Google Fires 28 Workers for Protesting $1.2B Israel Contract

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Facts

• Google has fired 28 employees who participated in protests against the company's $1.2B contract with the Israeli government and military to provide cloud and AI services.¹
• The protests, organized by the group No Tech for Apartheid, took place Tuesday at Google offices in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, Calif. with protesters demanding the company to drop its 'Project Nimbus' contract with Israel. Nine were arrested during the protests on Tuesday.²
• Protesters accuse the company of supporting Israeli military action and alleged human rights violations in Gaza.³
• During the protests, employees also protested labor conditions saying that Project Nimbus had negatively impacted employees' 'health and safety on the job' and highlighted alleged discrimination against Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim workers at the company.⁴
• In a memo sent to all Google employees on Wednesday, the company's head of security, Chris Rackow, criticized the protests and warned that the company would take action against those who violate its policies.⁵
• No Tech for Apartheid has accused Google of retaliatory firings, saying that protesters had participated in a 'peaceful sit-in and refusing to leave did not damage property or threaten other workers,' and that the company had fired its employees 'indiscriminately.'⁴

Sources: ¹Bloomberg, ²ABC News, ³CNN, ⁴NBC and ⁵Verge.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by Verge. While Google is aware that Tuesday's protests were the work of a small group of people who do not represent the majority of the company's employees, it's important to note that disruptive behavior has no place in the workplace. Unprofessionalism will not be tolerated, and Google is well within its rights to act against disorderly conduct, up to and including termination.
• Narrative B, as provided by TechCrunch. These firings were illegal and retaliatory, given that the protests were peaceful. Google shouldn't be involved in any military contracts, and Project Nimbus and its association with the catastrophe taking place in Gaza are disturbing. The company clearly cares more about profit than it does about the well-being of its employees or taking an ethical stance on the role of AI in conflict and human rights.

Predictions