Protesters Gather In Front Of Google Conference In San Francisco
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) — Silicon Valley security officers and their supporters rallied on Wednesday outside of Google's Developers Conference in San Francisco.
More than a hundred protesters, led by the Service Employees International Union— United Service Workers West, picketed in front of Google's I/O Developers Conference at Moscone Center West. Among those chanting and holding signs was Silicon Valley security officer Charles Wilson.
"None of us make enough to live there. Most of us don't have decent health care. No benefits," he said.
SEIU-USWW spokesman Alfredo Fletes told KCBS that while Google rakes in billions, it uses a security subcontractor that uses mostly part-time workers.
"We're calling on Google to stop turning a blind eye to the economic imbalance that exists in its own backyard."
SEIU-USWW is engaged in a campaign to unionize nearly 5,000 Silicon Valley security officers and Fletes says protests will continue over the summer at other tech company sites as well.
The protest comes the morning after a separate group of protesters, going by the name Occupy Google, staged a demonstration at Google's Mountain View headquarters om Tuesday that led to ten arrests.
In a statement to KCBS, a Google spokesperson said the company has given more than $70 million to local projects in the past three years and employees have volunteered thousands of hours in the community.