It’s early morning, and Zelda Montes walks briskly through the crisp New York air as they head to Google’s headquarters on Manhattan’s 9th Avenue. Montes, who self-identifies as they, fumbles with their ID card at the entrance, blending in with the steady stream of Googlers swiping through the security barriers as if it were just another day at the office.
Armed with an oversized tote bag, Montes pulls back their purple hair and heads to the 13th-floor canteen to order their usual: a dirty chai and an egg, avocado, and cheese sandwich with a bowl of raspberries.
Their hands tremble slightly as they grip the coffee cup.
Locking eyes with two others, they get the signal that the coast is clear, head down to the entrance, and sit. The three Googlers unfurl their banners and begin chanting to demand that Google do one thing: Drop Project Nimbus.
But this will be the last time they sit inside Google’s New York office as Googlers, as Google itself refers to its own employees. “Getting fired felt like a possibility but never a reality,” remarked Montes, one of 50 employees fired by Google for staging a 10-hour sit-in at one of its American offices in April.
For the last three years, Montes has been one of several activists calling for Google to drop Project Nimbus, a partnership Google and Amazon have with the Israeli government reportedly worth $1.2bn.
Getting fired felt like a possibility but never a reality
…tech people never fail to amaze me in their misty-eyed views of the companies they work for.
It’s still disgusting and obviously an attempt to stifle dissent in the ranks, but like, firing someone for stuff like this is so common in the world that you have to be pretty naive to think it wasn’t a reality and to prepare for it accordingly when you planned your sit-in.
Tech workers need unions so badly for reasons exactly like this.
The biggest problem is tech workers tend to not be social and feel elitest. I know, I’ve been in the business 25+ years. You also have a lot of older folks poisoned against unions by politicians and the media. Building a tech union at this big companies is an uphill battle.
Can’t expect people to do something they don’t think they need.
It’s a very fat industry. When (due to big fish failing, anti-monopoly activities, new systems, revolutions and nuclear wars) it finally becomes normal, there will be unions.
Another symptom of extremely silo’d educations. As someone in a STEM field who took a couple years extra to graduate because they didn’t declare a major for two years, I see this shit constantly. Clearly, very intelligent people who have been once again let down by our education system, but this time at the University level.
To the point where I will probably get downvotes and angry replies about how learning that other stuff is useless. But I can tell you that it’s absolutely not. I’m an engineer, and “Logic and Language” is still, by far, the most important course I’ve ever taken…
Tech types are very often libertarian minded.
Swing and a miss
No? Higher levels of education are generally correlated with more liberal attitudes. https://www.pewresearch.org/politics/2016/04/26/a-wider-ideological-gap-between-more-and-less-educated-adults/
Unless that’s not what you meant, or I am missing something?
Being Liberal is not the same as being an American Libertarian. The latter thinks tax is theft and has diverse views on whether children should be regarded as property under the law.
Great counter point
/s
Just in case you didn’t know, libertarians are not against unions.
Actually libertarians are more in favor of unions than the rest because vertical regulation is unacceptable for them.
Also people who think they can attribute every bad idea they can think of to libertarians are usually wrong and really dumb.
Libertarianism is properly a socialist philosophy, but it’s been coopted by the far right in America who then started exporting their bullshit to the rest of the world. It’s entirely possible for two people to call themselves “libertarian” and have next to nothing in common in their understanding of what that means.
Most libertarian support of unions in America is a bad joke. It’s meaningless feel-good rhetoric that completely ignores the entire history of unions in America. Corporations have a million ways to crush unions and union organizers. Without government regulations requiring corporations to engage with unions, unions are next to impossible in reality. But that’s just fine with the kind of people attracted to the Libertarian party, because they don’t live in reality.
Libertarianism is a socialist philosophy - false. Or more precisely, meaningless. When people mean libertarianism, they mean primate of liberty. That at some point people in favor of it hugely intersected with socialists is a fact that doesn’t necessarily invalidate libertarians who are not in any way socialist.
Libertarianism has nothing to do with the Libertarian party of the USA - true.
Without government regulations unions being powerless - false. Or more precisely, government regulations work the way governments want. Today’s governments are working in favor of corporations, not sitting idle, so the reality confirms that centralizing power is a bad idea. Or maybe you are going to tell me how you are going to persuade power working against you to work for you.
