The Alphabet Workers Union — which represents directly employed and contingent workers at Google — announced last week [1] that Covid-19 hazard pay was restored to a group of contingents assigned to Google data centers.
Contingent workers at Google data centers in Council Bluffs, Iowa; Montgomery County, Tennessee; and Berkeley County, South Carolina, were slated to receive an extra $200 per week in Covid-19 hazard pay starting in September, with the extra pay set to expire in December, the union said. However, it said their staffing provider, Modis, ended the hazard pay in mid-October.
Some 250 contingent workers were affected.
The union said 100 workers took part in a “mass ticketing” to draw attention to the issue in Alphabet, the parent company of Google. Ticketing is when workers file an individual “ticket” that goes to Modis management and payroll. Modis management ultimately hosted an impromptu meeting with workers. The hazard pay was restored.
The New York Times reported [2] Google said the $200 weekly bonus had been put on temporary hold because of a billing error and miscommunication and that the issue had been resolved.
The union said data center workers can be paid as low as $15 per hour for skilled and physical work.