Are Unions Making a Comeback?
You can bet on it.
Every business should have their eyes wide open as a union cracks the impermeable shell of Google’s workplace. All it took was 225 or so engineers of Google’s 250,000+ strong workforce of full-time and freelancers to sign cards.
Let’s unpack the significance of this – Google, right? The organization envied by every tech and non-tech company for the last 20 years. Google’s influence has been profound in the workplace – from pioneering big, audacious changes at work (where employees can spend 20% of their time pursuing new innovations, excellent paid leave for parents, firmly establishing the OKR concept in business and the list goes on) to addressing the more basic needs of everyday work life thereby raising the bar for many employers (free food, free transportation, on-site healthcare, and pets at work to cite a few examples).
In addition to all of this, employees were continually reminded of the higher calling and purpose of being a Google-er, especially after successfully going through their rigorous hiring process. Working to help the world have access to useful information was the for-profit, 21st century version of solving peace in the Middle East and eradicating global hunger.
So, if you work for a company like Google, have incredible benefits along with a high salary, get to work on fascinating projects with brilliant people from around the world, have significant blocks of time off to pursue personal and professional passions, what else would you expect from your employer?
Well, a lot.
The answer was clearly articulated by Ms. Koul and Mr. Shaw who are, respectively, the executive chair and the vice chair of the Alphabet Workers Union:
“Each time workers organize to demand change, Alphabet’s executives make token promises, doing the bare minimum in the hopes of placating workers.”
“We want Alphabet to be a company where workers have a meaningful say in decisions that affect us and the societies we live in.”
First, employees and contractors alike are demanding that Google live up to promises made about changes to the workplace – from addressing the inequities of it’s enormous contract workforce to diversity and discrimination challenges which have plagued the organization for some time. The recent employee walkouts and union card-signing activities tell us that Goggle, while it may hear the concerns of its employees, has not made enough substantive change. After much wrangling, Google finally stopped its practice of forced arbitrations but only after employee walkouts and the public revelation of a $90 million severance package for a senior executive departing under a cloud of sexual harassment. Essentially, Googlers do not believe enough progress has been made and have viewed statements made by senior leaders as window dressing.
Second, the government plays a significant role in employee equity – through legislating minimum requirements around safety in the workplace, to anti-discrimination laws to methodologies for classifying employees as full-time vs contract. Despite significant societal expectations for change in these areas, there has not been any significant improvement for workers at the federal level since enactment of The Family and Medical Leave Act of 1993 and The Affordable Care Act of 2010. Despite more proactive legislation in a handful of states, it falls to the private sector and employers specifically to address these areas. As a result, workers want to influence these critical issues which will lift up everyone in their communities.
Most employees and leaders in white collar industries have had little or no exposure to unions. Historically, unions rose to prominence when there were specific needs of the workforce which were not sufficiently addressed by the government nor employers such as worker safety, health care, retirement savings and of course, wages. Unionization was therefore more common in industrial settings, along with the public sector. But, as lower-wage positions moved offshore and employers began to address significant employee concerns, unionization in the USA has been on a steady decline since the late 1970’s.
Why the potential resurgence now?
- 2020 was a year like no other and simply served as an accelerant to big social issues which have not been adequately addressed. In the last few years, there have been nationwide marches for women, the environment and gun control, all of which were dwarfed by the surge of discontent we bore witness to during the Black Lives Matter protests. Racial violence and racial inequality are now viewed as true societal challenges.
- And, then there is the pandemic. As COVID-19 raged and forced people to work in their homes, the result has been a likely permanent blurring of lines between life and work. Worker demands for their unique personal needs have bled into the workplace. School closures means families are re-thinking how to earn a living while raising children in the same space. Work and home are now officially one, unified monolith. This has significant implications for every organization.
- Employees are fed up with senior leaders who make a ridiculous amount of money, say the right things, yet fail to act. The “violators of employee trust” include some of the most successful, new, high-growth businesses like Uber to traditional, long-standing organizations such as Fox News. This lack of organizational accountability tells us that employees are more than willing to look to those outside the workplace to accelerate the pace of change.
Who should be worried?
That depends. How would you respond to the follow questions?
1. Do I regularly listen to my employees?
2. Do I know their biggest concerns about life and work?
3. Am I addressing these needs effectively and communicating next steps?
If you answered “no” to any question, then the time is now to re-think how you listen, respond to and communicate with your workforce.
And, I’ll let you in on a little secret. After working in many union environments and helping organizations prepare for organizing activities, employees unionize because employers let them.
Just like a dealer in poker, the employer controls the game, ensuring decks are shuffled, cards are burned and appropriate bets made ensuring fairness for everyone. Dealers need to know when players want more cards, are upping the ante or deciding to fold.
Get your house of cards in order or else you might flop and turn up in the river.