Anti-Poverty Protesters Briefly Occupied Apple's Headquarters

Flickr/UCC Media Justice OC Inc.Rev. Jackson demands better working conditions for contractors in Silicon Valley.

A group of protesters stormed Apple's Silicon Valley campus last night in the latest call for the company to improve its workers' living standards, Mercury News reports. 

More than 100 campaigners turned out in heavy rain on Thursday evening, led by United Service Workers West - a branch of the Service Employees International Union - and the prominent civil rights activist Rev. Jesse Jackson.

They gathered at Apple's Cupertino headquarters and staged a brief but "lively demonstration", according to the Mercury, and were dressed in purple ponchos, chanting:

Emboldened, the protesters crowded the lobby chanting "Sí se puede" ("Yes, we can") and waved a sign reading, "Apple dodges taxes, we pay the price," as Apple employees peered down on the scene from upper floors. After a few minutes, a screeching alarm ushered the protesters back out in the rain.

In the Bay Area, there is an increasing contrast between the huge salaries paid to tech workers and the low wage rates given to the people who clean their offices and staff their security gates.

Rev. Jackson directed the petition and asked people to repeat: "We marvel at the growth of high tech and biotech, but we are the foundation." 

Afterwards, campaigners marched on Apple's officers and delivered a petition signed by 20,000 people. It asks the company to make working conditions for service workers better in Silicon Valley. They shouted: "Apple dodges taxes, we pay the price".