More than 200 Google and Alphabet employees form a labour union

New York: In what is dubbed as 'historic', more than 200 employees at Google and its parent company Alpahabet in the United States and Canada formed a labour union.The union is formed to promote workplace equity and ethical business practices, the group's elected leaders said on Monday.

The "Alphabet Workers Union" will collect dues of 1% of total compensation from members, according to its website. The funds will cover paid organizers, events, legal support and wages for members in the event of a labour strike

Only a tiny fraction of the company's 130,000 employees have come out to be part of the union, which the New York Times dubbed as " minority union".

According to reports the union would 'give more structure to employees activism", unlike the one that would negotiate for a contract.

Talking exultingly about the move, Google software engineer Dylan Baker in a statement responded: "This is historic—the first union at a major tech company by and for all tech workers,"

The union according to sources will make decision democratically, hire skilled organisers who will ensure the company reflect their values.

The group's formation builds on unprecedented protests by Google workers in recent years. While the tech industry has seen minimal union activity and worker pushback historically, thousands of people at Alphabet had banded together to publicly criticize Google's handling of sexual harassment complaints, its work with the U.S. military and other issues.