SHUT IT DOWN TOOLKIT

  • When: October 24th tech workers & all free people lead workplace actions across the tech sector

    What: Each individual group is empowered to decide and plan whatever sort of action or demonstration best fits their work environment and group of workers

    Coordinate: Please submit this form to file if you’d like to register your action as officially participating in the day of action. We will use this information to reach out and offer support, as well as to showcase the scale of the day of action.ion text goes here

  • Enough is enough. We call on the international community of workers, students, and all people to take it in our hands to SHUT DOWN TECH this OCTOBER 24th for Palestine and Lebanon.

  • A year into the genocide, we can no longer stand idly by while Palestinians are being massacred with our labor and tax dollars. We have seen organizers and autonomous groups rise up and revolt against big tech, coordinating actions that range from egging to wheatpasting to various decorations and disruptive actions against tech offices.

  • There are a lot of worker-led actions you can host to participate in the Shut Tech Down call, whether you’re an established organization with a lot of worker power, an internal employee advocacy group, a small group of employees, or even an individual with a conscience. Here are some examples.


    1. PROTEST/RALLY/PICKET LINE

    What: Protests are one of the most tried and true ways to show dissent and protest an evil corporation’s actions.

    How: Call for a protest outside an office, at a company’s facilities, or even on campus. There are samples from Shut it Down for Palestine, or from our template that you can use for your action’s graphics.

    Resources:

    2. LUNCH WALKOUT

    What: Calling for a walkout at lunch is a way to show labor power and to withhold labor in a symbolic but effective way. It is also a union tactic that has been used for generations.

    How: Call employees to walk out during a protest. This can be combined with an action on campus such as a protest or a vigil, and call employees to join there. There are samples from Shut it Down for Palestine, or from our template that you can use for your action’s graphics.

    3. VIGIL

    What: Hosting an in-person vigil is a less disruptive alternative to protests that still accomplishes the goal of confronting business as usual and normalizing the conversation around Palestine in the workplace.

    How: Call employees to attend a vigil to honour the martyrs lost in over a year of genocide in Gaza, Palestine, and Lebanon. You can look at the NOTA vigil toolkit for inspiration: . You can also highlight tech companies’ complicity in the Israeli war machine and the tech worker martyrs. You can also combine this with a walkout, a teach-in, or other action. There are samples from Shut it Down for Palestine, or from our template that you can use for your action’s graphics.

    Resources:

    4. PALESTINE TEACH-IN

    What: Host a teach-in, physically at the office or even remotely, to educate workers about Palestine, the genocide in Gaza, or tech’s complicity in Israel’s war machine.

    How: You can take inspiration from No Tech for Apartheid’s teach-in slides & host your own teach-in with your group. You can book a room in the office to invite employees, or host it online for remote employees to join. You can also invite an external speaker with knowledge about Palestine, or tech organizing, or both, to speak at your company. We can connect you with resources and contacts for speakers, just reach out.

    Resources:

  • If coordinating an in-person or synchronous action is not feasible, there are still an array of actions & effective ways to participate in the Shut Down Tech call.


    1. CALL FOR A STRIKE DAY

    What: Ask employees to withhold labor on this day and refuse to work to power the Israeli genocidal war machine! A strike is one of the most effective and quintessential ways to show and wield worker power.

    How: You can take inspiration from the No Tech for Apartheid strike toolkit from December to invite employees to participate in the Strike Day in multiple decentralized ways!

    Resources:



    2. CALL FOR A WEAR YOUR KEFFIYEH/PALESTINE GEAR DAY

    What: Invite workers to wear their keffiyehs, watermelon shirts, bracelets, or other Palestine gear to work, to normalize talking about Palestine in the workplace and physically show solidarity with the Palestinian people. 

    3. "WORK-IN"

    What: Take inspiration from the student movement, and call for a “work-in” at work, where employees sit quietly and do work, while having signs, stickers, or other messages taped to the back of their laptops.

    How: Take inspiration from the student movement, invite workers to meet at a predesignated spot to hand out signs and flyers, or have them print their own, then have workers simply go about their day with those signs taped to the back of their laptops.

    Resources:

    4. OPEN LETTER TO EXECUTIVES

    What: Send an open letter signed by multiple employees to company leaders and executives to demand that they stop being complicit in genocide!

    How: Research ways your company is complicit in Israeli apartheid, which could range from having SodaStream machines in cafeterias, to matching donations for illegal settlements and the IOF, to investing in israeli companies, to selling technology directly to the military. Then, draft a letter, collect employee signatures, and send the letter to the respective executives. You could also have a decentralized emailing effort, inviting employees to customize their own letters and emails to execs.

    Resources:

    5.FUNDRAISER

    What: Hosting a fundraiser can bring visibility to the Palestine cause on company platforms as well as supporting and reinforcing the steadfastness of Palestinian people, while not being as disruptive. 


    How: There could be many ways to hold a fundraiser event, from making and selling tshirts for your organization or group, to hosting in-person events, to bringing Palestinian artists on campus.