Contract workers invade Apple campus demanding better pay and working conditions

Posted:
in General Discussion edited December 2014
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.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 94

    Si se puede...what horrible grammar.

     

    They should have called in SWAT teams to dispatch these heathens from Apple's fair campus.

  • Reply 2 of 94
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member

    Wasn't there an article the other day about Cook meeting with Jackson? :no:

     

    It sure sounds like the meeting (or shakedown) was not that successful as first claimed.<img class=" 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.

  • Reply 3 of 94
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member
    Si se puede...what horrible grammar.

    How is it wrong?
  • Reply 4 of 94
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by dasanman69 View Post





    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.

  • Reply 5 of 94
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by AppleInsider View Post



    "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.<img class=" 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.

     

  • Reply 6 of 94
    Jimmy Carter, diary entry of September 8, 1980.:
    "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."
  • Reply 7 of 94

    For some reason, this episode comes to mind:

    image

  • Reply 8 of 94
    Jesse jacksons Trojan horse meeting with cook.

    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...
  • Reply 9 of 94
    An entire "more than 100"! The 100 Man March!
  • Reply 10 of 94
    'We are the foundation'.

    Salt of the earth, no doubt. Food for worms when they cop it, at least.
  • Reply 11 of 94
    dasanman69dasanman69 Posts: 13,002member

    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.

    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.
  • Reply 12 of 94
    Originally Posted by Benjamin Frost View Post

    'We are the foundation'.

     

    Secure. Contain. Protect.

  • Reply 13 of 94
    Apple pays the security company and not the security guards. Shouldn't they be protesting at the security company headquarters? Are they protesting at every company that they provide security for or just Apple?

    It is apples vs oranges comparing skills of security guards to tech workers.
  • Reply 14 of 94

    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.

  • Reply 15 of 94
    bageljoeybageljoey Posts: 2,004member
    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.

    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...[
  • Reply 16 of 94
    gtrgtr Posts: 3,231member
    apple ][ wrote: »
    These people aint shit. They are certainly not the foundation of anything, least of all high tech and biotech. What a joke.:lol:

    Hey, be fair!

    If they want to want to be the foundation then let's put them in the foundation...

    ????
  • Reply 17 of 94
    gtr wrote: »
    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?
  • Reply 18 of 94
    apple ][apple ][ Posts: 9,233member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by GTR View Post





    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.

  • Reply 19 of 94
    If you want to make the kind of money that tech employees do, then go back to school and get the skills needed to support the salary you want.
  • Reply 20 of 94
    arviarvi Posts: 17member
    20 bucks is really nothing to sneeze at but considering the city, it can really be expensive there. Its up to the local officials to help these folks out however. I suppose this is part of the cost of being Apple. It is trying to be a socially responsible business entity and now, it's getting pulled into these roles where things get really uncomfortable. Did IBM, Microsoft, Intel, HP have to endure this kind of harassment when they were at the top? As for the demonstrators... not cool at all. There are better ways to express their needs. This just amounts to hooliganism.
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