On April 16, 2024, Google workers in New York City, Seattle, and Sunnyvale, California, engaged in a peaceful protest against Google’s participation in Project Nimbus, a cloud computing contract between Google, Amazon, and the Israeli government and military. The protests culminated in nine Google workers arrested and forcibly removed from company premises. Roughly two dozen workers, including some AWU members, have been terminated, most of whom were not directly engaged in protest. We deplore Google’s decision to have its own workers arrested and terminated for participating in a peaceful protest, rather than engage in substantive dialogue about their concerns. 

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Working with No Tech for Apartheid, Google workers concerned about the products of their labor being used as tools of war have sought for several years to dialogue with company leadership through internal channels. Workers have reached out directly to Google leaders in a variety of ways, spoken out in town halls and forums, and presented petitions with thousands of signatures. We are disappointed that Google has not seriously engaged with the concerns of thousands of their employees and instead has engaged in a pattern of retaliation and discrimination against those who speak out.

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Google has willfully ignored the intimidation and bullying of workers exercising their right to free speech, particularly Palestinian, Arab, and Muslim workers. We believe that this treatment is in violation of the Google Values, company policy, and labor law. It is incumbent upon Google to maintain a workplace free of harassment and bullying, and to treat its employees with equal respect regardless of individuals’ political beliefs and advocacy.

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The Alphabet Workers Union believes that all workers should have a voice at work, including in how their work impacts the world. All workers deserve a fair and neutral due process and no worker should suffer harassment, mistreatment, or retaliation in any form. We call for all terminated workers to be returned to work. 

Executive Board

Alphabet Workers Union

CWA Local 9009

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