Google workers are pushing the company to use preferred names on ID badges and drop deadnames
Google workers are pushing the company to use preferred names on ID badges and drop deadnames
Aleeya MayoJun 3, 2021, 03:33 IST
The Alphabet Workers union launched a petition calling for Google to stop requiring trans workers to use deadnames on company badges.Ng Han Guan/AP Photo
The Alphabet Workers Union launched a new campaign urging
Google to #DropTheDeadnames.
Their petition asks Google to stop requiring trans workers to use names they no longer identify with on company ID badges.
Many businesses, from Silicon Valley to Wall Street, are working to create more gender-inclusive work environments.
San Francisco, California, the United States Civil rights organisations and Dalit rights groups are adding urgency to their calls to end caste-based discrimination in the US after incidents in California and New Jersey have thrust the issue into the spotlight.
Dalits, who were formally referred to as “untouchables”, occupy the lowest position in the complex Hindu caste system and have historically faced discrimination and violence at the hands of members of other castes in India and other parts of South Asia.
Advocates say this discrimination has unfortunately migrated to the US along with workers from the region and is now running rampant in several US industries.
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In each of the past seven years, major tech companies have released diversity reports, charting the number of women and people of color they employ. The numbers are reported to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, but companies have dedicated more and more resources to publicly displaying their commitments to diversity. The displays are impressive. The results are not.
These companies spend millions on targeted outreach and strategic partnerships, but the results change little from year to year. Between 2014 and 2020, for example, the share of Black and Latinx tech workers at Facebook each increased by less than 2 percentage points.
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As big tech companies have become more entrenched in our lives, the rise of remote work has made their employees more disposable. So it’s no surprise that the pandemic has catalyzed new efforts to unionize tech workers. Last week, a group of Google employees announced the formation of an Alphabet Workers Union in partnership with the Communications Workers of America.
But instead of mobilizing as most unions do for better pay, more benefits, and better job security, this labor union hopes to seize the means of managerial decision-making. Unlike previous petitions and protests, the union at Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, will require a tangible commitment in the form of hefty membership dues. That’s a sacrifice it’s far from clear that many of the organizers’ colleagues are willing to pay.