Apple Is Being Pressured To 'Set A Standard' For The Contract Workers Of Silicon Valley (AAPL) | ||
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Apple is being asked to "set a standard" for the security guards who look after the high-flying workers of Silicon Valley, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Organised labour is under the microscope at campuses across the sector. And United Service Workers West (USWW), a regional branch of the Service Employees International Union, is trying to unionize security personnel in the Bay. It has Apple in its sights and is pressuring the company to use a different contractor until the dispute is settled. The Mercury says there is a "growing debate" about contracted service workers in Silicon Valley, who "struggle to make ends meet" — while they drive shuttle buses and cook in the cafes, it's no secret that staff at places such as Apple enjoy countless perks. The USWW, alongside activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, is pushing hard for better working conditions in the campaign and has apparently set its eye on Apple, as it believes it should set an example for other tech companies to follow. Vice president of USWW, Samuel Kehinde, told the Mercury: "Apple can be the leader. They can decide how life should be for this class of workers in the valley." Rev. Jackson reportedly sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, questioning how the group's security guards are treated by Security Industry Specialists (SIS), which contracts them out. He urged Cook to "take a stand," says the Mercury, and has requested a meeting to discuss the situation. Organised labor is gaining more control and power in Silicon Valley. This month, Facebook's shuttle bus drivers voted to join Teamsters union; and in October, Google announced it would create in-house security staff who'll get the same benefits as the rest of its employees. In the past, Google contracted workers from SIS, which Kehinde argues has a poor record of treating its workforce. If Facebook and Google is anything to go by, Apple will probably follow suit — but has not yet commented on the situation. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Netflix Alleges These Emails Show Yahoo's CIO Took Kickbacks In His Old Job (NFLX) | ||
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Yahoo CIO Mike Kail has been accused in a lawsuit of taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks while he was a vice president at Netflix. We first saw the story on Re/code. You can download a copy of the legal complaint here. Kail was Netflix's vp of information technology operations until August 2014. He was in charge of contracts and invoices for Netflix's tech vendors, which included an enterprise software company called Vistara IT and a tech contract worker company called Netenrich. What Netflix didn't know, the video streaming company alleges, is that Kail had a side company called Unix Mercenary, which was taking a 12-15% commission on invoices being paid by Netflix. Netflix claims fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Business Insider has reached out to both Yahoo and Kail for comment. We'll update this story when we hear from them. Kail has not responded to the suit, which was only filed in a California state court on Nov. 24. Over two or three years, Netflix paid $1.4 million to Vistara for its services, the suit claims, and $2.3 million to Netenrich. At some point along the way, Kail began requiring the companies pay commissions to Unix Mercenary in chunks of around $5,000 to $10,000 at a time. The 12-15% commission rate would mean that Kale took between $450,000 and $560,000, the lawsuit implies. However, the suit only mentions specific payments to Unix of $76,000. Unix's billing address was Kail's house, the suit alleges. Kail did not disclose the arrangement to Netflix, the company claims. Netflix appears to have discovered the alleged scheme by reading Kail's emails. This one from October 2013 allegedly talks about "my/our arrangement": A short time later, Kail appears to have written to Netenrich to ask about "getting my portion paid":
This alleged email from Netenrich mentions Kail's "referral fees":
This is the text of what Netflix claims is an invoice showing that Unix was based at Kail's home:
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The Mansion Tax Could Drive Angelia Jolie Out Of London | ||
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Angelina Jolie has stormed onto the British political scene, revealing that Labour's proposed mansion tax could prevent her from moving to London, the Telegraph reported. Jolie, who described herself as "quite fond of England," was speaking to John Snow of Channel 4 when she said that the tax "could put her off." Rumours spread over the weekend that Jolie and her husband Brad Pitt were looking for a mansion in Marylebone, the central London borough called "the coolest place on the planet." But in a previous interview Pitt himself had raised an issue with the British tax system. "It is good fun here. Still... work on the tax issues," he said to the Sunday Times. Labour's mansion tax, that would hit properties valued at least £2 million ($3.15 million), is said to interest 110,000 properties in the country, 86,000 of these in London alone. In the last few years, Jolie has forged a close friendship with William Hague, the Tory politician and former UK Secretary of State at the Foreign Office. The actress and the politician worked together on a campaign to end violence against women in conflict zones. Jolie has also confirmed she would quit her acting career to dedicate more time to her campaigning activity, leaving the door open to a political future. She would enter politics "if I felt I would really make a difference," she said to ITV. You can see the whole interview with Jon Snow here. The passage about the mansion tax is at the very end:Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Apple Is Being Pressured To 'Set A Standard' For The Contract Workers Of Silicon Valley (AAPL) | ||
