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.

  • njordomir@lemmy.world
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    23 days ago

    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.

      • prole@sh.itjust.works
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        22 days ago

        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.

            • Alpha71@lemmy.world
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              22 days ago

              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.

              • zbyte64@awful.systems
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                22 days ago

                “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.

      • h4lf8yte@lemmy.ml
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        22 days ago

        Is it the wording or the position ? Because I could imagine feeling equally enraged by this.