Excerpts from the Wikipedia entry on libertarianism:
In the mid-19th century,[10] libertarianism originated as a form of left-wing politics such as anti-authoritarian and anti-state socialists like anarchists.
And
In the mid-20th century, American right-libertarian[35] proponents of anarcho-capitalism and minarchism co-opted[13] the term libertarian to advocate laissez-faire capitalism and strong private property rights such as in land, infrastructure and natural resources.[36] The latter is the dominant form of libertarianism in the United States.
Don’t feel too bad. Having no fucking idea what you are talking about just makes you a typical American style libertarian.
As for centralizing power, corporate personhood and broad deregulation are about the most radical systems for centralizing power that have ever existed. You are still ignoring the entire history of conflict between unions and corporations. Unions had their day using the “libertarian” model and all that came from it was disaster. It wasn’t until the labor movement gained political power and had pro-union regulations put in place that unions had any real ability to negotiate with corporate power. But that’s all reality so it’s irrelevant I guess.
You should re-read the first paragraph of the comment you were answering.
Also you are writing nonsense exposing your ignorance of … really everything, but you know that yourself, judging by it starting with an attempt to snatch the word “libertarianism” from under me instead of actually addressing what I say.
Also you should be more modest, drop that pretentious tone and not enter arguments with leftist moonspeak.
Arrogance is the only language that ever penetrates with people who think in platitudes. It’s not my general attitude, it’s a tool that sometimes wakes up zombies. American libertarians are always surprised to find someone more arrogant then themselves.
What you believe to be a political philosophy is nothing but empty rhetoric assembled by powerful elitists for the express purpose of consolidating and extending their power. It’s intended from the outset to neuter actual libertarian movements. Wake the fuck up zombie.
You were doing so well until you went ad hominem and your true self came through.
I repeat. People
who think they can attribute every bad idea they can think of to libertarians
are usually wrong and really dumb. My true self comes through this no more than through the beginning.
And I see you fared even worse in your other comments. Too bad you can’t say what you think without making it personal.
Fool blocked.
I don’t think even being in a union would help you there, unless you got the entire union on board.
I also don’t understand why you’d even want to work for a company whose work you feel so strongly against.
Work is a lot rarer to find than people make it out to be.
Depends how much you think you need to make, and where you think you should live.
Every few months a news story: “Google workers in revolt over XYZ”. Then nothing changes. Not really a worker’s revolt then.
look into how a majority of their workers are H1B workers and why they cant speak up politically.
Yeah it’s sad. I mean it’s good, in a way that more people are aware of Nimbus now, but at the same time: nothing changes and some good people get fired over it, discouraging others to act in good faith for what they stand for.
I didn’t know about Nimbus. I remember having read something about Google+Israel in the past, but didn’t realize they were on board now.
All in all, fuck Google, again.
Actual headlines should be “Google workers in revolt over XYZ but too afraid of losing their 6 figure salaries to do anything meaningful about it”
At one point in the pandemic I worked for a sizeable tech company that was similar. They sent out an Zionism apologist email about how much the company supports Israel. STFU! We are the company, you wouldn’t have shit if we didn’t come to work. I know my colleagues well enough to know they are mostly NOT Neocons and Zionists. I was pretty pissed that they would say something political because it throws me into the position of having to address it because the “we” they used in the email makes it sound like I’m involved. I just work here. I don’t want any part of your corporate politics and I want you to know that when we seize the means of production (and your ill-begotton fruits of others labor) we’re gonna donate your yachts and bank accounts to help victims of Zionism and Imperialism.
Good lord, go outside and touch grass.
The person is literally talking about their real life job… Maybe it’s a foreign concept to you, but I’m not sure you can get more “grass touch” than that, bud.
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Oh please. This guy masturbates to animal farm…
Seems like you might be the one who needs to get out of the house…
Seems like a rather harmless fetish
It’s just this absurd idea that any day now the masses will rise up against their oppressors and usher in a golden age of humanity. I’m all for disagreeing with with your place of work.
“Gold age of humanity”? Dude we are asking for dignity, not some fully automated luxury gay communism. I mean all that sounds nice, but it starts with valuing people over profits.
Is it the wording or the position ? Because I could imagine feeling equally enraged by this.
Mostly the wording, The only buzzword he left out was proletariat.
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It’s early morning, and Zelda Montes walks briskly through the crisp New York air as they head to Google’s headquarters on Manhattan’s 9th Avenue.
