Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) campus was witness to unprecedented protests by contract service workers, led by Rev. Jesse Jackson. Over 100 workers flashed across the sprawling Cupertino headquarters to draw attention to lack of job security and justice.
Even as the Bay Area was deluged with rain, protestors engaged in brief call-and-response chants to provide for a better living.
At the core of their demands was an increase in job security and higher pay. They alleged that despite the use of service contractors by many of the software and corporate campuses in the area, these workers failed to make even a ‘small fraction of the technology workers.’
The United Service Workers West had organized the rally and during the brief protests, Rev. Jesse Jackson too participated addressing the valleys corporate on behalf of the contract workers.
The rally, despite the heavy rain, saw contract workers dressed in purple ponchos made of plastic mill around the campus, raising slogans for job security as well as justice.
After Rev. Jackson leaving the rally, a petition signed by over 20,000 people was presented to the Apple asking for better conditions for service contractors in the Silicon Valley. Protestors’ call of ‘Yes, we can’ ranted the campus throughout the rally. Placards accusing Apple of dodging taxes, leading to price cuts for contract workers were also held by many protestors.
Increase in number of Protests
In recent times, Silicon Valley is witness to service workers demanding for better work conditions as well as pay, given the high cost of living in the Bay Area.
While Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) also saw its transport team protesting by joining the Teamsters union, Google Inc (NASDAQ:GOOGL), it appears is the first to take concrete positive steps to address the issue.
Apparently, the world’s largest search engine company now proposes to have an internal team of security cover, where personnel will be on par with Googlers and hold same benefits.
