Google UK lets unions inside for 7,000 workers under new rights law

Union organisers just got the keys to Google's UK offices. Prospect, which already represents more than 160,000 workers across Britain, has signed an access agreement covering roughly 7,000 Google staff — YouTube included, but not DeepMind.

The deal lands as the UK's new workplace rules kick in, giving unions the legal right to meet workers on-site or reach them electronically. From January, employers will also have to tell staff they are allowed to join a union. Google said it signed to stay compliant, insisting it already runs solid internal employee relations and can keep the direct dialogue its culture depends on.

DeepMind is next in line for its own arrangement, with the Communication Workers Union pushing for recognition there. Prospect already has a similar deal at Meta, which employs around 5,000 people in the UK. Both agreements let unions talk to non-members and nudge them to sign up.

That means sessions inside Google's King's Cross headquarters, the showpiece building in London. Prospect general secretary Mike Clancy called the agreement a powerful signal of intent, saying his union has spent years organising tech workers and can now negotiate with even the biggest global players. He said staff deserve a louder voice on pay, flexibility, AI deployment and workplace culture — and hopes the move tells other tech companies that dealing with unions is the new normal.

TUC general secretary Paul Nowak predicted a wave of private-sector recognition deals over the coming year, calling the new access rules transformative. The shift rewrites the playbook for campaigns fought from outside the gates — like the GMB's failed bid for recognition at Amazon's Coventry warehouse two years ago.

For Google, the paperwork keeps it on the right side of the law. For unions, it's a foothold inside a company that once seemed untouchable.