Listen to this note:
Tech giant Google fired 28 of its workers for being involved in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion Israeli government contract for cloud computing services from Google and Amazon, as well as poor working conditions. that they face.
The layoffs occurred in two of the technology company's offices: Sunnyvale, California, and New York. This after on Tuesday afternoon, workers occupied the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian, while some at the headquarters in "The Big Apple" They will hold a sit-in protest in the common area of the tenth floor.
The workers were arrested by several security agents, acts that were captured on video by other employees of the technology company.
BREAKING? @Google also orders for arrest of their own workers in SUNNYVALE who sat in for 10 hours at @googlecloud CEO @thomasork?s personal office, demanding google cut Project Nimbus, the company?s $1.2 billion contract with Israel.
arrests were caught on our livestream pic.twitter.com/pgLe4gkybY
? No Tech For Apartheid (@NoTechApartheid) April 17, 2024
After being warned to leave the facility, and informed that they had been placed on administrative leave and had their access to the building revoked, they were told they would be arrested if they did not comply.
At the Sunnyvale offices, six police officers entered the office to arrest five workers.
?Workers will continue to organize until Project Nimbus is abandoned. Spot. Thomas Kurian and Sundar Pichai, you take advantage of the genocide. Abandon Project Nimbus now. No technology for genocide?, wrote protesters from the No Tech Apartheid organization.
Several workers involved in the protests, including some who did not directly participate in the demonstration, received a message from the company's Employee Relations group informing them that they had been placed on leave.
Google wrote in an email that it “will keep this matter as confidential as possible, releasing information only when necessary.” By Wednesday evening, workers were informed that the company would be laying them off, according to a statement from Google staff with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign.
“Physically impeding other employees' work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies and completely unacceptable behavior,” Google said in a statement.
?After rejecting multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement agreed to remove them to ensure the safety of the office. "So far we have concluded individual investigations that resulted in the dismissal of 28 employees, and we will continue to investigate and take the necessary measures," he said.
In a statement published in Medium.com, the group No Tech for Apartheid noted:
?This blatant act of retaliation is a clear indication that Google values its $1.2 billion contract with Israel's genocidal government and military more than its own workers. In the three years we have been organizing against Project Nimbus, we have yet to hear any executives express our concerns. Google workers have the right to peacefully protest the terms and conditions of our work. Were these dismissals clearly retaliation?
?Today, they punished all the workers they could associate with this action with massive layoffs, through a surveillance network in the offices. Google cited “bullying” and “harassment” as the reasons for firing workers. If there has been intimidation or harassment in the company, have our Palestinian, Arab and Muslim colleagues been the recipients?
The text notes that Google claims that protesters “damaged property” and “physically impeded the work of other Google employees.”
?This excuse to avoid directly confronting us and our concerns, and attempting to justify their illegal and retaliatory firings, is a lie. Even workers who were participating in a peaceful sit-in and refused to leave did not damage property or threaten other workers. Instead, they received an overwhelmingly positive response and support,” the organization noted.
?The truth is clear: Google is terrified of us. They are terrified that workers will unite and demand accountability and transparency from our employers. They are choosing to reveal the falsehood of ?open culture? of Google to get rid of a threat. "Is the corporation trying to downplay and discredit our power?" they noted.
They also pointed out that these massive and illegal layoffs will not stop us. "On the contrary, they only serve as additional fuel for the growth of this movement."
"Make no mistake, we will continue organizing until the company abandons Project Nimbus and stops promoting this genocide," they concluded.
Various organizations in the country, as well as engineers and developers, have supported the actions of the protesters, and have declared themselves against the contract and the actions taken by the technology giant.
With information from TIME and The Verge.
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