Topline
Google fired 28 employees on Wednesday after a number of workers at the company participated in a sit-in protest against its cloud contract with the Israeli government, a day after nine staffers were suspended and then arrested for participating in the protest.
FILE PHOTO: Google's New York headquarters was one of two sites where the sit-in protests took place ... [+]
Key Facts
The company announced the firings in an internal memo alleging the protesting workers “took over office spaces, defaced our property, and physically impeded the work of other Googlers.”
The protests took place on Tuesday at Google’s Sunnyvale and New York offices.
The memo said their actions were “unacceptable, extremely disruptive, and made coworkers feel threatened,” and the firings were made after an n internal investigation that will continue.
The group behind the protests, called No Tech for Apartheid, issued a statement late Wednesday saying Google’s workers had the “right to peacefully protest about terms and conditions of our labor,” and said the firings were “clearly retaliatory.”
The group also claimed the firings were indiscriminate as they included people who did not directly participate in the protests.
The group denied Google’s claims of protestors defacing the company’s property and impeding work saying their sit-in was “peaceful” and “received an overwhelmingly positive response and shows of support.”
Crucial Quote
“The overwhelming majority of our employees do the right thing. If you’re one of the few who are tempted to think we’re going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again. The company takes this extremely seriously, and we will continue to apply our longstanding policies to take action against disruptive behavior — up to and including termination,” the company’s internal memo said.
Chief Critic
“Google is terrified of us. They are terrified of workers coming together and calling for accountability and transparency from our bosses…These mass, illegal firings will not stop us. On the contrary, they only serve as further fuel for the growth of this movement,” No Tech for Apartheid’s statement added.
Key Background
The affected workers were protesting Google and Amazon’s $1.2 billion cloud computing contract with the Israeli government called Project Nimbus. Both companies have faced some internal pushback against the contract, but the issue has been pushed into the foreground following Israel’s invasion of Gaza following a terror attack by Hamas last October. Google workers organized a sit-in protest at the company’s offices in New York and Sunnyvale. At least nine protesting workers were arrested by police in Sunnyvale on Tuesday and suspended by the company. Google has stated its work with Project Nimbus “is not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.”
Further Reading
Google Fires 28 Employees Involved in Protest of Israeli Cloud Contract (New York Times)
Google Contract Shows Deal With Israel Defense Ministry (Time)
