Google claims a small group of these employees disrupted work by occupying unspecified office locations.
According to Google, this behavior violated their policies, which prohibit actions that impede other employees’ ability to work or restrict access to company facilities. The company emphasized that investigations are ongoing and further action may be taken.
Employee Group Counters Google’s Claims
A Google employee group affiliated with “No Tech for Apartheid” took to Medium to express strong disagreement with Google’s explanation. They characterize the firings as a “blatant act of retaliation” and allege that some dismissed employees weren’t directly involved in the protests. They assert their right to engage in peaceful protest concerning the terms and conditions of their employment, which in this case includes the company’s decision to enter into certain contracts.
Controversy Surrounds Project Nimbus
The protests center around “Project Nimbus,” a joint Google-Amazon contract worth $1.2 billion to provide cloud services to the Israeli government. The employee group believes this project facilitates the development of Israeli military tools, potentially enabling actions that violate human rights.
Google Refutes Military Use Allegations
Google strongly refutes these claims, stating that Project Nimbus “doesn’t involve highly sensitive or military workloads linked to weapons or intelligence services.” They maintain that the project is for general cloud services and not for any specifically military purposes.
This incident isn’t the first time Google employees have protested government contracts. In 2018, they successfully pressured Google to abandon “Project Maven,” a contract to analyze drone footage for the U.S. military. This earlier incident demonstrates a pattern of employee activism at Google and the company’s willingness to listen to employee concerns in certain situations.
