Google fired 28 employees who participated in protests against the company’s $1.2 billion contract with the Israeli government.
The dismissals came after the tech giant collaborated with Amazon on Project Nimbus, supplying Israel’s government and military with cloud computing and AI infrastructure.
The employees staged protests inside Google’s offices in New York and Sunnyvale, California to protest against the contract.
According to No Tech For Apartheid, the group behind the protests, demonstrators entered Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s office in Sunnyvale, holding banners that read “No More Genocide For Profit” and “We Stand with Palestinian, Arab and Muslim Googlers.”
No Tech for Apartheid said in a statement that Google officials called the police on its own workers, who were arrested and taken into custody.
A Google spokesperson, on April 18, told CNN that the protests “were part of a long-standing campaign by a group of organizations and people who largely don’t work” at the company.
The spokesperson added that the protesters disrupted work and prevented employees from accessing facilities, leading to their termination after law enforcement intervention.
Reaction of coalition
No Tech For Apartheid coalition strongly condemned the dismissals, accusing Google of prioritizing its contract with the Israeli government over its employees.
“This flagrant act of retaliation is a clear indication that Google values its $1.2 billion contract with the genocidal Israeli government and military more than its own workers,” the group stated.
“They punished all of the workers they could associate with this action in wholesale firings,” said the coalition.
“The truth is clear: Google is terrified of us,” said the group. “They are terrified of workers coming together and calling for accountability and transparency from our bosses… The corporation is trying to downplay and discredit our power.”
“These mass, illegal firings will not stop us,” No Tech for Apartheid added. “On the contrary, they only serve as further fuel for the growth of this movement. Make no mistake, we will continue organizing until the company drops Project Nimbus and stops powering this genocide.”
The employees, part of a group called No Tech for Apartheid, have been writing letters and staging protests against Google’s deal to sell technology to Israel since 2021. In the recent protests, employees occupied offices and refused to leave, prompting Google to involve law enforcement.
The protests against Google’s involvement with Israel have been ongoing. Last year, banners reading “No More Genocide For Profit” were displayed during marches following the Gaza conflict’s outbreak.
Google clarified that Project Nimbus is not related to sensitive or military tasks involving weapons or intelligence services. However, the dismissals have intensified the longstanding tensions between Google and employees opposed to the company’s technology supply to Israel’s government.
Google employees have a track record of using their collective power to influence company policies. For instance, in 2018, Google terminated a contract with the U.S. Defense Department for Project Maven, which involved drone and AI technology, following resignations and condemnation from thousands of workers.
In related news, McDonald’s announced plans to repurchase all of its Israeli restaurants following a sales decline due to boycotts over perceived support for Israel.
The Gaza Strip has suffered extensive damage during Israeli military operations, resulting in numerous casualties, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.