The roughly 50 workers in Texas, who help make sure videos are labelled correctly, are hired through a staffing agency, but say they are also employees of Alphabet, the Google parent that operates the video- streaming service. (Bloomberg)

Talking point: The vote could result in Alphabet collectively bargaining with U.S. workers for the first time. A U.S. National Labor Relations Board regional director ruled in March that Google is a “joint employer,” with enough control of the workers that it can negotiate with them should they unionize. Alphabet is appealing the ruling, denying they qualify as its employees. Although the board could certify the workers next week, any negotiations could be years away if Alphabet refuses to negotiate and takes the issue to the courts. It would join Starbucks and Amazon in fighting staff unionization efforts through the court system. Amazon also recently terminated a contract with a California delivery service partner whose drivers have since organized with the Teamsters.