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I completely support their right to protest, having attended many myself, as does the constitution. However, they were on the clock and on private property. They should have organized a protest outside, during off hours, if they wanted to protect their jobs. Circulating a petition wouldn’t have been a bad idea either.
Edit: OP shared this interview in a thread further down. It’s a first-hand account from a former employee. The employee stated that they were warned several times about pending arrest and violation of workplace behavior. I respect their commitment to their cause, but it was with full understanding that they were arrested and subsequently terminated.
I disagree, I think protesting during working hours is kind of the point, same as a union protest during working hours. It affects the corps bottom line, the only thing they care about.
I agree that it hurts the company more. Unfortunately, then they can legally terminate you for refusal to work. Even worse, you won’t even be eligible for unemployment after hearing.
It would be legally protected if they were protesting compensation or working conditions, or if they organized their concerns through a union representative.
I don't think they're being fired for "refusal to work". There is a concept of "job abandonment" but one 9 hour period wouldn't count. Typically you need several days of no contact/no show before you have considered to have abandoned your job.
This is more about at-will employment: Google has a right to fire an employee at any time for almost any reason, or for no reason. There have been people getting fired for posting pro-Palestine content to linkedin, which is completely legal in the US.
This isn't a story of "employees overstepped a line and got fired" this is a story of "there is no line, companies can fire employees for almost anything and definitely for their political views regardless how respectfully they are expressed."
Also going on strike is basically the definition of "organized refusal to work"
Your last sentence is correct. A strike against workplace conditions or compensation is protected. This was neither. Refusal to work while on the clock is grounds for termination as well as disqualification for unemployment benefits. There needs to be acknowledgment by the employee that they are refusing to work, and that the result of continued action would be grounds for termination. It does not need to continue for nine hours, and is a different termination reason than job abandonment.
I’m 100% behind protesting, but you need to know how to keep the law on your side.
These are almost certainly saleried, exempt employees with no "timeclock".
They were fired for expressing a political opinion and doing so in a way Google did not like.
It is certainly legal for Google to fire them for this because it is legal for Google to fire them for almost any reason. But it's also pretty certian that there is no way in America to protest your employer in a way where the law would protect you from retaliation.
By “on the clock” I mean during compensated scheduled working hours. It does not matter if you are an hourly or salaried employee. They were removed and charged with trespassing after multiple warnings from security, and warned in advance of the policy violation of the protest according to this employee interview.
You are protected by law if protesting working conditions or compensation during scheduled working hours. If you protesting anything else, it can be done during free time in a public space without employer retaliation.
I have been part of many protests, and am in complete support of them. The most important thing when organizing a protest is knowing your rights so you can keep the law on your side.
Their company, their rules. A union protest is a work activity directly relating to their roles, relationships, and functions as employees, which a political protest is not.
Google can suffer the public consequences on their own, which may or may not affect their bottom line.