AUSTIN, Texas — A YouTube Music contract worker said that he was prepared to make a victory speech at the Austin City Council meeting on Feb. 29 after pleading with the council to support their cause toward bringing their employers to the negotiating table with their union.
Instead, during his speech that was captured on video, he and roughly 40 of his team members learned that their contracts had ended.
The unionized workers were employed through Google and the information technology company Cognizant.
Jack Benedict, who was the person speaking before the council, claims he and his coworkers were misled and not given a specific date of when their contract was supposed to end.
"Absolutely no warning whatsoever. In fact, we were led to believe that our contract was going to get renewed," Benedict said. "[Google and Cognizant are] both equally responsible to come to the bargaining table and both had equal responsibility over our terms of employment."
The job cuts come after YouTube Music workers who became a union through the Alphabet Workers Union (AWU-CWA) went on strike citing unfair working conditions.
KVUE reached out to Google. A spokesperson responded with a statement saying that the situation was a "business-as-usual contract end":
“As we’ve shared before, these are not Google employees. Cognizant is responsible for these workers' employment terms, including staffing. As is the case here, contracts with our suppliers across the company routinely end on their natural expiry date, which was agreed to with Cognizant.”
KVUE also reached out to Cognizant. The chief communications officer for Cognizant responded with the following statement:
"Nobody was laid off yesterday. A contract expired and the Austin-based employees are still Cognizant employees.
As a professional services company, ramp-downs and ramp-ups of projects are a normal part of Cognizant’s business operations. This contract ended at its planned expiration date."
Cognizant added that through its bench policy program, employees are given seven weeks of paid time to explore other roles within the organization, and "continue to provide support to our associates as they find their next project."
Benedict, however, disputes Google's statement that they were not their employees.
"The main reason that seeking joint employer was so important was so that they couldn't just cut the contract when they found out we unionized. So [Google has] been saying this, that we're not their employees legally. That's completely false.," Benedict said.
In the midst of discovering that the contract had ended, the majority of Austin City Council members wound up passing the intended resolution during the council meeting, which offered support toward the YouTube Music workers after it had been originally postponed.
But according to District 9 Councilmember Zo Qadri, the resolution simply serves as being symbolic.
"It was just gut wrenching to see from the dais," Qadri said. "The city stands in solidarity with them and with labor, and at this point since everything kind of played out, it is out of our hands."
The tech industry has been hit hard with layoffs, but according to Benedict, the fight is far from over.
"Google and Cognizant may think that they've gotten rid of us, but that's absolutely not the case. The fight is honestly just beginning," Benedict said.