LONDON, May 20 (Reuters) - Google said it

had rejected a request from two British unions for voluntary

recognition but would negotiate with them via a state-backed

conciliation service, delaying a potential statutory process

that could force recognition.

Under UK rules, the move opens a 20-working-day window,

extendable by agreement, for talks on recognition. If talks

fail, unions can seek statutory recognition via the country's

independent Central Arbitration Committee.

The Communication Workers Union (CWU) and Unite said earlier

this month that they had sent a formal letter to Google seeking

voluntary recognition after an employee-organised vote showed

support for unionisation at Google's AI unit DeepMind.

The company confirmed the receipt of that letter, which gave

it 10 days under UK rules to respond by agreeing to voluntary

recognition, rejecting the request or entering negotiations.

"We've declined the unions' request for voluntary

recognition to bargain collectively on pay, hours and holiday,

but we have offered to meet via ACAS, which is a standard next

step," a Google spokesperson said via email on Wednesday. "We

continue to value the constructive and direct dialogue that we

have with our employees about building a positive and successful

workplace."

Britain's new employment rights legislation, which came into

force last month, has simplified the union recognition process,

lowering some of the thresholds and procedural hurdles for

unions.

Google has about 7,000 employees in the UK, including those

at DeepMind.

Globally, big technology companies have been accused by

workers' rights groups of discouraging unionisation through

"union-busting" tactics, a characterisation the firms reject,

saying they favour direct dialogue with workers over formal

collective bargaining.