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Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation

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Re: Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation

#62

I wish there was more negative backlash when Google retaliated against James Damore The privilege to speak up against the status quo is important. Especially when you have less power, and even if your opinion is unsavory to some

Even the NLRB (pretty much the most employee-friendly place you can find, if you look through rulings) found they didn't.

That’s not an accurate summary:

They found that Google firing him in response to a complaint about their discriminatory practices wasn’t retaliation because him complaining upset his coworkers.

It’s an insane ruling, that undermines the basis of protections.

Re: Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation

#63

Someone posted preliminary sit-in attendance numbers. Attendance ranges from 50-150 per office in the larger offices. Anecdotally, I've seen very little discussion and energy this time compared to the walkout. Back then, one couldn't walk 20 feet without hitting some kind of exhortation to join the walkout. This time, more people might find out about this sit-in through this HN story than through internal channels. T…

The low visibility and low attendance aren't the result of any kind of management repression. I think it's a real change in sentiment. Most people don't care about this affair. Among people who are paying attention, there's a fair amount of internal skepticism and outrage fatigue. I hope this is a bellwether for the rest of SV, the Bay Area, and the rest of the country. The small core group of habitual protesters is…

There were plenty of "movements" within the Google-Intranet using tactics that are at least cognate to authoritarianism - namely bullying, harassment and intimidation - to pursue their politically-skewed goals and drive political opponents out. It's not something that's in serious dispute by now - the reporting, even in court-submitted documents like the James Damore complaint, is way too clear for that. And yes, of course this is severely dysfunctional for any sort of enterprise. We actually have laws on the books that are meant to prevent these things; though the enforcement is quite inconsistent.

Re: Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation

#65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Fascism tends to have these attributes: * dictatorial power * totalitarian one party state * embrace of political violence as a means to silence opposition * strong opposition to Marxism, liberalism, conservatism * radical nationalism * nationalist economic policy through protectionist schemes See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fascism#Definitions What about a group of employees collectively organizing and protesting…

"Fascism" is used today to refer to "bad thing I don't like". It's a mistake to interpret diction literally. Yes, it would be lovely if people used the word "fascism" to refer to right-wing, ultra-nationalist, authoritarian political movements. But that's not how people use words and the ship has long since sailed on that particular word. According to George Orwell "fascism" has a been a synonym for "bully" since 194…

Orwell fought against the fascists in the Spanish Civil War, and found his side being called fascist by the Stalinists. I suspect he was more hoping to return the word to meaning something (he quite passionately cared about fighting fascism) than encouraging its misuse.

Re: Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation

#66
post #48

Someone posted preliminary sit-in attendance numbers. Attendance ranges from 50-150 per office in the larger offices. Anecdotally, I've seen very little discussion and energy this time compared to the walkout. Back then, one couldn't walk 20 feet without hitting some kind of exhortation to join the walkout. This time, more people might find out about this sit-in through this HN story than through internal channels. T…

either way you've been swindled.

I actually appreciate the downvotes as it means there are 4 viewpoints and not just 2..

Re: Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation

#67

I wish there was more negative backlash when Google retaliated against James Damore The privilege to speak up against the status quo is important. Especially when you have less power, and even if your opinion is unsavory to some

This guy literally said the hiring bar was lowered for women. It says that in his doc. And it's false. After everyone was upset about this, he never apologized or walked back that part of the doc at all.

Re: Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation

#68
post #28
post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’ve often wondered this myself. Google has literally thousands of engineers working on search alone. I can’t even fathom what they’re all doing. And then what is everyone filling their time with?

Developing Thanos snap gimmicks and other region specific Easter eggs?

As much as we joke about this, a google doodle is such a great sticky "come back and see what's new tomorrow, and while you are here, maybe search which will make us money" tactic.

Re: Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation

#69

I wish there was more negative backlash when Google retaliated against James Damore The privilege to speak up against the status quo is important. Especially when you have less power, and even if your opinion is unsavory to some

It wasn't retaliation, a good number of Googlers didn't want to be working with someone who believes women and minorities were just dumb diversity hires.

Re: Google employees are staging a sit-in to protest reported retaliation

#70
post #58

I wish there was more negative backlash when Google retaliated against James Damore The privilege to speak up against the status quo is important. Especially when you have less power, and even if your opinion is unsavory to some

That's not what happened, though. Google management was quite happy to completely ignore Damore. He was punished only once his screed became public and embarrassed the company. That's exactly the opposite of retaliation!

The "screed" [sic] became public through no fault of Damore's. Why focus on him then, if not as (late) retaliation?
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