Google staff call out treatment of temp workers in 'historic' show of solidarity

More than 900 Google workers have signed a letter objecting to the tech giant's treatment of temporary contractors, in what organizers are calling "an historical coalition" between Google's full-time employees [FTEs] and temps, vendors and contractors [TVCs]. In March, Google abruptly shortened the contracts of 34 temp workers on the "personality" team for Google Assistant – the Alexa-like digital assistant that reads you the weather, manages your calendar, sends a text message, or calls you an Uber through your phone or smart speaker. The cuts, which affected contractors around the globe, reinvigorated the debate over Googles's extensive use of TVCs, amid a growing labor movement within the company. In recent months, Google FTEs and TVCs have been increasingly vocal in protesting both their working conditions and the ethics of their employer. "For years, Google has boasted of its ability to scale up and down very quickly, and [sic] vocal in its ability to'navigate changes with agility,'" the letter reads.