Google Fires 28 Workers for Protesting Cloud Deal With Israel
The fired workers included nine Google employees who were removed by police after occupying Google offices on Tuesday. Protesters standing outside of Google's New York office next to a black SUV and black truck with an electronic billboard... Tech workers from Google, Meta and Amazon protest against Big Tech supplying Israel with intelligence tools outside Google offices in Chelsea, Manhattan, NY, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.Photograph: Cristina Matuozzi/AP
Google fired twenty-eight employees Wednesday after they participated in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud contract with Israel’s government that also includes Amazon. Workers at both companies have claimed the deal makes advanced technology available to Israel’s security apparatus that could contribute to the killing or harm of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The Intercept and Time have reported that Project Nimbus provides services that can be tapped by the Israel Defence Forces.
The twenty-eight firings, confirmed by Google, come hours after nine employees were detained by police late Tuesday for sit-in protests in the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian in Sunnyvale, California, and a company office in New York. All nine of those workers were fired, in addition to nineteen other protest participants. Google spokesperson Anna Kowalczyk said in a statement that the employees were terminated after internal investigation” concluded they were guilty of “physically impeding other employees' work and preventing them from accessing our facilities.” She added that “after refusing multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement was engaged to remove them to ensure office safety.” The Nimbus contract is “not directed” at classified or military work, she said.
Tuesday’s action against Project Nimbus comes after the reported death toll from the IDF’s offensive on Hamas in Gaza climbed to more than 34,000 Palestinians. The military offensive began after Hamas killed about 1,100 Israelis on October 7. The sit-ins at Google were accompanied by protests of more than 100 people—including many Google workers—outside company offices in New York, Sunnyvale, and Seattle. Google’s Kowalczyk characterized the participation by employees as “a small number.”
https://www.wired.com/story/google-fires-twenty-eight-workers-for-protesting-cloud-deal-with-israel/
The fired workers included nine Google employees who were removed by police after occupying Google offices on Tuesday. Protesters standing outside of Google's New York office next to a black SUV and black truck with an electronic billboard... Tech workers from Google, Meta and Amazon protest against Big Tech supplying Israel with intelligence tools outside Google offices in Chelsea, Manhattan, NY, on Tuesday, April 16, 2024.Photograph: Cristina Matuozzi/AP
Google fired twenty-eight employees Wednesday after they participated in protests against Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud contract with Israel’s government that also includes Amazon. Workers at both companies have claimed the deal makes advanced technology available to Israel’s security apparatus that could contribute to the killing or harm of Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank. The Intercept and Time have reported that Project Nimbus provides services that can be tapped by the Israel Defence Forces.
The twenty-eight firings, confirmed by Google, come hours after nine employees were detained by police late Tuesday for sit-in protests in the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian in Sunnyvale, California, and a company office in New York. All nine of those workers were fired, in addition to nineteen other protest participants. Google spokesperson Anna Kowalczyk said in a statement that the employees were terminated after internal investigation” concluded they were guilty of “physically impeding other employees' work and preventing them from accessing our facilities.” She added that “after refusing multiple requests to leave the premises, law enforcement was engaged to remove them to ensure office safety.” The Nimbus contract is “not directed” at classified or military work, she said.
Tuesday’s action against Project Nimbus comes after the reported death toll from the IDF’s offensive on Hamas in Gaza climbed to more than 34,000 Palestinians. The military offensive began after Hamas killed about 1,100 Israelis on October 7. The sit-ins at Google were accompanied by protests of more than 100 people—including many Google workers—outside company offices in New York, Sunnyvale, and Seattle. Google’s Kowalczyk characterized the participation by employees as “a small number.”
https://www.wired.com/story/google-fires-twenty-eight-workers-for-protesting-cloud-deal-with-israel/