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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

#221

Post by gataca »

peteradio wrote: post #188
gataca wrote: post #175

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The ICJ did no such thing. Here is the president of the ICJ clarifying this misreporting: https://x.com/UKLFI/status/1785305902276301019

Good thing the lawyer brigade is helping Israel stay just just just barely below the technical definition of a genocide. Google can rest easy knowing til this date one apparent body of justice has blessed the actions as not technically genocide. Certainly the employees should continue to keep their heads down and keep calm because so far its not technically genocide. Judgements based on evidence dated til Dec. 2023,…

We are arguing about the meaning of words, especially words thrown around as libels to try and delegitimize justified self defense.

I'm sorry if the facts don't agree with your desires for something to be true. War is terrible and civilians die in all wars, especially those in urban areas where one party tunnels underneath civilian infrastructure to protect themselves while leaving civilians exposed to fire.

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

#222

Post by [deleted] »

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…

[deleted]

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

#223

Post by peteradio »

gataca wrote: post #221
peteradio wrote: post #188

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good thing the lawyer brigade is helping Israel stay just just just barely below the technical definition of a genocide. Google can rest easy knowing til this date one apparent body of justice has blessed the actions as not technically genocide. Certainly the employees should continue to keep their heads down and keep calm because so far its not technically genocide. Judgements based on evidence dated til Dec. 2023,…

We are arguing about the meaning of words, especially words thrown around as libels to try and delegitimize justified self defense. I'm sorry if the facts don't agree with your desires for something to be true. War is terrible and civilians die in all wars, especially those in urban areas where one party tunnels underneath civilian infrastructure to protect themselves while leaving civilians exposed to fire.

I'm not arguing about the current facts, facts change and I think employees shouldn't be timid when they are feeling uncomfortable about the fruits of their labor. Whether or not this is technically genocide is hilariously off-topic for the thread at large and serves to create a narrative that one's actions must be classified as genocide to reach the level of justified employee outcry. You obviously are free to quibble about what is or is not genocide and I'm free to ridicule it with satire.

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

#224

Post by mistermann »

cogman10 wrote: post #218
bjourne wrote: post #185

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who says that a totalitarian attitude is desirable?? Freedom of speech implies that expressing your opinions should not cost you your job.

No it does not and it never has. Freedom of speech is a protection from the government, not other citizens. And I suspect the only reason people take this view is because the speech is something they agree with. Would you, for example, feel like Google was being totalitarian if Hitler Hank hosted a sit in protest against the company for hiring people of color and he was subsequently fired?

Some people have read this (or know some of the history at least):

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_of_speech

Some people mistakenly believe that the first amendment is identical to the above; it is not:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/First_Amendment_to_the_Unite...

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

#225

Post by lazide »

bjourne wrote: post #209
devsda wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

What country and what company made you undergo these "countless" training sessions? I suspect you are making stuff up.

it was front and center in every US non-FAANG employee handbook and sexual harassment training I went to.

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

#226

Post by reactordev »

francisofascii wrote: post #152
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…

Sure, agree, but what about the employee in the article who wondered onto the 10th floor to check out the protest. That person wasn't actively protesting. And that person gets fired. That's not right.

Guilty by association. Again, at-will employment means they can justify it however they want to and it’s totally legal. Unless the individual is part of a union…

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

#227

Post by reactordev »

camdenreslink wrote: post #187
reactordev wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So long as they never mention why they are a former Google employee. Instead of a current one.

I think it really depends on the company. There are a lot of companies out there with a wide range of values. Some might even consider this a quality that they want in a candidate (it will certainly eliminate them from consideration for some companies though).

That’s true! Some might even be more inclined to hire you based on your stance on the matter and that you protested. Good point. Just saying it’s not the best light to show why you were let go. I stick to the canned “We were over-resourced and so there were layoffs” is an easy blanket statement.

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

#228

Post by 0xBDB »

tovej wrote: post #163
trueismywork wrote: post #161

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Sexual harassment cases are much more black and white and actionable than genocide cases.

Acting on them also has less of an impact on the bottom line, and doesn't sour the company's connections to Israeli or US military and defense industries. Corporations tend to act morally only when doing so aligns with their profit motives.

Google has explicitly denied that Project Nimbus has anything to do with defense or military use.

You can disbelieve this, of course, and I assume the internal protesters did disbelieve it or at least thought the tech was dual-use (I don't know what Nimbus actually is). But assuming it's true, and also assuming for the sake of argument that Israel is guilty of genocide, I think it raises an interesting question: do otherwise genocidal governments still need and deserve the right to buy civilian infrastructure to support their own people?

I think they do, and that depriving them of that infrastructure could itself rise to the level of a crime (if taken to an extreme).

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

#229

Post by [deleted] »

b112 wrote: post #125
reactordev wrote: post #114

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So long as they never mention why they are a former Google employee. Instead of a current one.

This is accurate. HR doesn't want protesters on staff, and HR often googles candidates, checks social media, etc. They may find sympathy at some businesses, but the larger the company, likely the less of that.

[deleted]

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

#230

Post by bjourne »

_heimdall wrote: post #217
bjourne wrote: post #212

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Then cite those "reports". Otherwise you are just contributing to the misinformation.

Most articles circulating widely have included quotes from Google that the protesters that have been fired were physically disrupting those at work. I didn't expect that to be a contentious reference without a source, but sure here's one - https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/google-fires-more-worke... To be clear, I'm well aware those are quotes from Google's PR department. I'm not taking them as true and was primar…

"We continued our investigation into the physical disruption inside our buildings on April 16, looking at additional details provided by coworkers who were physically disrupted,"

So that is what Google, one party to the conflict, claims. Not something independent sources have verified. I'm pretty sure the protestors deny that anyone was "physically disrupted". Edit: You have updated your comments. My point is that it is unfair to default to believing Google and disbelieving the protestors.

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