Google has fired 28 employees for participating in sit-in protests against the company’s contract with the Israeli government. This came shortly after the police arrested nine workers staging the protests. The arrests were made on trespassing charges as some workers protested in Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s office.
Google employees arrested for protesting against it
The protests in Google offices began on Tuesday morning. Employees in the company’s New York and Sunnyvale, California offices staged a sit-in protesting its involvement in Project Nimbus, a $1.2 billion cloud contract with the Israeli government. Signed in 2021, the project also involves Amazon and provides cloud computing services to government agencies in Israel.
The protestors wanted Google to pull out of Project Nimbus because of Israel’s war on Gaza. They wore shirts that read “Googler against genocide.” Google initially suspended the protestors, revoked their access to the building, and asked them to leave. After they refused, the company called the police. Five workers from Sunnyvale and four from New York were arrested after about eight hours of protest.
The police also first asked the protestors to exit the building, saying that it would be a non-issue if they obliged. But the Googlers didn’t oblige, leading to the arrests. Videos of the arrests were live-streamed on social media. “Listen, we’ll let you walk out the door right now — it’s a non-issue if you’re willing to go. If not, you’re going to be arrested for trespassing,” a New York City police officer can be heard saying in a video.
Cheyne Anderson, a Google Cloud software engineer arrested by the police, said Google shouldn’t sign deals with governments. “On a personal level, I am opposed to Google taking any military contracts — no matter which government they’re with or what exactly the contract is about,” Anderson told CNBC. “… Google is an international company and no matter which military it’s with, there are always going to be people on the receiving end… represented in Google’s employee base and also our user base.”
Google says Project Nimbus is not related to the Israeli military
Opposition to Project Nimbus isn’t new. There have been several internal protests against this deal since 2021. Workers from Google and Amazon formed a coalition to launch a campaign called No Tech for Apartheid against the project. However, Google says Project Nimbus is not related to the Israeli military. Instead, it offers commercial cloud services to Israeli government ministries. The deal does not involve sensitive or military workloads.
“We have been very clear that the Nimbus contract is for workloads running on our commercial cloud by Israeli government ministries, who agree to comply with our Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy,” said Anna Kowalczyk, the external communications manager for Google Cloud. “This work is not directed at highly sensitive, classified, or military workloads relevant to weapons or intelligence services.”
The protestors, meanwhile alleged that Google ignored their demands. “Google has ignored our demands, stifled internal discussion, openly lied, and committed flagrant acts of retaliation against workers merely for speaking up against the company’s military contract with the genocidal and apartheid regime of Israel,” said Mohammad Khatami, a Google software engineer. “Project Nimbus is a major workplace health and safety concern for Googlers.“
Google later fired those employees
While the police released the arrested Google employees after a few hours, the company continued its retaliation. It fired 28 employees who participated in the protests. However, according to Googlers with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign, some of the employees fired by the tech giant weren’t directly involved in the protests. They alleged the firm valued a genocidal government more than its workers.
“This evening, Google indiscriminately fired 28 workers, including those among us who did not directly participate in yesterday’s historic, bicoastal 10-hour sit-in protests. 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 ones who create real value for executives and shareholders,” they said in a statement to Android Headlines.
Googlers also alleged that the company avoided confronting them and addressing their concerns directly. They accused Google of illegal, retaliatory firings and trying to justify its actions with a lie. The group cited a report from TIME saying that Google has built custom tools for Israel’s military. The company has also allegedly doubled down on contracting with the Israeli Occupational Forces since the onset of the war on Gaza.
“Google is terrified of us. They are terrified of workers coming together and calling for accountability and transparency from our bosses. They are choosing to reveal the falsity of Google’s ‘open culture’ in order to get rid of a threat. The corporation is trying to downplay and discredit our power,” the group said. “These mass, illegal firings will not stop us. On the contrary, they only serve as further fuel for the growth of this movement.”