Google has agreed to allow the Prospect trade union access to its United Kingdom’s offices to engage with employees and recruit members, including at its King’s Cross headquarters in London.
The agreement, announced on Monday, allows Prospect to speak with Google workers both in person and online, as well as organise workplace sessions to encourage employees to join the union. Google has more than 7,000 employees in the UK.
The move follows a new UK law that came into force on Friday, granting trade unions the right to access workplaces to engage with staff.
Prospect reached a similar agreement with Meta in September.
The union aims to recruit enough Google employees to secure formal recognition from the technology company.
Such recognition would give Prospect a platform to negotiate issues including pay, flexible working arrangements and the company’s adoption of artificial intelligence.
“This access agreement is a powerful signal of intent that we can successfully negotiate agreements with even the biggest global tech companies,” said Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy.
A Google spokesperson said the agreement “builds on our established work with internal employee representative groups”.
The deal follows changes to UK employment law under the Labour government’s Employment Rights Act, which came into force on Friday.
The legislation gives trade unions the legal right to access workplaces to recruit members, with employers that refuse access facing fines of up to £500,000.
Prospect reached a similar agreement with Meta in September, covering about 5,000 employees in the UK.
