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Google lays off contractors who unionized last month | Engadget
(www.engadget.com)
This is a most excellent place for technology news and articles.
It's a bit misleading. They're not private contractors but employees of a different company instead. The union busting in the US is pretty extreme. I just hope these people can put their talents to work in a company that doesn't have so many issues complying with the rule "don't be evil".
Yeah Google is well known for employing "contractors" which is just really a way for them to avoid any of the annoying regulations you have with actual employees, by having them be employed by a third party but really they're just working for Google full time. Also looks better on the balance sheets.
There have actually been a few cases that have made it through the courts that apply "employee" status based on how the company treats the worker rather than how they're paid.
Especially in cases where the worker is on long-term assignment somewhere like Google.