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Contractors for YouTube Music were presenting at a city council meeting in Austin, Texas when they learned that they were being laid off. Contractors were seeking action from the Austin city council to urge Google to bargain with the Alphabet Workers Union- Communications Workers of America Union, the union that represents the contracted workers. The union represents both Google employees and contracted employees hired by Cognizant, and a National Labor Relations Board ruling determined that Google and Cognizant are joint employers of contractors, but Google appealed the ruling. Google has stated that the company is not responsible for bargaining with contractors, because Cognizant is the employer. Google and Cognizant have both claimed that the business contract between the parties ended and workers were not hit with surprise layoffs. The workers have countered that Google laid off the contractors in response to contractors unionizing and seeking representation from Alphabet Workers Union- Communications Workers of America Union.