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Workers Leaving the Googleplex

andrewnormanwilson.com

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Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#41

Post by learc83 »

It seems pretty obvious to me that the reason the yellow badge worker's aren't given those benefits is to keep them separate from the rest of the work force for security reasons (to keep them from talking about their work)

They allow janitors and food service workers access to these perks, it seems kind of weirdly targeted if they are just doing it to save money.

They're probably doing work that is so confidential that google doesn't want to give them the chance to socialize with other workers.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#42

Post by learc83 »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #32
latch wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

exploit? i'm sorry...not having access to free meals, shuttle buses, smartphones, etc isn't exploitation. There's nothing in this that says anything close to exploitation.

They are not allowed to communicate with other employees and are told to report such occurences. Screams exploitation to me.

No, it screams these employees are working on something confidential. Google keeps them from socializing with everyone else in order to keep them from talking about their work.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#43

Post by strictfp »

tkahn6 wrote: post #13

This is literally one of the craziest things I have ever seen. Google is doing absolutely nothing wrong or unethical at all. The guy got fired because he started accusing Google of racism. Wow. Just wow. The sense of entitlement and self-righteousness is just mind blowing.

To me it's much more shocking to what great length you go to defend the rights of the company. It seems to me that freedom of speech should come before the right of firing at will. Or is your opinion that companies are about as souverign as states?

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#44

Post by tkahn6 »

othermaciej wrote: post #36
tkahn6 wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> to have truly 2nd class citizens, How is this any different than having guards and janitors that work odd hours? You think they get all the Google perks that software engineers get?

The guy making the video implied that the security guards and janitors have "red badge" status, getting the same perks as any other contractor, but not the perks reserved only to full-time employees.

Ok? The point is that Google has tiered benefits. The outrage that guards have more benefits than other people in their building makes zero sense to me.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#45

Post by latch »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #32
latch wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

exploit? i'm sorry...not having access to free meals, shuttle buses, smartphones, etc isn't exploitation. There's nothing in this that says anything close to exploitation.

They are not allowed to communicate with other employees and are told to report such occurences. Screams exploitation to me.

IANAL. I'll grant you that this is sketchy. Section 7 of the National Labor Relations Act protects employees from engaging in concerted activities for the purpose of collective bargaining or other mutual aid or protection.

In the US you can't stop person A from talking to person B if the purpose is to make your job better (better benefits/working conditions/almost anything).

IANAL (again)..but, yes, if they aren't allowed to talk to other employees about non-NDA stuff, I agree that maybe a line is slightly being crossed.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#47

Post by lionhearted »

kylec wrote: post #35

There's nothing surprising about a company having different classes of employees. If that was all that the article was about, it would be a minor curiosity. However, Google's extreme overreaction to someone trying to get some very basic information about the other set of employees is what's concerning. It's difficult to know how much of this story is speculation vs fact - whether or not the yellow badged employees ar…

> Google's extreme overreaction to someone trying to get some very basic information about the other set of employees is what's concerning.

Probably this is what set them off -

"...Most of them are people of color and are supposedly involved in the labor of digitizing information. I’m interested in issues of class, race, and labor, and so out of general curiosity I wanted to ask these workers about their jobs. I am aware of internal mechanisms for discussing labor issues with Google, and had no intention of defaming the company..."

A lot of times you can dig a hole for yourself that wasn't there by trying to explain things. Just a, "Was I breaking the rules? Okay, my bad, I didn't mean to. What was I doing? Eh, just screwing around with a video camera, exploring, I won't do it again if it's a problem" probably gets you out of there without hassle.

I mean, his simple explanation covers mentions race, labor, labor issues, defamation, legal contracts... that would scare the hell out of anyone. If he'd just written, "Hi guys, I'm just learning about Google and I like the company. I didn't mean any harm - I'll make sure not to do that again if it's against policy" then that probably would have been the end of it.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#48

Post by Uchikoma »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #5

"the first girl I had spoken to had followed the instructions on the back of her yellow badge – which is to call a certain manager if anyone asks about the work of the yellow badge class" This scarely reminds of "Jedem das Seine" and "Arbeit macht frei" Both phrases actually match the described situation perfectly

So not getting rides to Disney Land is the same as being worked to death? Way off doesn't begin to describe how screwed your comparison is.

Re: Workers Leaving the Googleplex

#50

Post by gradstudent »

pstack wrote: post #19

Was the voiceover being done in a closet in a Google lobby or is there another reason for the depressed monotone? I mean, I understand we're trying to be moody and ominous here, but the voiceover could have been retelling the story of the Human Centipede and I'd have probably fallen asleep (or wanted to shoot myself). I'm not defending Google, here, because I don't know anything about them beyond what everyone else k…

You missed the point: the guy was fired for recording conversations with other employees. After being given permission from his supervisor to do exactly that. On his lunch break. Wtf is that all about?
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