of course our employees have protected labor rights that we support. But as we've always done, we'll continue engaging directly with all our employees."