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Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

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Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#71
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's fair to say that Google is cracking down. They did tolerate activities like this previously, but came down like a hammer on this. It seems like they are setting a precedent and giving fair warning to anyone else thinking of doing something similar. Things like this can be viral, as seen with the college protests. And the more enabled they are, the worse they get, as seen with Columbia. And to be fair the…

> I find it rather incredible. They end it by announcing that they should all be reinstated because they "did nothing wrong". They repeatedly talk as if they expected just to have their "concerns heard", to get a warning, etc. Yeah. This is true "privilege" speaking -- they don't seem to realize how fortunate they were to be in their positions in the first place. Companies employ you because it's a good deal for them…

> This is true "privilege" speaking -- they don't seem to realize how fortunate they were to be in their positions in the first place.

This is an extreme assumption on your part.

> Companies employ you because it's a good deal for them. If you're lucky, you find a place where it is a good deal for you too. Protesting and disrupting work changes that calculus for the company. It's no longer a good deal for them, and the unsurprising result is that they won't want to hire such people back.

Everytime workers do something collectively there's a dozen people in these threads saying the same thing, as if it's some sort of revelation.

Sometimes people do things regardless of what's "expected" to be done to them, hoping for reason and empathy to prevail. That's not a sin and being snide about it isn't helpful.

Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#72
post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

These protests aren't about Hamas though. There are other protests about that, and surely those are valid. These protests are about Israel's campaign of what UN officials say is genocide. Most attempts to change the subject to Hamas are bad faith attempts to protect Israel from culpability.

UN officials don't say it's genocide and anyways they're not the arbiters of that claim. Changing the subject to Hamas is not bad faith. Hamas is the ruler of Gaza, was voted into power, and enjoys support of most Palestinians. It's impossible for Israel to "separate" its war on Hamas from the population within it resides. The ignoring of Hamas by the anti-Israel crowd is what's bad faith. Do you separate the Russian…

Netanyahu and his administration actively worked to bolster Hamas and keep them in power: https://original.antiwar.com/connor_freeman/2023/10/26/netan...

So yes, let's go after all supporters of terrorism!

Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#73
post #53
post #12

Has anybody noticed that whenever the protests pop up. Major news outlets tend to spin them as some sort of haven for “anti-Semitism” or cite them as the “violent protests”. I have yet to see organizations (at least on the ground, in major press releases) cite anything that represents hate against the Jewish population. Only rhetoric I have heard is those protesting the horrific actions of the Israeli government/mili…

A lot of people are spreading a false equivalence between being antisemitic and protesting the slaughter of civilians and children. Does that count?

Israel doesn't slaughter civilians. In fact, asymmetric tactics and terror attacks against civilians is constantly perpetrated by hamas (as evidenced on 10/7)

Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If it’s the latter, please point me to evidence of pro-Palestine organizations supporting the violent actions of Hamas terrorists. I don’t want to see individuals that have no visible ties spouting bullshit. There should be a press release by the orgs or leaders of these orgs stating this as such. The question is whether this is an unreasonably strong standard. Even Hamas themselves have not issued a clear official…

These protests aren't about Hamas though. There are other protests about that, and surely those are valid. These protests are about Israel's campaign of what UN officials say is genocide. Most attempts to change the subject to Hamas are bad faith attempts to protect Israel from culpability.

I’m not sure what you mean by “bad faith” here. I think most defenders of Israel are pretty forthright about their belief that UN officials are wrong and Hamas is solely responsible for the suffering in Gaza. That doesn’t mean you have to agree - I personally am skeptical that trying to parse out who’s most responsible or most at fault makes sense - but most of the opponents you’re seeing genuinely feel that protests against Israel are protecting Hamas from culpability. (International relations in a violent region are hard!)

Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#75
post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I find it rather incredible. They end it by announcing that they should all be reinstated because they "did nothing wrong". They repeatedly talk as if they expected just to have their "concerns heard", to get a warning, etc. Yeah. This is true "privilege" speaking -- they don't seem to realize how fortunate they were to be in their positions in the first place. Companies employ you because it's a good deal for them…

> This is true "privilege" speaking -- they don't seem to realize how fortunate they were to be in their positions in the first place. This is an extreme assumption on your part. > Companies employ you because it's a good deal for them. If you're lucky, you find a place where it is a good deal for you too. Protesting and disrupting work changes that calculus for the company. It's no longer a good deal for them, and t…

How much reason and empathy were the protesters offering to the people whose offices they occupied?

Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#76
post #54
post #12

Has anybody noticed that whenever the protests pop up. Major news outlets tend to spin them as some sort of haven for “anti-Semitism” or cite them as the “violent protests”. I have yet to see organizations (at least on the ground, in major press releases) cite anything that represents hate against the Jewish population. Only rhetoric I have heard is those protesting the horrific actions of the Israeli government/mili…

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zazcVU_rNyQ (NSFW: Language)

Mob mentality really brings out the worst in us.

Still seems like mini groups of assholes lashing out on whoever with reckless abandon.

The dog whistles were definitely fucked up.

Although, what’s the deal with “Zionism”? Seems like the exact opposite of the extreme pro-Palestinian groups (ie, PLFP).

The loudest ones in these videos tend to be associated with either extreme and polar opposites. But I don’t believe most Jewish and Palestinian people would fall into either of these groups.

Just as the far right and far left in USA get all the attention on the news networks, social media, vods, your uncle that death scrolls on FB too long. In reality that doesn’t represent the true make up of America.

Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#77

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> This is true "privilege" speaking -- they don't seem to realize how fortunate they were to be in their positions in the first place. This is an extreme assumption on your part. > Companies employ you because it's a good deal for them. If you're lucky, you find a place where it is a good deal for you too. Protesting and disrupting work changes that calculus for the company. It's no longer a good deal for them, and t…

How much reason and empathy were the protesters offering to the people whose offices they occupied?

An extremely reasonable amount, by all counts, what a strange question.

Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#78

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is how it always seems to go. A huge segment of Americans still refer to the George Floyd protests as "George Floyd Riots" that "burned down" cities. It's, obviously, a ridiculous characterization of an overwhelmingly peaceful nation-wide set of protests.

Those "overwhelmingly peaceful" protests caused an estimated $1-2B in property damage, making them the most destructive protests (from an insurance perspective) in the last 50 years: https://www.axios.com/2020/09/16/riots-cost-property-damage

"fiery but mostly peaceful"

Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#79

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Their actions achieved nothing of consequence. I don't see how that makes them "heroes", even from the point of view of someone that supports their views.

>> Their actions achieved nothing of consequence They drew attention to their cause, you're talking about them. You're talking about their cause. >> even from the point of view of someone that supports their views What views of theirs do you support, exactly?

There is such a thing as bad publicity.

Re: Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

#80

Googler protests in the past have typically been walk-outs and other outdoor gatherings. This protest took place within the offices. Some of the protestors occupied senior executives' offices for many hours, and had to be removed by the police. Some of the protestors also streamed their protest from within the offices of the notoriously confidentiality-obsessed company. I don't buy the narrative that Google is cracki…

> I don't buy the narrative that Google is cracking down on employee activism.

Seriously? As somebody who's followed this stuff closely there's loads of historical precedent here for assuming exactly that. Including with NLRB and retaliation from other "good kinds of protests".

https://www.theverge.com/2019/11/25/20983053/google-fires-fo...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2020/dec/02/google-la...

https://www.theverge.com/2023/3/3/23624631/alphabet-cognizan...

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