Google employees are planning a May 1st sit-in to protest retaliation

Google employees say they will hold a sit-in tomorrow to protest alleged retaliation against workers.

In a tweet, the organizers of last year’s walkout of Google employees said the sit-in was scheduled for 11AM.

“From being told to go on sick leave when you’re not sick, to having your reports taken away, we’re sick of retaliation,” the organizers said in the tweet. “Six months ago, we walked out. This time, we’re sitting in. 11am tomorrow.”

More than 20,000 Google employees walked out in November to protest the company’s handling of sexual harassment allegations. In response, Google leadership made some concessions, but internal controversy has still plagued the company.

Last week, two employees who helped organize the walkout said they had seen their job responsibilities diminished by management after organizing protests. Google has said any changes were not acts of retaliation. Other employees have since shared stories of incidents they believe were also retaliatory.

Google employees have been at the forefront of protests across the tech industry, as workers have organized to sway executive decisions. Employees have spoken out against plans to work on tools like the Pentagon AI system Project Maven, which Google eventually dropped its involvement in. More recently, the company disbanded an ethics advisory board after employees protested the inclusion of the president of the conservative Heritage Foundation.

A Google spokesperson declined to comment on the sit-in. “We prohibit retaliation in the workplace and publicly share our very clear policy,” the spokesperson said. “To make sure that no complaint raised goes unheard at Google, we give employees multiple channels to report concerns, including anonymously, and investigate all allegations of retaliation.”