DeepMind Employees are Unionising

...to honour GDM's mission to "build AI responsibly to benefit humanity".

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TL;DR

FTEs from across GDM UK are currently in negotiations with Google to legally recognise our trade union. Our demands focus on AI safety, unethical military contracts, and guarantees over AI-led automation. Despite Google's claims to the contrary, there is considerable historical precedent to negotiate over these areas.

The strength of our negotiating position comes from the size of our membership — so the more people who join, the better we can do. Our demands are shaped by members through democratic processes (one member, one vote).

Who We Are

We are FTEs from across all units, functions and levels in GDM UK, wanting to honour DeepMind's original mission to build AI responsibly to benefit humanity. Priorities and demands are decided by employees like you through a democratic process.

We are getting support for legal and negotiation expertise from our union's national office, but everything else is done by GDMers for GDMers. We are investing a lot of personal time and energy into this effort because we deeply care about DeepMind's original mission.

What Happened

On May the 4th, GDM UTAW and Unite the Union members at Google DeepMind asked for voluntary recognition. Google declined the request but agreed to meet via the ACAS conciliation service — meaning we are now entering negotiations. If no agreement can be reached over voluntary recognition, we can apply for statutory recognition.

This process ends with a recognition agreement and a collective bargaining agreement: formal documents setting out who is covered by collective bargaining, what issues can be negotiated, how bargaining meetings work, what company resources and facilities our elected reps are entitled to, and how disputes are resolved. These agreements are not set in stone and typically evolve by expanding through renegotiation.

GDM union members want to include demands over unethical military contracts, AI Safety / Principles, and job automation.

Can We Negotiate On This?

The message from Google's leadership is that we can only negotiate pay, holiday and hours — the minimum scope guaranteed by law. There is considerable historical precedent for broader negotiations:

  • The University and College Union (UCU) successfully pressured an £80,000,000 divestment from Israeli bonds and other assets in 2024 following concerns over international law violations.
  • Telecoms workers in Britain took action to stop all telephone calls between the UK and apartheid-era South Africa.
  • In January 2026, UK actors union Equity negotiated a contract legally enshrining protections over AI replicas of actors.
  • Aerospace workers at Rolls-Royce's Scotland factories voted to stop servicing jet engines used by Pinochet's military dictatorship following the coup in Chile.
  • The International Longshoremen's Association (ILA) used a 2024 port strike to completely ban automated cranes and driverless vehicles to protect workers from AI-led redundancies until 2030.
  • Video game performers with SAG-AFTRA went on strike at major gaming studios in 2024 to ensure studios cannot replicate human voices or likenesses without consent and compensation.

Because our negotiating position depends on membership size, we need everyone from across GDM to shape the union. Reach out to your union colleagues if you have questions — we probably had the same ones recently.

FAQ

What does statutory recognition mean for union members?

Statutory recognition gives GDM employees a legal framework to force negotiations on topics we care about if Google refuses to recognise us voluntarily. By securing recognition, we gain formal rights to collective bargaining, disclosure of internal company information, and mandatory negotiation and consultation on major workplace changes.

For statutory recognition there is a minimum membership threshold (10% of the bargaining unit, which we have passed) and all employees in the unit are called to vote. Even if you are not a union member, you can still vote — your vote will be fully anonymous. A majority vote in favour is sufficient; there is no minimum turnout threshold.

How can we extend the collective agreement beyond pay / hours / holidays?

There is no restriction on topics we can discuss in collective bargaining — including business practices, company priorities and governance. Pay, hours and holidays is the minimum legal scope, but this isn't the focus of our campaign.

To broaden the scope we need to pressure Google using our industrial leverage: unions can use actions short of a strike, campaigns, and ultimately strikes if the employer refuses. The stronger the union, the more effective the pressure. Most often, a credible threat is all it takes. Getting recognition is just the first step — then we work on extending the agreement.

I don't want to be affected by decisions made by union members — what can I do?

Decisions that affect you are already made by a much smaller pool of management executives, with no visibility or meaningful input from you: you were not consulted on the removal of the autonomous weapons or mass surveillance pledges from the AI Principles, nor on safety risks from contracts with significant human rights implications.

Collective decision-making adds democracy, not removes it. We will have a way to demand changes, and the company will have to consult us before making major decisions. Surveys can be run among all employees to better understand concerns. You will never be forced to engage or join a union.

Have you tried going through the UK Googler Forums?

We have tried to open dialogue through the UK Googler Forums, but leadership declined to discuss ethical matters through this forum. Other routes — petitions with broad support, letters, questions at townhalls — have also been tried and ignored.

What is "union busting"?

The best way to counteract union busting:

  • Resist intimidation by knowing your rights and UK law. Union activity is well protected in the UK.
  • Diversify your sources — listen to different narratives and build your own informed opinion. Assume leadership have a bias in their comms about unions.
  • Talk with your colleagues — learn about their experience and motivations directly from them.
Why doesn't Google want us to form a union?

Together we can formally act as an employee-side counterweight to management's ability to exercise unchecked authority. Management's self-interest is to prevent us from having this kind of power.