Spanish union sues over 2,000 Meta content moderator layoffs in Barcelona
A minority union has filed a lawsuit in Barcelona seeking to overturn the dismissal of more than 2,000 content moderators employed by Telus International for Meta.
On September 15, a Barcelona court received a lawsuit from the minority union FIST demanding that more than 2,000 content-moderation jobs be reinstated. The positions, held by workers of Telus International’s local unit CCC Barcelona Digital Services, were eliminated in 2025 after Meta terminated its contract with the Canadian firm. FIST alleges the dismissals were an attack on employees’ basic rights and accuses the companies of wage discrimination, noting that pay varied according to the language and origin of moderators.
The union also highlights claims of psychological distress caused by constant exposure to violent online content. Representatives for Telus and Meta argue the redundancies were driven solely by economic considerations following the contract’s end, emphasizing the commercial nature of their relationship. No timetable for a judicial decision was provided. The staff had been responsible for reviewing material in Spanish, Catalan, French, Dutch, Hebrew and Portuguese since 2018.
Why it matters
The lawsuit could affect thousands of tech workers and set precedents for labor rights in the digital content-moderation sector.
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