Swedish union takes Google to court

On 17 January 2024, two workers were called in a meeting at Google in Sweden. They were told that restructuring would take place and that, as a result, their services would no longer be needed. They were offered to sign a “mutual agreement” and resign. But the workers declined – and two weeks later Google called Unionen for negotiations. The union believes that the U.S. multinational has broken the law by involving them too late.

The court dispute at Google is based on a 20-year-old EU rule on worker participation in employment. Google itself claims to be compliant and that EU rules do not require the union to be involved at that stage at all – it is enough to talk directly to workers.

Martin Wästfelt, Head of Negotiations at Unionen, said: “The vast majority of workers do not want employers to go directly at them and confront them with things. They think it’s good that the union exists as a shield.”

Collective bargaining, the ultimate goal

Behind the dispute stands a much bigger issue: Unionen, and a growing number of workers, want a collective agreement at Google, a company that, like Tesla, is internationally known for its refusal to negotiate and for its anti-union practices.

To this end, Unionen has prioritised helping workers organise at the tech company in recent months. This followed a similar dispute over collective bargaining at Swedish fintech company Klarna, where workers ended up winning a landmark collective bargaining agreement.

Google is “one of many where we have a lot of activity and an increased knowledge. You could see that we succeeded at Klarna. This has meant that interest has increased,” Wästfelt added.

Oliver Roethig, Regional Secretary of UNI Europa, said: “It is inspiring to see how Google workers in Sweden don’t let themselves be pushed around. They want union representation at their workplace to deal with restructuring. More than that, they want a collective agreement to give them protection – and they are going to organise for it. We support Google workers and their union Unionen in the fight for a strong agreement.”