Workers marched from a modest red-brick office on a residential Dublin street to the gleaming campus of Meta’s European headquarters. They beat drums. They blew whistles. They chanted. “We trained the bots. We did the grind. Now we’re being left behind.” The date was May 29, 2026. More than 150 contract workers employed by Covalen, an outsourcing firm that performs content moderation and data labeling for the social media giant, gathered to protest impending layoffs. Signs waved. Traffic slowed. Onlookers stopped to watch. Some even applauded. Yet the security guards at Meta’s gates stood firm, arms crossed. This wasn’t the first time. Strikes had already hit Covalen’s offices on May 15 and May 22. Further action loomed. The dispute stretches back months, with roots in earlier cuts from November 2025. But the scale this spring shocked many. Covalen told staff and the Irish government that around 720 jobs tied to Meta projects faced redundancy.…