Contact: Tony Montana, 412-562-2592, tmontana@usw.org
The United Steelworkers (USW) today said that on June 21, 2021, Region 6 of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) issued an amended consolidated complaint against HCL America, Inc., a contractor at Google’s Bakery Square office.
Since issuing its first complaint against HCL in October 2020, the NLRB has outlined in detail HCL's failure to bargain in good faith with the union representing its employees, who are negotiating for a first contract with the multi-billion dollar multinational. Most egregiously, the company has been eroding its Pittsburgh work force by moving work done here to its facility in Krakow, Poland, to retaliate against workers for exercising their right to choose union representation.
This week’s amended complaint includes a request for an extraordinary remedy: an order to restore the work sent overseas. The complaint also includes a new allegation that HCL unlawfully froze wages in 2020. An administrative law judge is scheduled to hear the NLRB’s case against HCL on July 19, 2021.
Meanwhile on Monday, HCL employees met with Vice President Kamala Harris and U.S. Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh in Pittsburgh, spotlighting the need for the U.S. Senate to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act, which would remove unnecessary barriers to union organizing, make it easier to negotiate first contracts, and increase punishments for employers who illegally attempt to block workers’ collective efforts.
However, on Tuesday, HCL employees were notified that they will not return to the Google Bakery Square office. They may continue to work remotely or could also be sent to a Google vendor office or HCL run office, none of which has been negotiated with the union.
The USW represents 850,000 workers employed in metals, mining, pulp and paper, rubber, chemicals, glass, auto supply and the energy-producing industries, along with a growing number of workers in health care, public sector, higher education, tech and service occupations.