More than 2,000 Google cafeteria workers have unionized: report

12/31/19

Approximately 2,300 Google cafeteria workers who serve meals to employees in the San Francisco Bay area have unionized, claiming they are overworked and underpaid, Vox Recode reported Tuesday.

Dishwashers and food preparers who serve Google employees all three meals, including at the headquarters, voted to form a union after a two-year push, a source involved with the campaign told Recode. An arbitrator recognized a vote in support of the union on Nov. 20, creating one of the largest at a single major tech company.

These workers’ salaries begin at around $35,000, and they do not receive the same benefits as full-time Google employees, a source told Recode, which could further intensify economic inequality in Silicon Valley. 

The local chapter of Unite Here, which represents 300,000 workers in the service industry, helped the workers organize, Recode reported. 

Google contracts the workers through the company Compass Group, which the source said is in contract negotiations with the union.

A spokesperson for Compass Group told Recode that all of the company's associates have the right to decide whether to be represented by labor organization.

“If they do, Compass Group will meet with the union and engage in good faith bargaining with the goal of achieving a mutually satisfactory agreement as we have done at Google Mountain View,” the spokesperson said. 

A Google spokesperson told The Hill that the company will continue to work with Compass Group.

“We work with lots of partners, many of which have unionized workforces and many of which don’t,” the spokesperson said.