Google Walkout Is Just the Latest Sign of Tech Worker Unrest

Thousands of Google employees and contractors around the globe--many of them women--briefly walked off the job Thursday to protest Google's handling of sexual harassment claims and other workplace issues, and to demand more transparency around harassment incidents and pay levels at the company. The demonstrations took place outside about 40 Google offices, including Singapore, London, New York, San Francisco, and the company's headquarters in Mountain View, California. The protest was spurred by a recent New York Times article about Google awarding multimillion-dollar exit packages to top male executives accused of sexual misconduct, including a $90 million payment to Android founder Andy Rubin, even after Google investigators found credible a claim that Rubin coerced a female employee into performing oral sex. In San Francisco, workers carried signs saying "Not OK Google" and "Equal Pay 4 Equal Work." Organizers led the crowd in chants like "Time's up for Google," and read accounts of workplace harassment from anonymous Google employees, who did not share their names.