and of their total compensation to join the union now even without federal ratification the alphabet workers union will have power because it's joining the largest communications and media labor union in the us the communications workers of america has a big machine behind it and therefore they don't have a lot of power to pressure leadership at google. google employees actually successfully organize in the past to make changes within the company. yes they have back in 2018 thousands of workers protested google's work on project mavin with the defense department to help the military interpret video images collected by drone surveillance that could then be used in targeted drone killings their collective activism created a public relations nightmare for google forcing it to terminate the contract in another collective campaign $20000.00 workers staged a walkout over google's mishandling of sexual misconduct resulting in the end of the firm's forced arbitration policy and of course in recent months google has also faced scrutiny over its firing of a black artificial intelligence researcher who criti

monitoring and questar questioning the workers who were then fired for attempting to unionize and what we see is in an op ed in the new york times the leaders of the alphabet workers' union there were 2 google software engineers they said this for far too long in thousands of other google and other subsidiaries of alphabet google is parent company have had a workplace consensus. this by executives our bosses have collaborated with repressive governments around the world they have developed artificial intelligence technology for use by the department of defense and profited from ads by a hate group failed to make the changes necessary to meaningfully address or attention issues with people of color. is this meaning for the term now or is it falling short of real unionization and this is going to be part this union is going to be part of the larger communication workers of america now unlike traditional unions in america this is going to be a so-called minority union and what this basically means is that it can't force alphabets to collective bargaining over issues such as wages now under u.s. labor law america alfabet can ignore the unions demand and until

there in stay with us want to ask you about another topic the recovering here and that is the alphabet workers union and that's the new organization of google engineers and other workers formed secretly a recent months and revealed this week after the elected officers and affiliated with a larger trade union representing communication workers and the aides of the you remain small only a few 100 members in the slacks bargaining rights but it marks a major shift in the u.s. tech industry workers in silicon valley have not been encouraged to unionize let's go back to court and now yes she can get yens on the wall again i hear i'm not seeing those yes yes this is a small union we should say rights there are hundreds there are tens of thousands of employees out google talk about several 100 people unionizing here does this spook big tech what message does that send. they're clearly i mean google worldwide has about 23260000 people working for them employees and contractors and so far about 230 people or so have joined to this union 1st of all it's not your typical union it's a minority union meaning that

protests recently including on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace the newly founded alphabet workers union now wants to give such protests a structure. so well mr brown really a. week. at the. rather than. individual. fair wages without exploitation or discrimination as well as a greater say in company affairs are the main goals however it remains a nisha pursuit of the more than 130000 employees worldwide only around 225 have joined the new union but the example has been set efforts have also been made at amazon for some time now to an established employee organization. in the u.s. one of the big stories on the new york stock exchange in recent weeks was the expected delisting of 3 chinese tech firms all of them targeted in a recent u.s. executive order prohibiting americans from investing in a list of companies the government says is linked to the beijing government on monday the n.y.s.e. canceled that the listing leaving some to scratch their heads. as if trade and diplomatic relations between the u.s. and china couldn't get any foggier. the new york stock exchange had an announced it w

tech workers at google's parent company have formed a union and the question now is, could this be happening at other tech companies. the newly formed alphabetemployed by google's parent company alphabet. now, most traditional unions are focused on salary negotiation. alphabet workers union want to focus on social equity and the company's ethics. >> we have strived to create technology for the greater good. anything that helps us retain this entrepreneurship and that is over time good for california. >> in an e-mail to abc7 news, google told us we've always worked hard to create a supportive and workplace for ou workforce. as we've always done, we will continue engaging directly with all of our employees. >>> now let's take a live look at the new york stock exchange as trading gets under way this morning. you can see we're up right now about 126 points. >>> haven, a health care start up backed by amazon, berkshire hathaway and jpmorgan chase is shutting down next month. the venture launch in 2018 with the goal of trying to make american health care more cost effective and simplified. struggled to find an identity and lost financial backing i

