A group of about 50 employees who were fired from Google after participating in anti-Israel protests at the company's offices in the United States filed a complaint on Tuesday against the tech giant with the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), alleging that the dismissals are illegal and demanding their reinstatement.
Two weeks ago, Google fired a group of 28 employees who participated in a sit-in at the company's offices in New York and California, protesting against Google's involvement in the Nimbus project to build a government/national cloud computing system in Israel worth $1.2 billion.
"The vast majority of employees are doing the right thing," said Chris Rackow, Google's global security chief, in an internal memo to company employees. "If you're one of the few who think they can ignore our rules, think again. The company takes this seriously, and we will continue to act against disruptive behavior."
A week later, Google fired more than 20 additional employees, although some claim they were not involved in the protest. No Tech For Apartheid, an anti-Israel organization that opposes the supply of technological products and services to Israel, claimed at the time that among the fired employees were "uninvolved bystanders." However, Google told The Verge website that all the fired employees were "personally involved in disruptive activity within our buildings."
MANY DETAINED AND LATER FIRED IN GOOGLE EMPLOYEE PROTEST
Now, these employees have turned to the NLRB, demanding the reversal of their dismissals. "The employer retaliated against approximately 50 employees and infringed on their rights by firing or otherwise disciplining them in response to their participation in protected activity, particularly peaceful and non-disruptive protest directly and explicitly related to their working conditions," the complaint stated.
First published: 00:38, 05.02.24