On Wednesday April 17, local security officers joined together with elected leaders, academics and members of the community to discuss the problem of rising income inequality in Silicon Valley, one of the wealthiest areas in the world
The meeting saw the launch of a paper: "Poverty in the Midst of Plenty: The Security Industry and Rising Income Inequality in Silicon Valley". The study focuses on the lives of Silicon Valley security officers who play a vital role in protecting the Valley's greatest profit-producing assets - prosperous tech giants, glittery office buildings and cutting-edge biotechnology campuses. Yet these officers struggle every day just to make ends meet. One officer, Manny Cardenas of who works at Google for contractor, Security Industry Specialists, said: "The recession may be over for people at the top, but for people like me it's still hard. I am a "flex" worker - which means I work whatever hours they give me. I can't count on making enough to live on, so had to move in with my mom. And because I am not full-time, I don't have paid sick days or health insurance. As a result, I had to sign my four-year old daughter up for [publicly-funded healthcare program] Medi-Cal." 
Approximately 100 people joined the meeting, which was held in Antioch Baptist Church and listened to speakers including Dr. Bill Armaline, San Jose State University
Dr. Chris Benner, U.C.-Davis, Teresa Castellanos, Santa Clara County Committee on Commonsense Immigration Reform
Dave Cortese, supervisor, Santa Clara County,
Lauren Jacobs, 1st Vice President from SEIU-USWW and Pastor Jeff Moore, NAACP president, San Jose chapter. The group discussed how the huge growth created by tech giants in the Valley has caused social division as a small number of people have seen their income increase hugely, while most have seen real incomes stagnate or decline, even as the cost of living in the region has skyrocketed. UC Davis professor, Chris Benner argued that these unequal incomes may even have held healthy growth in the region back. He said: "There's growing evidence that places that are more equitable grow faster. [...] The Federal Reserve Bank studied 136 of the largest metro regions in the USA [...] It found that racial inclusion and income equality is the most important predictor of economic growth." Lauren Jacobs, 1st Vice-President of SEIU-USWW said: "Despite living in the shadow of the great wealth of Silicon Valley's tech giants, the very people who protect their offices too often find themselves without a home in which to bring up their children, unable to take their kids to the doctor, unable to call in sick or begging for enough hours to live on and qualify for healthcare. "I call on the tech giants of Silicon Valley to take responsibility for all of the workers who create their great wealth and work with us to reverse this trend of rising inequality." The meeting finished with a strong commitment from everyone there to work together to make Silicon Valley a more prosperous region for all of its citizens. This is just the start of an important movement to create a Silicon Valley where ALL families enjoy the prosperity that they build. You can watch the video here: