Prospect union has announced a deal with Google that will allow it to speak to the tech giant’s UK employees about unionization.
The access agreement will allow Prospect to engage and communicate with non-unionized workers and comes in the wake of new right of access rules, which came into force on 30 October.
Under the terms of the agreement, Prospect said it will now be able to “connect with Google workers both physically and digitally”. This includes running sessions on the benefits of trade union membership, hosted at Google offices such as Kings Cross.
A Google spokesperson said the agreement builds on long-running work to bolster relations with employee representative groups.
“To comply with the new UK workplace legislation, we have established a structured access agreement with Prospect Union for Google UK’s employees,” they said.
“This step builds on our established work with internal employee representative groups, allowing us to fulfil these new requirements while preserving the respectful, direct dialogue our culture is built on.”
According to Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy, the access agreement highlights continued union momentum across the UK tech industry.
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“I am pleased that Google has struck this agreement with us, and hope it sends a clear signal to other tech companies that having a relationship with trade unions is the new normal in the sector,” he said.
“Prospect has been organizing tech workers for many years, and this access agreement is a powerful signal of intent that we can successfully negotiate agreements with even the biggest global tech companies.”
Big tech unionization
The access agreement with Google marks the second secured with a big tech company in recent months. As reported in September, Prospect announced a similar agreement with Meta.
Under the deal, the union was granted access to communicate with 5,000 Meta staff across the country.
Prospect currently represents over 160,000 workers across the UK. Around 50,000 of those work across the science and technology ecosystems, according to official figures published by the union.
With this latest agreement, Prospect said it hopes to grow membership numbers at Google. When unions recruit a sufficient number of employees they are entitled to apply for formal recognition by a company, the union noted.
“The more Googlers that join Prospect, the stronger our voice will be in Google and across the tech sector, and with our track record of delivering wins for members, I am looking forward to seeing what we can achieve together,” Clancy added.
“Tech workers deserve a stronger voice at work, whether that is over bread-and-butter trade union issues like pay and flexibility, AI deployment, or workplace culture.”