We will be updating throughout the day. Jump to the new material below.
Protesting what they called the “techsploitation” of the city’s public space, about 50 protesters descended on a eight large white commuter buses Thursday morning, blocking their departure to Mountain View.
Scooters block tech buses on 24th and Valencia from Mission Local on Vimeo.
Scooters block tech buses on 24th and Valencia from Mission Local on Vimeo.
The protest was organized by housing activists in San Francisco and in solidarity with activists in San Jose and Berlin, where people are staunchly opposing a new Google campus in their neighborhood.
One banner draped over a bus reads, “Techsploitiation — from the sweatshop to the gig economy to the e-waste dump — is Toxic, Sweep Tech NOT Tents.”
(See time-stamped updates throughout the day, below.)
9:20 a.m.
Fifty people blocked 14 tech buses by piling scooters in their path and lighting an orange flare at 24th and Valencia. One bus driver tried to move the scooters, but soon resigned himself to just waiting. A passerby sprayed graffiti on one of the idle buses.
The group of housing activists reject what they see as tech companies “littering the city,” while homeless encampments are swept away.
“This is a message from the community,” said Tony Robles, a community organizer focused on housing for seniors with disabilities. He says that tech companies like Bird, a scooter company, act with impunity and dump stuff in the neighborhoods without considering the needs of current residents.
People testified on a PA system about how their lives have been transformed by what they call a tech takeover. One woman said the city cut down trees to make room for the tech buses.
Organizers created a memorial for Pablo Avendano, 34, who was fatally struck by a car while working for the food-delivery app Caviar. Protesters see his death as an indictment of the “gig economy.”
“It’s all interconnected,” said Kelley Cutler with the Coalition on Homelessness. Cutler says the perception is that San Francisco and the Mission are a playground, providing the grounds for new tech companies to fuel displacement and homelessness.
9:45 a.m.
After an hour of blocking traffic and tech buses, protesters announced the protest was over. They picked up the scooters and carried them over the to sidewalk, clearing the way for the tech buses to drive off to their next destination. A short action. Point made.
‘The strong support suggests that even amid a crippling regional housing shortage, local residents remain mostly enthusiastic about the sort of economic development that some critics blame for a deterioration in the Bay Area’s quality of life.’
Viva democracia!
Each Google bus takes 48 cars off the street. They are environmentally sound. Scoters and shared bikes provide increased mobility. That’s a good thing.
What a bunch of idiots
We have called these Luddites. Every time there is progress they get all upset and want to destroy things and go back to the way it was. Used to be breaking sewing machines and now it is scooters and tech buses.
I work in tech. The pay is SHIT. The average person, including myself, would be better off working as a janitor, warehouseman, cook, plumber, work for the Post Office, in government, anything, anything actually useful at all, morally and FINANCIALLY than work in tech.
So yeah, you kids need to learn about some little goodies called “caltrops” hee hee.
Nice, you guys made some low to mid-level tech employees who are trying to pay off their student loans and build a better life for their families late for work. At best those employees will probably start driving a car more often and take a bus less. Mission accomplished?
This line is a little misleading: “San Jose … where people are staunchly opposing a new Google campus in their neighborhood” because it makes it sound like most of the people in SJ oppose it.
It’d be more accurate to say “where a minority of people…” since 79% of residents support the proposal. https://www.mercurynews.com/2018/02/19/voters-back-google-village-in-downtown-san-jose-by-big-margin-poll/