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Apple is being asked to "set a standard" for the security guards who look after the high-flying workers of Silicon Valley, the San Jose Mercury News reports. Organised labour is under the microscope at campuses across the sector. And United Service Workers West (USWW), a regional branch of the Service Employees International Union, is trying to unionize security personnel in the Bay. It has Apple in its sights and is pressuring the company to use a different contractor until the dispute is settled. The Mercury says there is a "growing debate" about contracted service workers in Silicon Valley, who "struggle to make ends meet" — while they drive shuttle buses and cook in the cafes, it's no secret that staff at places such as Apple enjoy countless perks. The USWW, alongside activist Rev. Jesse Jackson, is pushing hard for better working conditions in the campaign and has apparently set its eye on Apple, as it believes it should set an example for other tech companies to follow. Vice president of USWW, Samuel Kehinde, told the Mercury: "Apple can be the leader. They can decide how life should be for this class of workers in the valley." Rev. Jackson reportedly sent a letter to Apple CEO Tim Cook, questioning how the group's security guards are treated by Security Industry Specialists (SIS), which contracts them out. He urged Cook to "take a stand," says the Mercury, and has requested a meeting to discuss the situation. Organised labor is gaining more control and power in Silicon Valley. This month, Facebook's shuttle bus drivers voted to join Teamsters union; and in October, Google announced it would create in-house security staff who'll get the same benefits as the rest of its employees. In the past, Google contracted workers from SIS, which Kehinde argues has a poor record of treating its workforce. If Facebook and Google is anything to go by, Apple will probably follow suit — but has not yet commented on the situation. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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10 Things In Tech You Need To Know Today (TWTR, HPQ, SSNLF, MSFT) | ||
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Good morning! It's going to be a rainy day in London. Here's the tech news you need to know today. 1. Uber is close to raising funding at a valuation that could value it at $40 billion. T. Rowe Price is said to be among the new investors. 2. Twitter is in talks to acquire Justin Bieber's selfie app Shots. This could be what Twitter's CFO accidentally tweeted about on Monday. 3. HP has over 400 people working to split the company in two. The "separation group" is reviewing financial records. 4. Samsung is selling off its chemical and defence stakes. This is its first sale of affiliates since 1997. 5. A Chinese newspaper claims that Microsoft must pay the country 840 million yuan ($137 million) in back taxes. The article only names the company as "M." 6. Mobile payment app Clinkle is handing out free money. Students get $20 just for signing up. 7. HP reported its Q4 earnings. Revenue missed expectations. 8. Lyft just had its biggest week ever. It was down to Uber's recent bad press. 9. BuzzFeed is going to buy an Apple Watch for every one of its employees. That could cost $245,000. 10. Twitter will start offering discounts in tweets. It's easy to claim promotions inside the app. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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Netflix Alleges These Emails Show Yahoo's CIO Took Kickbacks In His Old Job (NFLX) | ||
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Yahoo CIO Mike Kail has been accused in a lawsuit of taking thousands of dollars in kickbacks while he was a vice president at Netflix. We first saw the story on Re/code. You can download a copy of the legal complaint here. Kail was Netflix's vp of information technology operations until August 2014. He was in charge of contracts and invoices for Netflix's tech vendors, which included an enterprise software company called Vistara IT and a tech contract worker company called Netenrich. What Netflix didn't know, the video streaming company alleges, is that Kail had a side company called Unix Mercenary, which was taking a 12-15% commission on invoices being paid by Netflix. Netflix claims fraud and breach of fiduciary duty. Yahoo declined to comment on the case when contacted by Business Insider. Business Insider has also reached out Kail for comment. We'll update this story