Google workers fired for protesting Israeli contract file NLRB complaint

Post by lupire » Wed, May 01, 2024, 2:02 PM UTC

lolinder wrote: post #44

Centigonal wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think the difference in the number of participants and base of support is material. That said, the 2018 protests were definitely more disruptive than this one. 20,000 employees left their desks. [1] Part of it might also be that several of the organizers of the 2018 walkouts left Google in the months following the walkouts (including Meredith Whittaker, who now runs the company behind Signal). I think my original a…

Walkouts are very different in character. It's a mini-strike, not an occupation. People voluntarily leave their jobs for a day, they don't sit in someone else's workspace and prevent them from doing theirs. Sure, it's more disruptive to the company because the numbers are larger, but the damage done by each individual ends at not doing their work for the day. It's a statement of "this is what your company will look l…

Post by lupire » Wed, May 01, 2024, 2:03 PM UTC

mmcwilliams wrote: post #144

lolinder wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Walkouts are very different in character. It's a mini-strike, not an occupation. People voluntarily leave their jobs for a day, they don't sit in someone else's workspace and prevent them from doing theirs. Sure, it's more disruptive to the company because the numbers are larger, but the damage done by each individual ends at not doing their work for the day. It's a statement of "this is what your company will look l…

This is a very selective and ahistorical definition of "strike". Strikes regularly block shipping lanes and scab workers from entering so they often prevent others from doing work on a job site.

Post by lupire » Wed, May 01, 2024, 2:04 PM UTC

Centigonal wrote: post #27

lolinder wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Did Google change, or was this protest substantially different in character? In the reporting TFA links to about Maven I don't see any sign of employees staging disruptive protests on Google property. This is how Gizmodo describes that protest [0]: > Google’s decision to provide artificial intelligence to the Defense Department for the analysis of drone footage has prompted backlash from Google employees and academic…

I think the difference in the number of participants and base of support is material. That said, the 2018 protests were definitely more disruptive than this one. 20,000 employees left their desks. [1] Part of it might also be that several of the organizers of the 2018 walkouts left Google in the months following the walkouts (including Meredith Whittaker, who now runs the company behind Signal). I think my original a…

Post by lupire » Wed, May 01, 2024, 2:06 PM UTC

lolinder wrote: post #14

Centigonal wrote: post #3

> This is a marked departure from the way Google has handled employee dissent in the past. In 2018, more than 600 Google workers signed an open letter opposing Project Dragonfly, an effort to build a search engine for China. As The Verge reported at the time, the petition began with an internally shared Google Doc, and all subsequent steps were also organized using Google products. Employees also urged Google to drop…

Did Google change, or was this protest substantially different in character? In the reporting TFA links to about Maven I don't see any sign of employees staging disruptive protests on Google property. This is how Gizmodo describes that protest [0]: > Google’s decision to provide artificial intelligence to the Defense Department for the analysis of drone footage has prompted backlash from Google employees and academic…

Post by bjourne » Wed, May 01, 2024, 2:08 PM UTC

devsda wrote: post #108

reactordev wrote: post #30

Rule number one of being a rebel. Don’t do it at work. Protest all you want in the public streets where you have freedom of assembly. You do NOT have that freedom within a corporate office building. Regardless of employer. A few firings and maybe they’ll get the message to take it outside. I empathize with people wanting to speak out over something they are passionate about. I do this often. Just know your venue and…

At almost every company I've worked over the years, I had to go through countless mandatory annual trainings that effectively says expressing opinions on non work related subjective political topics with coworkers/employer is not advisable, risky and can be grounds for termination in extreme cases. Either these people genuinely believed there was scope for discussion, or believed their opinion/choice of topic is a PR…