for more now we are joined by alex, a software engineer at google and supporter of the alphabet workers unionalex, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. let's get right into it to start things off. why are you guys starting a union? >> first, thank you for having me. our story.for helping us share the answer for why we are sharing -- starting a union is pretty simple. google and alphabet executives have failed to act ethically over the years. we have seen again and again, removal the -- we're also losing the moral compass of this country -- company. we belie the workers can set it right, not just for our own benefit and power and dignity as workers, but for the good of the billions of people use google products as well. reporter: that formal recognition from google -- without formalecognition from google, they are not legally required to negotiate with the union. how do you hope to move somef these issues? >> we are what is known as a minority union. we are a relatively small portion of the cone -- of the company right now, although we expect to have a lot more people as we become

alphabet union is not looking for ratification through a federal agency or waiting for recognition from google. >> they're stating very clearly we're acting as a union. we are a union. we're a coalition of workers together and i think once other tech workers see that kind of power they're going to want it for themselves. >> reporter: the alphabet union will not be dealing with compensation or contracts. >> there's a sentiment. it's a strong sentiment at google that these issues are important and the company was founded, remember, not to do any evil and the employees bought into that mantra and they feel like they have a role to play in these important management decisions. >> reporter: in a statement google said, "we've always worked hard to create a supportive and rewarding workplace for our workforce. of course, our employees have protected labor rights that we support, but as we've always done, we'll continue engaging directly with all our employees." the union will have an elected board of directors and paid organizing staff. members will pay 1% of their total compensation. betty yu, kpix5. >>> new at 11:00 unemployment payments have been suspended for many californians. the state's unemplo

employees from google and its parent company alphabet started a new labour union called the alphabet workersits prototype fully autonomous electric car charging robot which it says will work in places like underground car parks. there were also reports this week that billionaire founder of chinese tech giant alibaba, jack ma, had gone missing after he hasn't been seen in public since october. mr ma had been critical of chinese financial regulators as not being innovative enough for technology development. mr ma had been preparing to list his group in what would be the world's largest initial public offering, but regulators shelved the listing after his criticism. data from singapore's covid contact tracing app, trace together, can be accessed by police despite previous reassurances of privacy. initially, officials they said data collected by the app would only be used for virus tracking. researchers from the university of pennsylvania have showed a robot with a body made from ice. the concept, icebot, could be used in remote locations like antarctica and even mars. the robot was able to clai

the group calls itself the alphabet workers union. workers say the primary goal is to provide a structure for employees to push for new policies. it is statement, google says we have always worked hard to create a supportive and rewarding workplace for our workforce. of course our employees have protect the labor rights that we support but as we have always done we will continue engaging directly with all our employees. >>> the new more contagious variant of coronavirus has been found in x people across southern california and according to gov. newsom, four of them are in san diego. one has been hospitalized, the other two have been identified in san bernardino and the governor says contact tracing is underway. that same variant has just been detected in new york. out of 5000 test, only one test showed that new strain which was first identified in the uk. today, and icu nurse at kaiser hospital in la became one of the first californians to get hers second and final dose of the coronavirus vaccine. she says the second vaccine is giving

workers have failed to do. they formed a union. the members went public today as the alphabetkers union, named for google's parent company. they've posted their hopes online, including the ability to refuse working on projects that clash with their values. that's a subtle reference to google's work with the defense department. the union is unusual in that it represents white-collar employees and contractors. >>> that's going to do it for us at 5:00, but lester holt joins us next at 5:30 and we'll be back at 6:00. >> see you at 6:00. good night. >>> tonight growing frustration over the delays in vaccinating americans against covid. the massive lines. seniors waiting overnight for shots. fewer than 5 million vaccinated so far in the u.s. a fraction of the 20 million promised by the end of 2020. the pharmacist in court, why prosecutors say he destroyed 500 doses. >>> the uk ordering a national lockdown as that new covid variant spreads. the new strain detected in a fourth state, new york. is the u.s. doing enough to stop it? >>> fears of a new surge after record travel over the h

