Contract workers invade Apple campus demanding better pay and working conditions
A group of more than 100 protestors, including civil rights leader Rev. Jesse Jackson, convened at Apple's Cupertino, Calif., campus on Thursday to protest treatment of Silicon Valley contract labor and deliver a petition calling on the tech giant to set a trend toward reform.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Jackson accompanied a demonstration led by regional union United Service Workers West -- a division of the national Service Employees International Union -- which in November pushed Apple to stand up for rights of contract workers like security guards.
At issue is the reportedly low pay contractors receive in comparison to those holding skill positions at big tech firms in the Bay Area. For example, Apple's security guard contractor Security Industry Specialists pays employees $19.77 per hour, not including benefits, which the SEIU-USWW claims is not enough to offset the area's high cost of living.
When Jackson arrived at today's protest, he asked the gathered crowd to repeat his words, "We marvel at the growth of high tech and biotech, but we are the foundation. We fight today in the rain for job security and justice." A storm is currently bearing down on San Francisco and surrounding areas, cutting power to portions of the city.
Jackson, who just days ago had a fruitful discussion with Apple CEO Tim Cook on corporate diversity, was in town for a workplace diversity conference held by his Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Following Jackson's departure, those in attendance moved into an Apple office building to deliver a petition signed by 20,000 people calling on the company to push for better service worker rights. The initiative is relying on Apple to catalyze change in other Silicon Valley companies like Google and Facebook.
While inside the unnamed building's lobby, protestors chanted, "S? se puede" ("Yes, we can") and brandished a sign reading, "Apple dodges taxes, we pay the price." Art Pulaski, executive treasurer and secretary of the California Labor Federation, told protestors they were supported by union members from across the state. Pulaski, too, joined in on demonstration, saying to the crowd, "It's time for Apple to think different."
Contract worker rights is part of a larger umbrella issue related to a wage gap between laborers and corporate employees. Stemming from economic discord is the so-called gentrification of San Francisco, which recently reached a tipping point when tech companies started using municipal bus stops for shuttles that ferry passengers from their homes to jobs outside the city.
According to the San Jose Mercury News, Jackson accompanied a demonstration led by regional union United Service Workers West -- a division of the national Service Employees International Union -- which in November pushed Apple to stand up for rights of contract workers like security guards.
At issue is the reportedly low pay contractors receive in comparison to those holding skill positions at big tech firms in the Bay Area. For example, Apple's security guard contractor Security Industry Specialists pays employees $19.77 per hour, not including benefits, which the SEIU-USWW claims is not enough to offset the area's high cost of living.
When Jackson arrived at today's protest, he asked the gathered crowd to repeat his words, "We marvel at the growth of high tech and biotech, but we are the foundation. We fight today in the rain for job security and justice." A storm is currently bearing down on San Francisco and surrounding areas, cutting power to portions of the city.
Jackson, who just days ago had a fruitful discussion with Apple CEO Tim Cook on corporate diversity, was in town for a workplace diversity conference held by his Rainbow PUSH Coalition.
Following Jackson's departure, those in attendance moved into an Apple office building to deliver a petition signed by 20,000 people calling on the company to push for better service worker rights. The initiative is relying on Apple to catalyze change in other Silicon Valley companies like Google and Facebook.
While inside the unnamed building's lobby, protestors chanted, "S? se puede" ("Yes, we can") and brandished a sign reading, "Apple dodges taxes, we pay the price." Art Pulaski, executive treasurer and secretary of the California Labor Federation, told protestors they were supported by union members from across the state. Pulaski, too, joined in on demonstration, saying to the crowd, "It's time for Apple to think different."
Contract worker rights is part of a larger umbrella issue related to a wage gap between laborers and corporate employees. Stemming from economic discord is the so-called gentrification of San Francisco, which recently reached a tipping point when tech companies started using municipal bus stops for shuttles that ferry passengers from their homes to jobs outside the city.
Comments
Si se puede...what horrible grammar.
They should have called in SWAT teams to dispatch these heathens from Apple's fair campus.
Wasn't there an article the other day about Cook meeting with Jackson?
It sure sounds like the meeting (or shakedown) was not that successful as first claimed." src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />
Screw these workers! And screw union thugs and shakedown artists like Jackson!
And why are they protesting in Spanish? Get the F out of here! These people can't even speak English and they're demanding higher wages? They should all have to undergo background checks, and if any illegals are found, then they should immediately be apprehended and deported.
How is it wrong?
How is it wrong?
It should be "Si, podemos!" (I don't have a Spanish keyboard to do the other !). Or "Entre todos podemos!"
Si se puede is a loaded phrase anyway, it's tied to Cesar Chavez, so of course these people would use it.
"We marvel at the growth of high tech and biotech, but we are the foundation.
These people aint shit. They are certainly not the foundation of anything, least of all high tech and biotech. What a joke." src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />
Their jobs are easily replaceable and not much skill is required to carry out their jobs.
They should be fired. 0 dollars an hour is certainly lower than 20 dollars an hour.
"Jesse Jackson came by and said he wants to endorse me. I look on this with some doubt, because he generally makes his living criticizing people, not supporting them."
For some reason, this episode comes to mind:
Such a small nonsensical demonstration that has little to no merit.
I guess Jackson was hoping to record himself on TV again with his vcr...
Now if the man would put that effort into actually helping people...
Salt of the earth, no doubt. Food for worms when they cop it, at least.
That's 'yes we can' which excludes a third party. If I, or anyone was to ask you 'can it be done?', you can answer 'yes it can' which is 'si se puede', which includes all parties potentially involved. The grammar is correct, but its usage can be argued.
Secure. Contain. Protect.
It is apples vs oranges comparing skills of security guards to tech workers.
The SEIU is a corrupt organization. I Would be willing to bet that none of the protesters were actual contractors. I'm sure they were paid participants shipped in from somewhere else. A common tactic for that organization.
Don't blame the protesters for the article's lose translation. Sí, se puede would be more literally translated as "Yes, one can" or possibly "It can be done." The impersonal "se" is not always easy to translate to English...[
Hey, be fair!
If they want to want to be the foundation then let's put them in the foundation...
????
Isn't that what the SEIU usually does to people?
Hey, be fair!
If they want to want to be the foundation then let's put them in the foundation...
????
Perhaps that could be arranged.
Has the foundation been fully poured yet at Apple's new spaceship campus?
But as Whitefalcon pointed out, knocking people onto the ground is a favorite pastime of these thugs.