Google fired 28 workers who protested Israeli government cloud contract
Google took action against what it called "disruptive behavior," but employees are calling it a blatant act of retaliation. An internal memo obtained by The Verge reveals that the company has terminated 28 employees who were involved in protesting against the "Project Nimbus" cloud contract with the Israeli government. This follows the arrest and suspension of nine employees on April 16 and a previous firing that took place last month, all related to the same project. Some of the terminated workers were forcefully evicted after occupying the office of Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian. Chris Rackow, Google's head of global security, made it clear that the company will not tolerate such incidents and warned of potential further action. In a letter to employees, Rackow stated, "If you think we will turn a blind eye to conduct that violates our policies, think again. The company takes this matter extremely seriously, and we will continue to enforce our policies by taking action against disruptive behavior, which may include termination." However, the "No Tech for Apartheid" group, who organized the protests, has labeled these dismissals as a clear act of retaliation. They find it insulting that Google claims that the protests are predominantly driven by individuals not employed by the company. The group asserts that their campaign to drop Project Nimbus is supported by thousands of their colleagues. In a Medium post, the group expressed their frustration, stating, "In the three years that we have been organizing against Project Nimbus, we have not received a response from a single executive regarding our concerns. Google workers have the right to peacefully protest about the terms and conditions of our employment. These terminations were undeniably retaliatory in nature."