San Francisco City Workers Protest Twitter, Corporate Tax Breaks On City Hall Steps
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)— A loud lunch-hour protest at San Francisco City Hall on Wednesday took aim at corporate tax breaks for Twitter and other tech companies.
Several hundred San Francisco City workers organized by SEIU Local 1021 and their supporters rallied on the steps and chanted "Twitter, Twitter, you're no good."
The gathering follows a similar action last month at Twitter's Mid-Market headquarters.
SEIU Local 1021 is currently negotiating contracts covering more than 13,000 city workers.
Unions Protest Twitter, Corporate Tax Breaks On SF City Hall Steps
The union's San Francisco chapter vice president, Larry Bradshaw, said he opposes the company tax breaks because they represent the privilege gap that's pricing city workers and others out of San Francisco.
"The Robin Hood fable has been twisted and stood on its head," Bradshaw said. "Now the rich are supposed to take from us and make themselves richer and we're supposed to believe that it's in our self interest."
Organizers said the breaks for Twitter alone would mean a loss of $56 million and they don't want San Francisco to try to make it up by demanding union concessions.
Supervisor John Avalos voted against the tax breaks in 2011.
"The people who are actually working day in and day out to make San Francisco affordable, don't get the dignity and fairness that they deserve from City Hall,"
Bargaining for city worker contracts began in January.