protests recently including on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace the newly founded alphabet workers union now wants to give such protests a structure. so what this announcement really is. now that we. were at. rather than by individual that we are. fair wages with out exploitation or discrimination as well as a greater say in company affairs are the main goals however it remains in huge pursuit of the more than 130000 employees worldwide only around 225 have joined the new union but the example has been set efforts have also been made at amazon for some time now to an established employee organization. now shareholders for fear chrysler and france's p.s.a. have overwhelmingly approved a merger between the 2 or to make us creating the world's 4th largest car company the resulting firm will be coat stolen tests and will be home to 15 brands including persia citron jeep opel and dodge in today's increasingly challenging car market the company has as has its work cut out. the 2 car companies couldn't have made it on their own neither fear chrysler nor p.s.a. could keep up with the competition

employees from google and its parent company, alphabet, started a new labour union called the alphabet workersectric car charging robot, which it says will work in places like underground car parks. there were also reports this week that billionaire founder of chinese tech giant alibaba, jack ma, had gone missing after he hasn't been seen in public since october. mr ma had been critical of chinese financial regulators as not being innovative enough for technology development. mr ma had been preparing to list his ant group in what would be the world's largest initial public offering, but regulators shelved the listing after his criticism. data from singapore's covid contact tracing app, trace together, can be accessed by police despite previous reassurances of privacy. 0riginally, officials they said data collected by the app would only be used for virus tracking. researchers from the university of pennsylvania have showed a robot with a body made from ice. they say the concept, icebot, could be used in remote locations like antarctica or even mars. the robot was able to claim icy inclines of u

employees of google and its parent alphabet announcing the creation of a union, escalating years of confrontation between workersent. the effort called the alphabet workers union is a rare campaign within a major u.s. tech company. i want to bring an bloomberg's josh adelson. you don't see unions at tech companies. what is your take on this? this really opens a new chapter in the activism that has been riling google. we've seen workers protesting over research ethics issues, over collaboration with the pentagon, over the handling of sexual harassment, over the treatment of contract workers. we saw thousands of google workers staged a walkout that forced a change in the company's forced arbitration policy. some of the workers who have been involved in taking on those issues at google, they want something that is a more resilient institution to extend that work and carry it forward, to bring more resources to bear, including paid staff, to have a structure that includes elected leaders that they believe will amplify their voice in trying to change the direction of the company to take on what they see as matters of

joining a labor union, accusing the tech giant of ignoring worker demands that the company promote solidarity, democracy, and social and economic justice. members of the newly-formed alphabet workers union wrote in a "new york times" op-ed monday "our bosses have collaborated%d with repressive governments around the world. they have developed artificial intelligence technology for use by the department of defense and profited from ads by a hate group. they have failed to make the changes necessary to meaningfully address our retention issues with people of color." in chicago, scores of teachers refused to return to classrooms monday as the chicago public school district reopened in person classes for the first time since march. members of the chicago teachers union said they're preparing a strike authorization vote in the school officials can ensure stronger protections against the coronavirus. this is a special education teacher. >> all of this breaks my heart. he breaks all of our hearts. but we cannot be the great teachers that we are under these unsafe conditions. and what kind of teachers would we be if we showed our students that are overwhelming and anxiety and fear

there in stay with us want to ask you about another topic the recovering here and that is the alphabet workers union and that's the new organization of google engineers and other workers formed secretly a recent months and revealed this week after the elected officers and affiliated with a larger trade union representing communication workers and the aides of the you remain small only a few 100 members and that's lax bargaining rights but it marks a major shift in the u.s. tech industry workers in silicon valley have not been encouraged to unionize let's go back to court and now 'd yes you can get yens on the wall again i hear i'm not seeing him there is yes yes this is a small union we should say rights there are hundreds there are tens of thousands of employees at google talk about several 100 people unionizing here does this spook big tech what message does that send. they're clearly i mean google worldwide has about 23260000 people working for them employees and contractors and so far about 230 people or so have joined to this a union 1st of all it's not your typical union it's a minority union

