Yesterday, 28 pro-Hamas employees occupied the offices of Google managers to protest a contract between the company and Israel.
BREAKING—DOZENS OF @GOOGLE WORKERS LEAD HISTORIC COAST TO COAST-INS AT @GOOGLECLOUD CEO THOMAS KURIAN’S OFFICE IN SUNNYVALE & @GOOGLE’s NYC 10TH FLOOR COMMONS. They refuse to leave until @google stops powering the genocide in Gaza
LIVESTREAM: https://t.co/uUiPbr3oDz pic.twitter.com/vCkInh0769
— No Tech For Apartheid (@NoTechApartheid) April 16, 2024
Google removed and fired them.
Good. Very good.
Ed wrote about the firing here.
Google is terrified of us. @Google is terrified of workers calling for accountability and transparency from our bosses. These mass, illegal firings will not stop us. They only fuel the organic growth of this movement. #NimbusNine #GoogleworkersFired https://t.co/OOPPlXkHmQ
— No Tech For Apartheid (@NoTechApartheid) April 18, 2024
The protest was part of a #notechforapartheid movement, a loosely affiliated group of tech workers pushing for tech companies to punish Israel for not tolerating the rape, murder, and kidnapping of its citizens. Now I have no idea what Google leadership thinks of the war in Gaza, and that is all to the good. I don’t want to know because Google is a corporation whose mission isn’t international affairs but providing tech services.
Google already takes sides in too many contested issues. Choosing not to do so in another is a step in the right direction.
Google on Wednesday fired 28 workers after dozens of employees participated in sit-ins at the company’s New York and Sunnyvale, Calif., offices to protest the company’s cloud computing contract with the Israeli government.
A day earlier, nine employees were arrested on charges of trespassing at the two offices.
“Physically impeding other employees’ work and preventing them from accessing our facilities is a clear violation of our policies, and completely unacceptable behavior,” a Google spokeswoman said in a statement.
Years before the dismissals, tensions had been simmering between the company’s management and some activist employees over Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion Google and Amazon deal to supply the Israeli government with cloud services, such as artificial intelligence.
I have written many times about Google’s censorship–their ad platform censors me and other Townhall Media writers–and their Left-wing bias, so no doubt this move is more about preserving corporate operations than getting out of politics.
But it also demonstrates that Google has limits, which implies that the limits can be contracted and it can get back to business. It may take a while, and a lot of pressure from outside, but it is at least possible.
Terminated worker here. Listen when employers tell you exactly who they are
McCarthyism is alive and well. Look how terrified they are of worker power 🔥
Solidarity always ✊ we’ll keep us safe when we fight together https://t.co/Zx49hplD50
— Dr. KS (@katejsim) April 18, 2024
The basic problem stems from the fact that these vastly wealthy companies are filled with self-important, incredibly entitled, and overeducated Gen Zers who believe that their life mission is to save the world.
A world about which they know nothing, except what the writers of The Narrative™ tell them. They latch onto the latest Thing™, whether it is COVID, Ukraine, or now Gaza.
They have been celebrated, indulged, and called stunning and brave for having tantrums. They need more than a little FAFO.
And that is what Google is promising. As Ed says
A company-wide e-mail from executive VP Chris Rackow underscored that miscalculation and laid down the law in very clear terms:
The protests were “unacceptable, extremely disruptive and made co-workers feel threatened,” Rackow wrote in the email.
“The overwhelming majority of our employees do the right thing,” Rackow wrote. “If you’re one of the few who are tempted to think we’re going to overlook conduct that violates our policies, think again.”
He added, “You should expect to hear more from leaders about standards of behavior and discourse in the workplace.”
Google employs some horrible people, and it’s time to clean houses there and throughout corporate America. One of the fired employees justified rape of Israeli women, claiming that criticizing minorities for raping White women was White supremacy. If so, I am all for it, although I believe rape of any woman should be a capital offense.
this person was responsible for child safety at google https://t.co/XWqDWWNSgY pic.twitter.com/1Q4bEayXNP
— pagliacci the hated 🌝 (@Slatzism) April 18, 2024
She was there to ensure child safety. Well, we know how our betters view children, so we shouldn’t be surprised.
Google CEO Sundar Pichai threw down the gauntlet, and as with universities and corporations rethinking DEI, this may start a trend at other corporations.
No more BS. Get to work.
If this is a one-off, that would be a disappointment.
So let’s hope this is the start of a trend.