The NLRB also supports neya's point; companies can prohibit union organizing activites that interfere with work.
> Working time is for work, so your employer may maintain and enforce non-discriminatory rules limiting solicitation and distribution, except that your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about or soliciting for a union during non-work time, such as before or after work or during break times; or from distributing union literature during non-work time, in non-work areas, such as parking lots or break rooms. Also, restrictions on your efforts to communicate with co-workers cannot be discriminatory. For example, your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about the union during working time if it permits you to talk about other non-work-related matters during working time.
> Also, restrictions on your efforts to communicate with co-workers cannot be discriminatory. For example, your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about the union during working time if it permits you to talk about other non-work-related matters during working time.
I imagine that Googlers are generally permitted to socialise during work time, so they also get to unionise during work time. I even imagine they sometimes use work-provided services to organise non-work-related activity and this is permitted by the company.
I'm fairly sure that quote means workers can talk about the union while working, not stop working and stage a demonstration during work hours.
That said, I do wonder if the fired workers could argue that they were merely taking an unscheduled break (permitted under Google's flextime policy) when demonstrating.
Who stopped work and staged a demonstration during work hours? The article doesn’t state that anyone did. 200 people demonstrated on a Friday, but it’s quite possible that they had that day off.
Nobody was fired, supposedly, in relation to that demonstration.
> Working time is for work, so your employer may maintain and enforce non-discriminatory rules limiting solicitation and distribution, except that your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about or soliciting for a union during non-work time, such as before or after work or during break times; or from distributing union literature during non-work time, in non-work areas, such as parking lots or break rooms. Also, restrictions on your efforts to communicate with co-workers cannot be discriminatory. For example, your employer cannot prohibit you from talking about the union during working time if it permits you to talk about other non-work-related matters during working time.
https://www.nlrb.gov/rights-we-protect/whats-law/employees/i...