Today, Google employees and also contractors around the world have been staging walkouts. This is taking place in cities like London, Tokyo and New York City. Employees at company headquarters in Mountain View, Calif., are expected to join the protest later today. They are protesting how the Internet giant has been handling accusations of sexual misconduct against its executives. NPR business correspondent Yuki Noguchi has been covering this. Hi, Yuki.
今天，世界各地的谷歌员工和承包商纷纷举行罢工。伦敦、东京和纽约等城市的谷歌员工均参与了抗议活动。谷歌公司位于加州山景城总部的员工将于今天晚些时候加入抗议阵营。员工就互联网巨头谷歌对涉嫌存在不当性行为高管的处理方式提出抗议。NPR新闻的商业记者野口由纪一直在报道相关新闻。你好，由纪。
YUKI NOGUCHI, BYLINE: Hi. Good morning, David.
野口由纪连线：早上好，大卫。
GREENE: Good morning. All right. So these workers feel that the company has been too lenient with these executives who've been accused. I guess we should start by explaining what the accusations are.
格林：早上好。好。这些员工认为谷歌公司对被指控高管过于宽容。我想我们应该先来解释一下高管面临的指控。
NOGUCHI: Well, the allegations are that Google protected itself and some executives accused of sexual harassment by not only keeping the real reasons for their dismissal secret but even paying the massive severances. In particular, one story featured in The New York Times last week seems to have blown the lid off this. Andy Rubin, the man who helped create Google's Android system, was paid $90 million in severance and given, essentially, a hero's send-off when he left in 2014, even though he was being asked to resign because of his behavior. And then other - on top of that, other executives were permitted to stay long past when Google knew about problem behavior. And employees who were organizing the walkout say they're disgusted. And for every story that they are aware of, there - that there are many untold stories.
野口：指控是，谷歌为保全自身和一些涉嫌性骚扰的高管，不仅对这些高管离职的真实原因保密，甚至还向他们支付了高额遣散费。特别是，《纽约时报》上周发表的一篇文章揭露了这一丑闻。谷歌安卓系统创始人安迪·鲁宾在2014年离职，当时谷歌不仅支付了他9000万美元遣散费，还为他举办了英雄般的告别式，尽管他被要求辞职的原因是他行为不当。除他之外，即使谷歌知道其他高管存在问题行为，但也会允许他们继续长期留任。组织此次罢工活动的员工表示，他们对这种行为感到厌恶。就他们知道的所有事件来说，有很多不为人知的事情。
GREENE: Well, so how is the company responding to this moment?
格林：那谷歌公司有何回应？
NOGUCHI: Well, they seem to be acknowledging it in part. Google CEO Sundar Pichai sent out an email this week to employees essentially apologizing for the company's past actions and clearly seeming to suggest that it erred in its decision-making with respect to Rubin. Here's what he wrote. Quote, "I understand the anger and disappointment that many of you feel. I feel it as well. And I'm fully committed to making progress on an issue that has persisted far too long in our society, and yes, here at Google, too," end quote. The company also notes that since Rubin's departure, it has handled subsequent cases of sexual harassment - nearly 50 in all - very differently and without granting severance. So that's their position.
野口：从某种程度上说，谷歌似乎承认了。谷歌首席执行官桑达尔·皮查伊本周给员工发了一封电子邮件，对公司过去的行为道歉，并表示公司对鲁宾事件的决定是错误的。皮查伊在邮件中写道。“我理解你们中许多人的愤怒与失望。我也感受到了。我会全力推进这个问题取得进展，该问题在我们的社会还有谷歌公司已经持续了太长时间。”谷歌还指出，鲁宾离职之后，他们用完全不同的方式处理了近50起性骚扰事件，而且没有支付遣散费。这是谷歌的立场。
GREENE: OK. So the company in responding - but I mean, evidently, not enough for employees who are staging these walkouts as you and I are talking. So what do employees want to see happen beyond that?
格林：好。显然，谷歌的回应对举行罢工的员工来说并不够。那员工希望看到什么？
NOGUCHI: So the Google employees who've organized this walkout are demanding five changes. One involves ending a forced arbitration clause in their employment agreements, which are increasingly common, but effectively keep all workplace claims under wraps by requiring employees to resolve them in arbitration. So that's one - demand number one. And then there's a commitment to pay equity and opportunity, and then, generally, sort of transparency with respect to how they handle sexual harassment, implementing better systems for it. And then employees also want a seat on the board of directors. The employees are saying this is basically emblematic of a broader problem with culture at Google, where even highly skilled workers in positions of power are dismissed and unheard.
野口：组织本次罢工活动的谷歌员工提出了5点要求。其一，他们要求终止雇佣合同中的强制仲裁条款，这一日益普遍的条款要求员工通过仲裁解决问题，以此对所有工作场合的索赔保密。这是第一项要求。第二，员工还要求谷歌承诺薪资平等和机会平等，第三，就公司处理性骚扰的方式建立一个更加透明且更有效的机制。第四，员工还希望任命一名员工代表到董事会。谷歌员工表示，这是谷歌公司文化中更为普遍的问题，即就连高技能掌权者也会被忽略和无视。
GREENE: All right. Quite a moment at Google. NPR's Yuki Noguchi. Yuki, thanks a lot. We appreciate it.
格林：好。目前谷歌公司处于非常时刻。以上是NPR新闻的野口由纪带来的报道。由纪，非常感谢你。谢谢你。
NOGUCHI: Thank you, David.
野口：谢谢，大卫。