unionized and that's what's topping cnbc's on the money. more than 200 engineers and other workers formed the alphabet workers union it's a rare move for employees in silicon valley. tech workers have been public about their disagreements with management for years, everything from labor practices to business deals. in a statement to cnbc, an alphabet spokesperson says the company supports workers' labor riots. >>> the business venture designed to disrupt the health care market and lower costs is going away amazon, berkshire hathaway and jpmorgan is shutting it down they created haven back in 2018, but since have struggled to get projects off the ground. operations end next month. >>> and mcdonald's is about to check in with a new crispy chicken -- would you look at that trio? wow! three different versions in the united states. classy, deluxe and spicy yes, classy. the world's largest fast food chain wants a piece of that growing chicken sandwich market now dominated by popeye's and chick-fil-a. mcdonald's describes it this way, crispy white meat chicken fillet on a toasted, buttered potato roll. anyway, it will be under the golden arches late ne

tonight at 10 more than 200 employees at google have formed a union the group is made up of engineers and other workers they are calling it the alphabet workers union as a reference to google's parent company. the new union will be affiliated with the communication workers of america, but it is not planning to pursue official recognition as a collective bargaining group at this time. in a statement google's director of human resources says the company has tried to create a rewarding workplace and suggest that the company will not be negotiating directly with the union. a rough start to the workweek for millions of people who rely on slack during the pandemic the online messaging service went down today around the world forcing people to try and figure out a workaround on a day that most people would turn to virtual school or work. the outage started this morning and lasted several hours before being fix is still not clear what exactly caused the problem. next at 1030 here on kron 4 news, los angeles county health officials painting a grim picture. >>of the coronavirus pandemic cases and deaths rising by the minute there and hospitals

tonight hundreds of google employees have launched a union. 230 employees have formed the alphabet workers union. its creation is a rare move for silicon valley tech workers but it comes after years of google employees speaking out against the company. the unconventional union will push for change without traditional collective bargaining rights that potentially limits the leverage the group may have and be able to wield within that tech giant. >>> on the peninsula several cities in san mateo county increased minimum wage at the start of the year. belmont's increase from $15 per hour to $15.90. it is now one of the highest in the county. in redwood city and the city of san mateo minimum wage is now $15.62. south san francisco and san carlos are now at $15.24 per hour. minimum wage is now $15 in half moon bay, daly city, east palo alto, and burlingame. the state goal is to increase minimum wage for all employees to $15 an hour by 2023. >>> a lot more to come. as covid cases climb flu cases are joint pain, swelling, tenderness. my psoriasis. cosentyx works on all of this. cosentyx can help you loo

workers are forming a union. it's something that has never been done at a major tech company. >> reporter: the newly formed alphabettion is why we got involved in this. few efforts have succeeded in silicon valley, this is a first. >> it takes courage and it takes convictions and it has to be appreciated. >> reporter: the ceo of the data firm and the chair of the entrepreneurial task force. alphabet workers will focus on social equity and the company's ethics. >> as a worker and as a leader, i find it's incredible that folks are coming together because they want to uphold the values and the company's values. >> reporter: in an e-mail we've always worked hard to create a supportive and rewarding workplace for our workforce. of course our employees have protected labor rights that we support. he says tech is still a relatively young industry. tese steps could have a significant impact on the rest of silicon valley. >> create in part for the greater good. anything that helps us retain that and that is over time good for california. >> reporter: in silicon valley, abc7 news. >>> let's talk about vacation because i'm su

google employees announced formation of a union calmed the alphabet workers union open to all employees not known whether they'll seek formal recognition by alphabet but it's a bit of a coming of age story. you think of alphabet think of google and all the perks they hand away at that place. now forming a union. >> yep yep. we'll see how that works out see what, what happens i don't -- it's certainly not popular at this point, for any company to even imply that there's going to be any type of pushback what do you think, sorkin? how's this going to work good for google? >> i wish i knew i wish i knew. this one i will not prognosticate on, because i think you can throw coins in the air. not sure where they'd land. >> all righty. coming up, about new year -- usually means resolutions. i kind of forgot you know it was, like, too late at the top of many people's lists, leftovers, like pecan pie leftovers. if i was going to not eat any dessert, it was already -- you know, maybe next year. but we are committed to health and we're going to talk to the ceo of ww international, yes, known at weig

