Occupy Cupertino: Worker’s rights protestors storm Apple HQ

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Protestors blocked the door
Protestors blocked the door of Apple's flagship San Francisco retail store earlier this year. Picture: Julia Carrie Wong

More than 100 protestors — consisting of unionized security guards from San Francisco, fast-food workers and members of other unions — gathered at Apple’s 1 Infinite Loop headquarters yesterday to protest working conditions for service workers in Silicon Valley, where tech workers can strike it big, but other people struggle to get by.

The demonstrators brought with them a petition signed by 20,000 people, calling for Apple to lead a charge better working conditions not just at Apple, but in the Bay Area as a whole. They carried a sign reading, “Apple dodges taxes, we pay the price.”

At one point, the protestors entered an Apple building, although they were quickly ejected.

The protest was organized by United Service Workers West and Reverend Jesse Jackson, the latter of whom recently met with Tim Cook. “I am impressed with him and the conversation,” Jackson said following the interview. “He has a real vision for Apple and he sees the value in inclusiveness.”

Jackson asked protestors to repeat, “We marvel at the growth of high tech and biotech, but we are the foundation.”

This isn’t the first time Apple has been targeted for protests by workers. In September this year, the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) staged protests at more than 20 different Apple Stores in the U.S., to try and persuade the company to provide full-time work benefits for for its security officers.

Prior to that, a demonstration involving around 50 people blocked customers from entering the main doors of Apple’s flagship San Francisco Union Square retail store, ending when the San Francisco Police Department removed around 12 protestors.

Source: San Jose Mercury News

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