Oh my god, why put in a topic about serious matter all that fancy decorum? I immediately see a man with a bun, typing this topic in a café, not caring a single shit about real people behind the text.
The description seems primed to generate the opposite reaction from the opposite sides of the political divide based on the reaction to the NB, coloured hair, and breakfast choice.
If I had to guess it’s meant to evoke relatability for Googlers.
I liked it because it highlights the comfortable world of the people abetting in the Genocide, in contrast to those suffering from it.
There is a lot to gain for those who do not suffer from morals.
IBM : Nazi Party :: Google : IDF
https://www.techwontsave.us/episode/235_no_tech_for_apartheid_w_mohammad_khatami__gabi_schubiner
Would it be more effective to sabotage your own work in such a place?
That could get you in worse trouble than just getting fired.
Everyone makes mistakes. I know what my mistakes look like in general, and have the self awareness for plausible deniability. I’m not all that bright, so I assume someone in this position is more skilled and capable than I.
Depends on how many people are willing to take a stand simultaneously and how replaceable they are.
Similar to a union strike if enough people stop working the employer has no option but to cave in to the demands.
But the initial wave is usually the one meeting the most resistance when most people in a group aren’t even open to an idea. It takes brave people who are willing to take the initial stand when it’s still uncomfortable to do so.
another reason to leave google
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this sounds controversial but is actually the right thing to do, except the mass shooting part, reserve that for the c-suite, not the every day wage slaver
sometimes i imagine a world in which organized autonomous activists take out these capitalists and it really feels within reach
Mass shootings are never a solution, also not in C-suites. I don’t think anyone should be ‘taken out’.
Oil execs?
Shouldn’t be killed
Guess we’ll just die then
I can’t believe I’m arguing about whether there are people that should be killed or not. Of course not! Killing oil executives is not the only way to stop fossil fuel from being used. You’re a bad person if you’re seriously proposing this.
They own our politicians so our options are actually very limited. I won’t be pulling the trigger but there’s little doubt in my mind that they will not stop until we kill them.
Their actions will bring about the death of millions and a collapse of our ecosystem, so it’s not as simple as saying every life is sacred no matter what that person choses to do with it. Would you go back in time to kill Hitler, because future generations will be asking themselves the same question about oil execs.
C-suites also are someone’s husbands, wives, sons and daughters.
Depends if they are ideologically driven or just replaceable puppets. Most are of the second kind.
Israel would love to have some martyrs offered for their cause to whine about.
I recall an article about an Amazon employee going mad about his working conditions and shooting other workers in the warehouse. Don’t think he directed his anger correctly.
Grim, but technically accurate, to say nothing of whether such actions are right or wrong.
Didn’t this happen months ago? They did a sit-in to whistleblow against Google supporting genocide, and got fired and arrested as soon as HR could process the afortmentioned firing
Anyone in tech who knowingly works for Google supports these things in the same way that anyone that works in tech who knowingly works for Meta support genocide and the erosion of the democratic process. I give the caveat “in tech” because there are some roles like content moderation or executive assistant where you really don’t have the luxury of a huge market working almost anywhere else that doesn’t support genocide and I don’t fault those faults for taking a job that has better benefits. My engineering peers? I judge them for it.
Give me a fucking job then.
I’ve been trying to get the fuck out of the DoD for years. No one fucking wants me. I’m so tired of trying. Fuck. I’ve been writing software since I was twelve and the most they let me do is automate software installs with fucking powershell ADT. Fucking poweshell, a god-damned toy language, and I don’t even get to write it myself.
No one wants to hire me and I hate it.
Fuck yes. It is not enough to boycott companies with your money. You must also do so with your labor. Thank you for making a carve out exception for the little people in the picture. It would be better if they could withhold their labor as well, but many of the lowest in companies simply cannot afford to work somewhere else for less pay. As you pointed out, the engineers truly can take a pay cut and survive. Thank you for sharing your likely-to-be unpopular opinion.
Daddy gonna make a list for the next round of lay-offs lol
I hope this people understand what they are doing but with google comp if they saved, they will be fine. Maybe a good time get that severance and look for another job.
Tech and politics always a winning combination
This guy didn’t think he’d be fired for doing this. How daft can you be?
They said it felt like a possibility. I don’t believe that implies they thought they wouldn’t be fired. We can think something is a possibility and prepare for it and still be shocked when it actually happens.
