Yesterday, tech engineers and programmers rallied alongside Silicon Valley Rising’s coalition of tech shuttle drivers, janitors, security officers, and food service workers to call on the world’s most powerful tech companies to stand with their workers.
The Tech Stands Up rally in Palo Alto brought out hundreds of newly energized workers who not only want to see their companies push back on hateful immigration policies from the Trump Administration, but also take action against the tech industry’s own scandals. Speakers from across the tech industry urged workers to stand together to address issues of inclusion, sexual harassment, and poverty wages paid to contract service workers.
It was incredible to see brave women like Maria Gonzalez, a janitor at Facebook, and Jacky Espinoza, a barista at Cisco, share their stories as immigrants and as contract service workers struggling to make ends meet. Despite the many threats we face as a community, this rally highlights the new opportunity for workers across the tech sector to push their companies to take a stand for our shared values.
These are the workers that make the most prosperous companies in the world possible, right here in Silicon Valley. As their workers face threats from deportation to displacement, it’s time for tech companies to step up.
As tech workers, users, and customers, we’re calling on our companies to:
- Protect the rights of immigrant workers by adopting sanctuary workplace policies, and use all their political and legal resources to resist mass deportations.
- Fight hate and discrimination in public policy and build more inclusive workplaces.
- Address tech’s impact on inequality through hiring responsible service contractors and investing in affordable housing solutions.
Seeing high- and low-wage tech workers stand together is an exciting step in our campaign to grow an inclusive middle class in Silicon Valley.