when we hear from him. Kail has not responded to the suit, which was only filed in a California state court on Nov. 24. Over two or three years, Netflix paid $1.4 million to Vistara for its services, the suit claims, and $2.3 million to Netenrich. At some point along the way, Kail began requiring the companies pay commissions to Unix Mercenary in chunks of around $5,000 to $10,000 at a time. The 12-15% commission rate would mean that Kale took between $450,000 and $560,000, the lawsuit implies. However, the suit only mentions specific payments to Unix of $76,000. Unix's billing address was Kail's house, the suit alleges. Kail did not disclose the arrangement to Netflix, the company claims. Netflix appears to have discovered the alleged scheme by reading Kail's emails. This one from October 2013 allegedly talks about "my/our arrangement": A short time later, Kail appears to have written to Netenrich to ask about "getting my portion paid":
This alleged email from Netenrich mentions Kail's "referral fees":
This is the text of what Netflix claims is an invoice showing that Unix was based at Kail's home:
Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The 10 Things In Advertising You Need To Know Today | ||
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Hello on this chilly morning in London and New York. Catch up on the latest advertising stories as you warm up. 1. Twitter has launched a product called Offers, which lets users claim discounts from brand tweets to redeem in-store. The offer is tied to a users’ credit or debit card, which gives Twitter an easier way to measure the return on investment from their advertising. 2. Coca-Cola's new US milk product Fairlife has previously put out some bizarre advertising. In February, when the product first launched regionally, Fairlife launched a campaign featuring "sexy" pin-up girls who appeared to be leaking milk from their dresses. 3. Millennials are switching off TV in favor of...BuzzFeed. A new report from BuzzFeed indicates that the site has a higher reach among US 18 to 34-year-olds than all of the major TV networks. 4. Microsoft and Yahoo are throwing themselves at Apple to replace Google as the iPhone's default search engine. Apple's contract with Google, which implements Google's search engine as the default in Apple's Safari browser, is expiring next year. 5. By 2015, one in four companies will have a chief data officer, according to Gartner. The research company has also found that 65% of CDOs are in the US while one in five are in the UK. In addition, over 25% of CDOs are women, almost twice as high as for CIOs (13 percent). 6. MailOnline grew its revenues by more than 40% to £62 million in 2014, almost completely offsetting the advertising and sales decline at its sister print newspapers The Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday, The Guardian reports. Mail Online’s revenue growth of £19 million year-on-year outstripped the £10 million decline in print advertising revenues. 7. AdExchanger has same sage words of advice for Apple's iAd, now it is taking its first steps into programmatic advertising. Among the suggestions from the industry, is that Apple should focus its iAd trade marketing on the hot topics of brand safety and ad viewability. 8. Oreo has had five videos created by YouTube stars banned by the UK advertising watchdog after a BBC journalist raised concerns that they were not clearly identifiable as ads. The vloggers had been paid by the brand to film themselves taking part in an "Oreo licking race." 9. The CEO of MoPub, the mobile ad server acquired by Twitter last year, is stepping down from the role, AdAge reports. Jim Payne will now act as an ad tech advisor to Twitter's CFO Anthony Noto. 10. Tumblr has launched a new mobile ad product. Tumblr Sponsored Apps, the company announced in a blog post. Tumblr Sponsored Apps are sold on a cost-per-install basis and advertisers on board so far include game developers Gree, Big Fish and TwoDots. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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The UK's Solid GDP Growth Just Got Confirmed | ||
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The UK's confirmed Q3 growth figures are just out. UK GDP rose by 0.7% in Q3, compared to Q2, as analysts had expected: that's a decent pace of growth, meaning a 3% expansion from the same period last year. Business investment rose 7.1%, up a little less than expected. In Q3, investment only rose 1% from the second quarter. The part of the index that just covers private businesses dropped 0.7%, the first decline in five quarters. Economists had expected total business investment to jump by about 9.5% from the same time last year. That's a bit of a setback for politicians who are eager to show they're "rebalancing" the economy away from consumption spending. But in general it's considerably better than the picture in Europe at the moment, with growth at just 0.2%. Germany, the continent's biggest economy, only expanded by 0.1% in the same period. The UK's growth pace isn't quite as rapid as the US, but in general the two countries are performing much more similarly that Britain is with its stagnant neighbours. Join the conversation about this story »  | ||
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