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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

#131
post #100

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…

> This is an extreme assumption on your part. It's not. As I said, that's what I take from a video where a string of people had some of the best paying jobs available to any kind of worker, and at one of the most significant companies in the world right now, but don't seem to appreciate how fortunate they were to be in that situation or that they are replaceable. > hoping for reason and empathy to prevail "Reason" is…

> I'm just remarking on how these individuals don't seem to realize what they had and what they've likely lost.

Why do you keep doing this?

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

#132

[flagged]

> where the most prominent voices in the movement support Hamas I suppose that depends on your definition of "the movement". But I am close friends with one of the activist leaders for divesting from Israeli government-linked companies on my university campus—and they're Jewish. So I'm personally skeptical of the scaremongering propaganda

There was that one American political youtuber back a couple years ago who said something along the lines of "America Deserved 9/11". Peoples ethnicities or places of origin have very little to do with how their opinions are viewed.

If you don't support violence against civilians, but you support a group who has many objectives, and one just so happens to be the desire to kill Jewish civilians, you actually do support the violence against civilians.

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

#133
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This was most certainly work related. It was about a Google contract which is 100% related to Google and workers at Google.

But a company isn’t a democracy. They don’t have a right to protest it. If they as employees refuse to work (what they’re paid to do), then the employer has every right to fire them. They aren’t forming a union or something.

This is not universally so, but as far as I can see in the US it is.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-determination

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

#134

[flagged]

Being a California employer, Google may have still tripped over state, of not federal, law if they fired their employees for supporting a cause. (But also, practically speaking, they might be fine with a settlement to allow Google to avoid even discovery on this).

Nah. Google is free and clear on this. It sounds like they have something in their policy about disruption of business. If the employee signed the contract, he/she is SOL on this.

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

#136

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>> Rule number one of being a rebel. Don’t do it at work By doing it at work, they are risking high paying jobs, putting their careers at risk. In public. Risking something for a protest is the whole point. To the extent that they do that with their eyes open, risking high paying jobs, they are heroes. If they do that thinking the people who control Google will be fine with that and they will still keep their jobs, t…

Then they shouldn't be suing imo. Suing implies they think they shouldn't have been fired, which means their risk was not intentional. So they're not heroes.

In a just world they wouldn't have been fired for speaking out for what they did.

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

#137

Anyone can sue or complain about anyone else. It doesn't mean that they will get anything out of it. In this particular case, I'm seeing many people who support their message speaking against what they did.

I had a similar moral conflict at a workplace and I dealt with it by resigning. Despite my outrage, I can't imagine occupying the office of my boss as an acceptable move. It's not illegal for my company to do business I disagree with, and if I don't like it, I leave. Simple.

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

#138
post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> where the most prominent voices support Hamas and what they did on Oct 7th This is a pretty unsupportable take from where I'm standing. Maybe we are in separate bubbles, but very little of the stuff I've seen/read is _in support of_ Oct 7th. Vast majority of voices condemn the attacks, request immediate ceasefire and immediate return of hostages. I know that line so well because of how much I've heard it.

Saying you condemn Oct 7th but you support the overall cause to free palestine is like saying you condemn Russians murdering Ukrainian civilians but you support the overall cause to retake the territory. Doesn't really work like that.

Who's Russia in this analogy? Gaza?

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

#139
post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Where in the link [2] does it say that most Israeli Jews are of European decent? Just over half are not Ashkenazi (mostly Jews from the Middle East, Western and central Asia and Ethiopia). Additionally about 20% of Israeli citizens are Palestinian. Less than 40% of the total population are Ashkenazi.

The comment I was replying to talked about Jewish in israel. They claimed that most of Jews in israel are from Middle East which is wrong and the link shows that. See the table about parental ancestors.

I am talking about Jews in Israel. They are a bit more than half Mizrahi/Sephardi/Beta-Israel (not European) and a bit less than half Ashkenazi (European).

The vast majority of Sephardi and Mezrahi in Israel are from what are now muslim countries in the Middle East. Together with 20% of the population that are Muslim or Christian Palestinians people of middle-eastern descent comprise well over 50% of the population (~60%).

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

#140
post #120

Earlier quoted context omitted.

But a company isn’t a democracy. They don’t have a right to protest it. If they as employees refuse to work (what they’re paid to do), then the employer has every right to fire them. They aren’t forming a union or something.

This is not universally so, but as far as I can see in the US it is. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Co-determination

I don’t follow.

You’re saying that there are countries where there could be an employee that does all this stuff (refusing to din their day to day job) and potentially politicizes the public image of the company and the company couldn’t fire them?

Not talking about fairness or morality. Just legality.

These aren’t whistleblowers either.

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