Google Reportedly Fires Fifth Worker For Organizing Unionization

Kathryn Spiers distributed educational tools about labor rights.

Number Five

Google reportedly fired another employee for attempting to organize the company's workforce

Kathryn Spiers, who worked on platform security at Google, was investigated, placed on leave, and then fired for distributing information about labor issues through one of the company's internal communication channels, according to CNET. That makes Spiers the fifth employee that Google recently fired for working towards a union — a troubling sign for the future of big tech.

Learning Rights

Spiers was fired on Friday, according to her tweets. She shared the message she sent to Google employees that got her in so much trouble — a small infographic about workers' legal rights and the union-busting firm Google recently hired.

https://twitter.com/eiais/status/1206937195988185088

Part of Spiers' job was creating internal tools like popups and notifications to keep Google employees updated on company news. She used that same mechanism to distribute the message that got her fired.

Company Line

Google provided an official statement to CNET that claimed the problem wasn't the content of the message — but rather that Spiers distributed a notification without the right authorization.

Given the growing tension between workers and Google's leadership, it's difficult to believe that's actually the case.

READ MORE: Google accused of firing another activist employee [CNET]

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