We launched this campaign eight months ago in response to the rounds of mass layoffs at Google. As workers, we saw these decisions lead to feelings of instability, the loss of institutional knowledge, and the degradation of the special culture that's been cultivated here. It's especially hard to see this happen while the company remains so profitable and innovative.

As members of the Alphabet Workers Union, we know that this is what happens when workers don't have a seat at the table. We are building an organization that can protect Googlers and keep the democratic, bottom-up culture of Google alive.

Since our union forums, over 2250 Googlers have signed our petition, and hundreds have joined our t-shirt days of visibility or mass email actions.

‍And it's working. Voluntary exit packages (VEPs) have now been offered to over 60,000 Googlers. No other large tech company has adopted this program, and Google's CEO Sundar Pichai has said it was implemented after listening to employees: "It gives people agency".

‍We've also been listening to our coworkers over this last year, and we've heard a demand for protections for our coworkers on visas, who face loss of status on top of the usual impacts of layoffs. Losing visa status often means you have only two months to find a new job before you have to leave the country.

That's why we are expanding our campaign to include a new demand: severance as leave. Google should allow workers to take severance as an extension of paid garden leave instead of a lump-sum, so they have more time on the payroll.

The only way we can win these demands and more is by taking action together. Let's build a Google that works for all of us.

In solidarity,
Alphabet Workers Union