Google announces firing of 28 related employees Protests over company’s $1.2 billion cloud computing contract He met with the Israeli government on Wednesday.Gunfire follows 9 Google employees arrested He was charged with trespassing at the company’s New York and California offices during several hours of sit-in protests on Tuesday.
“A small number of employee protesters entered several of our locations and caused disruption,” a Google spokesperson said in an emailed statement to Gizmodo. “To date, we have completed the individual investigations that led to the termination of 28 employees, and we will continue to investigate and take action as necessary.”
Google claims the protests disrupted other employees’ work and prevented access to its facilities. No Tech for Apartheid told Gizmodo that 19 of the employees fired Wednesday did not directly participate in the sit-in protests, but were involved in the movement.
“This flagrant act of retaliation clearly shows that Google cares more about its $1.2 billion contract with the genocidal Israeli government and military than its own workers.” A Tech for Apartheid spokesperson said in an emailed statement. “Google employees have the right to peacefully protest about their working conditions.”
In a memo sent to all employees Wednesday: The Verge“This kind of behavior has no place in our workplace,” Chris Rakow, Google’s head of global security, said in a statement. The memo also claims the protesters defaced Google property and “made colleagues feel threatened.” Rakow concluded his message by telling employees to “think again” if they expect Google to overlook violations of its policies.
A Google spokesperson told Gizmodo that the Project Nimbus cloud computing contract at the center of these protests is not intended for highly sensitive military work related to weapons or intelligence. he said. but, time Google reported last week that it is providing cloud computing services to the Israeli Ministry of Defense. The report claims that the tech giant recently negotiated a deeper partnership with Israel during the Gaza war.
These 28 employees are not the first Google employees to be fired for protesting the Israeli contract. They join Eddie Hatfield, a Google software engineer who was fired after disrupting an Israeli technology conference by shouting, “Apartheid doesn’t need technology!” It was during a lecture by a Google executive.
There are some discrepancies as to why these workers were fired. Google cited “bullying” and “harassment” as reasons for firing the employee. But No Tech for Apartheid insists their protests were peaceful and that the workers themselves feel bullied by Google’s response.
The “No Technology for Apartheid” protests represent an increasingly loud voice within Google and Amazon that opposes big tech companies’ cooperation with Israel. The movement’s protest in New York reportedly attracted more than 100 participants on Tuesday, and dozens more in Sunnyvale, California. The movement claims the support of Google and “thousands of his colleagues” within Amazon. Organizers say they will continue their protests until the company cancels Project Nimbus.
