The organizers of the Google Walkout are calling on the tech industry to end forced arbitration employment agreements completely

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The organizers of the Google Walkout are calling on the tech industry to end forced arbitration employment agreements completely

google walkout

Troy Wolverton/Business Insider

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  • Organizers of last year's Google Walkout, where thousands of employees left their desks to protest the company's handling of executive sexual misconduct cases, are launching a social media campaign called "End Forced Arbitration."
  • Forced arbitration is an employment practice whereby workers are required to settle any disputes with management out of court, privately.
  • The campaign will debut Tuesday, Jan. 15 at 9 am EST, and will feature interviews on Twitter and Instagram with sexual harassment and assault survivors, as well as experts.
  • The 'public education' campaign is meant to be an effort that sparks change throughout the industry, at Google and beyond.

Organizers of last year's Google Walkout are not done yet.

After November's headline-making march, where thousands of Google workers across the world all left work in protest of the company's handling of executive sexual misconduct cases, some organizers are taking it one step further with a new effort called "End Forced Arbitration."

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Forced arbitration is a widespread practice where employers require that workers resolve disputes with management privately, outside of a court of law.

In response to the Google Walkout, tech companies across the industry, including eBay, Airbnb, Facebook, and Google itself, made forced arbitration optional in cases of sexual assault. However, organizers believe that the change "provided no meaningful gains for worker equity nor an actual change in employee contracts or future offer letters," and calls on in the industry to ban the practice entirely in all cases, according to their statement.

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The organizers claim that they've confirmed that Google and Facebook are still sending out offer letters to prospective new employees with its old arbitration policy fully intact.

On Tuesday, January 15 starting at 9 am EST, the social media handle "@endforcedarb" will share interviews with sexual harassment survivors and experts as well as "facts about forced arbitration" throughout the day on Twitter and Instagram. T

he campaign will feature stories from inside Google, but will not be limited to it: people from academic institutions, advocacy groups and government agencies sent in their own employment agreements, too, organizers say.

"Ending forced arbitration is the gateway change needed to transparently address inequity in the workplace," the statement said.

Tweets about what forced arbitration means will be shared on End Forced Arbitration's Twitter handle every hour on the hour, and interviews with survivors and experts will be posted on its Instagram every hour on the half hour.

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Got a tip about what it's like to work at Google after the walkout? Contact this reporter via email at mgebel@businessinsider.com or by Twitter DM @MeiraGebel.

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