factory set to open and you mentioned google is unionizing only 200 plus have joined the new alphabet workers unionactors and temporary staff that includes those google, youtube and the driving car unit. alphabet employs more than 130,000 around the world and it has been some of the most activist around protest against sexual misconduct against and project maven in a recent firing of an a.i. executive, isn't it interesting amongst the higher tech group, google is unionizing but not amazon or whole foods just yet. david: whole foods focus has been on the employees themselves, the employees as personal managers and that might save them from unionization but who knows, anything can happen it is amazing to see tesla of 3% on a day when the market is down, the stock market keeps going up, great to see you, happy new year one oregon mayor is encouraging businesses to deify his own governors lock down orders, we will be talking to the mayor the mayor is sandy oregon after the break. ♪ i had shingles. horrible. a young thing like me? actually anyone 50 or over is at increased risk for shingles. the pain, t

returning 200 so far who have joined the alphabet workers union and some of the most activist staff arounddors, contractors and alphabet has 130,000 if you include the googles, youtube and self driving car units. there have been honestly a lot of activists action among the employee staffers as google protest over sexual misconduct by former executive leaving canceled the pentagon contract because why should we be working with the pentagon especially in deadly circumstances and complain about the removal of a recent artificial intelligence executive. this makes sense, doesn't it? it's interesting that you can unionize at alphabet and google but not at amazon whole foods right now. stuart: that is interesting but i'm looking at the markets and we are down 611 points as we speak. we are down across the board at 2% exactly, 2% down for the dow and below 30,000. more varney after this. ♪ maria had to do everything for me. she had these awful blisters on her back. i don't want shingles when i'm your age. actually, if you're 50 or older, you're at increased risk that's life, nothing you can do...

. >> well, hundreds of google employees launched a union, in tech industry alphabet workers union rung employee tensions with googles over the business decisions, including the defense sector handling swal misconduct claims. >> 11-billion-dollar takeover offer they said under values the company as mgm attempts to compromise on improvising market. >> cody completed purchase 20% stake in kim kardashian west beauty business 20 million dollars, a great category expanding market globally expansion of skin care line to launch in 2022, cody higher, headlines from here back to you. >> thank you something i need to correct, the tuition at wake forest university is this year 55,000 dollars more than that including all the fees, going to cost you before -- aid more than 74,000 dollars to go to that school, my tuition was 7500 to put an exclamation point how expensive it is to go to college all eyes on georgia polls open in feature state for all-important senate runoff races a kelly loeffler, david perdue against democratic challenges raphael warnock and jon ossoff republicans need to win one set

. >> lot of people in sill cop valley are talking about google workers taking the rare step to launch a union. they're forming the alphabetn. they want to ensure workers work without fear of abuse or discrimination. one of the biggest was in november of 2008. thousands of bay area google employees walked off the job to protest how google handles sexual harassment claims. google says we've worked hard to create a workplace. we'll continue engaging directly with all our employees, end quote. the union is not ratifying itself through a federal agency. it won't have collective bargaining rights. even so, workers called the move historic. they say this is, quote, the first union at major tech company by and for all tech workers. >> more to come here. still ahead, a for people with heart failure taking entresto, it may lead to a world of possibilities. entresto helped people stay alive and out of the hospital. don't take entresto if pregnant; it can cause harm or death to an unborn baby. don't take entresto with an ace inhibitor or aliskiren, or if you've had angioedema with an ace or arb. the most serious side effects are angi

