Union pushes for better conditions for security guards on Apple campus
Source: Mercury News
By Julia Love
As organized labor expands its efforts in Silicon Valley, a local union and civil rights activist the Rev. Jesse Jackson are pushing for better working conditions for the security guards who work at Apple's campus.
United Service Workers West, a regional arm of the Service Employees International Union, hopes to unionize security guards who work on Apple's campus, and in the short term is asking Apple to use a different security contractor. The campaign comes amid a growing debate about the valley's sweeping use of contract workers, who do everything from driving shuttle buses to cooking in the cafeteria. But as the tech workers they serve are showered with eye-popping perks, service workers often struggle to make ends meet in the pricey Bay Area, advocates say.
Though it hopes to unionize security guards across the valley, United Service Workers West has sharpened its focus on Apple, whose actions the group believes could set a standard for other tech companies to follow. Although unions must ultimately negotiate with contractors, clients such as Apple set the tone, said Samuel Kehinde, a former security guard who is now vice president of United Service Workers West.
"Apple can be the leader," he said. "They can decide how life should be for this class of workers in the valley."
FULL story at link.
An unidentified security guard stands guard in front of a structure being built by Apple across from the Flint Center on the De Anza College campus in Cupertino, Calif., before the introduction of the Apple Watch on Thursday, Aug. 28, 2014. (Gary Reyes/Bay Area News Group) (Gary Reyes)
Read more: http://www.mercurynews.com/business/ci_27011825/union-pushes-better-treatment-apple-security-guards
So glad I voted for Rev. Jesse Jackson in the 88 NE primary!!!
= new reply since forum marked as read
