Google fires more workers after CEO says workplace isn’t for politics

Some employees protested the tech giant’s contract with the Israeli government. They’ve been let go.(via washingtonpost)

Google fired about 20 more workers it said participated in protests denouncing the company’s cloud computing deal with the Israeli government, bringing the total number of workers fired in the past week over the issue to more than 50, according to the activist group representing the workers.

A spokesperson for Google confirmed it had fired more workers after continuing its investigation into the April 16 protests, which included sit-ins at Google’s offices in New York City and Sunnyvale, Calif.

The firings come several days after chief executive Sundar Pichai told employees in a companywide memo that they should not use the company as a “personal platform” or “fight over disruptive issues or debate politics.”

“The corporation is attempting to quash dissent, silence its workers and reassert its power over them,” said Jane Chung, a spokesperson for No Tech for Apartheid, a group that has protested Google’s and Amazon’s contracts with the Israeli government since 2021.

The protests at Google are among a wave of opposition to the U.S. government and corporations working with the Israeli government and military. Pro-Palestinian protesters have been arrested in recent days at Yale and Columbia universities, spurring accusations of heavy-handedness by university officials and inspiring another wave of demonstrations at other colleges around the country. The day before the Google sit-ins, activists blocked highways, bridges and airport entrances across the United States to protest the war in Gaza.

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