in a rare move in an american tech giant, more than 200 workers at google—parent alphabet have taken steps to form a labour unionation will give staff greater power to voice concerns about discriminatory work practices and how it handles issues like online hate speech. the move follows walkouts and other actions by staff in recent years. supermarkets' online shopping operations are once again under strain as customers rushed to book deliveries ahead of the new coronavirus lockdown. within a couple of hours of prime minister boris johnson's speech to the nation on monday, shoppers reported problems with sainsbury‘s and tesco. sainsbury‘s grocery app went down for a time, and soon after the announcement, 5,3110cado shoppers were in a queue. the uk "cannot duck" tackling inequalities of health, ethnicity, education and jobs post—covid, a major review has warned. children from poorer households found it harder to do schoolwork during lockdown and have been more likely to miss school since september, it notes. the review is calling for extra support for children who have fallen behind and help for school and universi

more than $200.00 employees that google's parent company alphabet have set up a trade union for the u.s. and canada they're trying to give workers a collective voice. tech companies such as google have seen little demand for unions over the years will handle things ourselves seems to have been the motto but times change google has seen several protests recently including on the issue of sexual harassment in the workplace the newly founded about workers' union now wants to give such protests a structure. so what this announcement really how true is making we. were at the well you know rather than being a bunch of individual i remember there was talk on the line. fair wages without exploitation or discrimination as well as a greater say in company affairs are the main goals however it remains a nice pursuit of the more than 130000 employees worldwide only around 225 have joined the new union but the example has been set efforts have also been made at amazon for some time now to an established employee organization. 12 women have joined the ranks of moscow's metro drivers after russia lifted controversial legislation that banned wo

are forminglphabet -- the alphabet workers agreementmeeting in after years of disagreement. unionanizers say google has ignored staff concerns about workplace conditions. at a newjapan hints state of emergency in tokyo and we discussed the possible impact on the wider economic recovery. we have seen tokyo stocks shifted by this news. it will take another look at that and also add bitcoin with a young woman who is now the only female ceo in a major world of cryptocurrency exchange. keep it right here, this is bloomberg. ♪ >> this is daybreak asia. has orderedn england back into lockdown, shutting schools and keeping people at home amid warnings the national health service is at risk of being overwhelmed. the closure starts immediately and will last until february 15, as the vaccination program is rolled out it will reach retail and hospitality and threatened to push the u.k. economy into a double-dip recession. forou may only leave home limited reasons, such as to shop for essentials, to work if you absolutely cannot work from home, to exercise and seek medical assistance, such as

google and its parent alphabet are forming a union, escalating years of tension with management. the apple bat workers will be open to all staff and contractors and will have an elected board of directors. supported by the communication workers of america. union organizers say google has ignored staff concerns about workplace conditions. mazon, have to wait -- berkshire hathaway and jp morgan are shutting haven after failing to unite tech and finance. it march the end of three years of struggle to demonstrate meaningful results. new approaches to workplace issues never emerge. the three companies say they will continue to collaborate. ensure genworth plunged th emost in six years -- on its sale for oceanside will go through. it has a backup plan including a partial ipo after four years of delay surrounding the $2.7 billion deal. it's keeping the door opening case oceanside completes its many obligations. the cases are searching across the u.s. is daily cases following the new york holiday. the world health organization said vaccines will not be enough to control the pandemic and that social distancing

environment compared to ours our hope is this unionizing at google and alphabet and tech industry as a whole we're able to use our power as well paid privileged tech workerso help the marginalized people in the tech industry. >> finally, talk tactics with us it seems to me that if you look at google, hey, if you look at facebook, both are controlled companies. so there is a limit to types of pressure you can apply also, i'm not seeing a 21st century playbook for organized labor in tech. you can't really have a picket line or work stoppages in the same sense because when it's digital, everybody can cross the line without being seen. so how are you going to apply the kinds of pressure that you're going to need to on management in order to get demands met? >> you know, i think some of the tactics that you're referencing are really important and have historically been used effectively. but the organizing comes up in one-on-one relationships, right? building trust with co-workers and solidarity that hasn't changed. that absolutely key to the effort that we built over last year we talked to hundreds of workers who have been really enthusiastic about this idea a