ACTION ALERT: Google Fires 50 Workers
for Speaking Out on Palestine
Laura Barros / MPower Change

(May 1, 2024) — On April 16, Google workers with No Tech For Apartheid led historic, sit-ins at Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian’s office in Sunnyvale, CA and at Google’s NYC HQ to demand that Google end its $1.2B Project Nimbus contract with Israel.

In an aggressive, unprecedented act of retaliation, Google fired 50 workers,¹ including non-participating bystanders.²

That’s why this May Day, we’re sending a clear message to Google execs: We will always have the backs of workers who demand their bosses divest from genocide and who act in support of Palestinian liberation.

Tell Google: Reinstate the fired 50 and end the retaliation against workers speaking out for Palestine. 

Through Project Nimbus, Google is aiding & abetting Israel’s genocide in Gaza, which has so far killed, disappeared, and wounded over 100,000 Palestinians.³ Google workers don’t want their labor to power Israeli apartheid or the genocide of Palestinians in Gaza.

Just two weeks ago, TIME Magazine revealed that Google is providing direct cloud/AI services to the Israeli Occupation Forces. Google has been lying about this fact to its own workers and the public for years.

What’s more, the corporation has deepened its partnership with Israeli military during the genocide in Gaza, signing a new $1 million agreement as recently as one month ago.⁴

Google upended the livelihoods of over 50 workers, including many who did not actively participate in last Tuesday’s sit-ins. Google even called the police on its own workers at both sit-in locations, leading to the arrests of the Nimbus Nine,⁵ who were charged with trespassing at their own offices.

Unjustly fired Google workers include Palestinians who financially support families back home,⁶ workers with urgent healthcare needs, as well as those who relied on work visas to reside and work in the US.

Google’s tantrum shows they’re embarrassed by the show of worker power — and terrified of worker organizing for Palestine because it threatens Google’s burgeoning war profiteering business model.

Let Google know their attempts to quash dissent and silence its workers won’t work — and we are watching.

In a climate of widespread censorship, these courageous workers put their bodies & jobs on the line inside their own workplaces, demonstrating their unwavering commitment to Palestinian liberation.

On Monday, workers filed an Unfair Labor Practice complaint with the National Labor Review Board, which could lead to a major legal battle.⁷ We can’t let this blatant retaliation produce a chilling effect.

Join us this May Day to tell Google Cloud CEO Thomas Kurian and Google’s Chief of HR Fiona Ciccone:

Reinstate the 50 fired workers & stop the mass retaliation against workers speaking out for Palestine NOW. 

Thank you for everything you do.
In solidarity,
Lau, Linda, Binita and the MPower Change team

Sources:

1. “Google fires more workers who protested its deal with Israel,” AP Apr. 23, 2024.
2. “STATEMENT from Google workers organizing with the No Tech for Apartheid campaign on Google’s firings of 50 total workers,” No Tech For Apartheid Campaign, Apr. 22 2024.
3. “On 100th day of Gaza genocide: 100,000 Palestinians killed, missing or wounded ,” Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, Jan 13, 2024.
4. “Exclusive: Google Contract Shows Deal With Israel Defense Ministry,” Time Magazine, Apr. 12, 2024.
5. “No Tech for Apartheid: Google Workers Arrested for Protesting Company’s $1.2B Contract with Israel,” Democracy Now, Apr. 17, 2023.
6. “Open Letter: Google Workers Condemn Internal Culture of Hate, Abuse, and Retaliation,” No Tech For Apartheid Campaign, Nov. 8, 2023.
7. “Fired Google workers who protested Israel deal file complaint with labor board,” The Washington Post, Apr. 30, 2023.