Medium is giving employees Friday off to participate in a national strike to protest ICE

Hustle culture may be the norm at tech companies in the age of AI, but tomorrow the work stops at publishing platform Medium. Medium CEO Tony Stubblebine is giving the company’s employees permission to take the day off to participate in tomorrow’s nationwide general strike to protest U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

The activists behind the general strike are calling for “no work, no school, no shopping” amid a campaign to stop funding ICE, which has stepped up raids in US cities, killing several people, including US citizens earlier this month in Minneapolis.

In a Slack message shared today with mid-level employees, Stubblebine says all employees are free to participate in the strike as they see fit.

“Whether or not you want to take a full day off work, do a part-day work, or direct your work toward something that seems consistent with the goals of the strike, is up to you,” he wrote in a public announcement channel.

The CEO explained that Medium is not “in the business of dictating people’s policies,” so the choice to participate was an individual, not a corporate mandate.

Naturally, the publishing platform plays an important role in helping people share news, opinions, insights and analysis on politics, culture and other topics. To be able to allow its employees to take the day off to protest, Stubblebine said Medium will coordinate with the necessary teams to ensure a “business continuity” plan is in place on Friday.

Technology leaders, including Google DeepMind chief scientist Jeff Dean, have been vocal in their protest of ICE. However, several major technology companies and executives have spent the past few weeks courting the Trump administration. Some executives — including Apple CEO Tim Cook — have been criticized for attending a screening of the Amazon-MGM Studios documentary “Melania” on the day federal border control agents shot and killed ICU nurse Alex Peretti in Minneapolis.

Meanwhile, many rank-and-file tech employees have demanded the exit of ICE and CBP (Customs and Border Protection) from US cities, as evidenced by an open letter signed by more than 500 tech industry employees.

Stubblebine appears to share this view, writing that Medium has a responsibility to “clarify its position,” especially “given that many other tech organizations are donating to the Trump campaign.” He also said the Medium product exists to help “elevate truth and diverse voices,” not hateful or racist content.

His letter also reiterated Medium’s support for DEI, the host of pro-diversity policies that the Trump administration has tried to dismantle through executive orders, eliminating DEI positions in the federal workforce, eliminating curriculum, legal targeting, and more.

“Our business thrives when the country thrives, so being represented there is good for us [our] “Mission,” Stubblebine said.