I’m a huge fan of Apple products. Growing up, I didn't have access to technology at home but the first computer I ever used was an Apple computer at school. When I was finally able to purchase my first personal computer, I chose Apple not just for its intuitive design features but also because I believed that the brand represented values that I also hold-- values like innovation, individuality, and-- what I've always found singular and inspiring in a tech company-- humanity. For me, Apple has always represented a brand that puts people first. It's why I have always chosen Apple at home and why I am proud to use the company’s technology to advocate for civil rights every day at work. That’s also why I was disappointed to learn that the company does not extend these same principles to their employees and chooses not to provide Martin Luther King Jr. Day as a paid holiday for its employees. Despite its incredible reputation for innovation -- and despite using MLK’s image in its advertising -- Apple does not appear to “think different” when it comes to honoring Dr. King’s legacy. Many top Silicon Valley tech companies including Facebook, Google, Twitter, Yahoo, Ebay, Glassdoor, HP, LinkedIn, Square, and Uber observe this important federal holiday according to reports, but not Apple. In fact, a Bloomberg survey found that 37% of all US employers plan to observe MLK Day as a paid day off in 2015 -- the highest percentage yet. Apple has reportedly agreed to offer a donation of $50 to charity for each hour an employee volunteers for MLK Day of Service, but the company can and should do more by providing a day off for employees so that even more can fully participate and give back to their communities. As Coretta Scott King wrote, “Martin Luther King, Jr. Day is not only for celebration and remembrance, education and tribute, but above all a day of service. It is a day of volunteering to… [build] the beloved community of his dream.” While Apple has generous vacation policies in many ways, as a leader in this area, Apple can surely participate in this important historic holiday as well. By joining other companies in observing MLK Day, Apple will demonstrate its commitment to a diverse staff and customer base and to the achievements of the civil rights movement. Please join me in asking Apple to “think different” on its stance on this policy and provide employees with a paid day off to observe MLK Day.

Uber initially marketed its transportation service as a seamless and cashless experience where the tip was included in the fare calculation. In fact, the fare calculation was, and is simply based upon time, distance, tolls, and surge charge. Notably absent is a gratuity. Eventually, Uber moved away from saying that the “tip is included in the fare” to a more ambiguous “there is no need to tip.” Based upon Uber’s global marketing, many Uber customers falsely believe that the Uber fare includes an automatic tip. While UberTaxi does include an automatic tip, the UberX, UberXL, UberPlus, UberBlack, and UberSUV platforms do NOT include any gratuity at all. Uber is fully aware of the confusion that exists in the marketplace regarding the tips. In fact, Uber’s present independent contractor agreement advises drivers that there is “no tipping.” But then, in the same sentence, advises drivers that Uber may, through advertising and marketing, communicate to customers that “tipping” is “’included in the Service Fee paid by the User.” In a recent commutation to an Uber customer, however, the Company clarified the tip issue by saying: “There’s no function that will allow riders to tip their drivers for vehicle options other than UberTaxi. That means for uberX, uberBlack, and the rest of the Uber services, you can’t leave a tip. And yes, the fare is simply a calculation of the base fare, time, distance, tolls, and surge rate.” Uber passengers deserve to know the truth and to have the option to tip within the app if they choose. In the past year, Uber has drastically reduced its fares, while at the same time increasing the commission it takes from each trip. For example, in December 2013, in Los Angeles, the uberX fare was $2.40 per mile, $0.60 per minute, with a base fare of $4.00. Of that fare, Uber would take a 5% commission. Today, an uberX driver will make $1.10 per mile, $0.21 per minute, with a base fare of $0.80. Of that reduced fare, Uber now takes a 25% commission. This means many of Uber drivers are taking home a lot less for our work than we used to, and we have to increase our hours behind the wheel by up to 50% in order to make up for the reduction in fares, and Uber's increased commission. Allowing a way for users to provide tips to drivers would make a huge difference to drivers and the families for which many of them are providing. It would also be a boost for driver morale and another incentive to great service. It shouldn’t be hard for Uber -- a tech company -- to create options within the app to allow customers to automatically tip their drivers. In fact, they are already doing it -- for uberTaxi, one of Uber’s services, users can request a ride from a regular cab through the app, and a default 20% tip is included in the fare (and app users can adjust that percentage online). If it can be done for uberTaxi, surely an innovative tech company like Uber could develop a solution for users to provide tips for drivers across all of its different services -- just like its competitor Lyft offers. Placing an automatic tip within the Uber app would be a win for both customers and drivers alike. Please join CADA in asking Uber to update its technology by adding a 20% default tip to ALL Uber fares. Photo credit: https://www.flickr.com/people/afagen/

It is the job of Facebook content moderators to try and make the platform safe. This means reviewing every post that is either reported by a user or flagged by Facebook’s automated tools from its 3 billion users. For context, around 130,000 images are uploaded to Facebook every minute. The work can be harrowing, with content moderators having to look at some of the worst material on the internet. This includes murder, gruesome violence, hate speech and the sexual exploitation of children. Outsourced content moderators don’t receive proper mental health support and many develop PTSD as a result of their experience. This year, TIME magazine (https://time.com/6147458/facebook-africa-content-moderation-employee-treatment/) revealed chilling abuse at Facebook's content moderation centre in Nairobi, Kenya. Workers reported exploitation and unlawful union-busting at the Nairobi office, run by Sama — the US company who Facebook use as its main provider of outsourced content moderation in Africa. For this harrowing and dangerous work, TIME revealed workers are paid as little as $2.20 per hour. Sign this petition today in solidarity with them and all Facebook content moderators around the world.

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At Right Networks, a large part of our company culture revolves around in-person gatherings (the company outing, the Christmas party, and so on). While we're in a mixed-vaccination state, some employees haven't felt that it's safe enough to attend in-person events or return to the office even temporarily. Putting these rules in place would allow for future gatherings to be less likely to result in an outbreak, helping us to feel safer attending.

As workers, the tasks we complete for Microsoft are many. We are the ones helping to improve Cortana's speech recognition, and improving Zo.AI by judging the quality of its responses in human interaction. We help users of Bing map services travel quicker and more efficient routes by analyzing map results. We help deliver users more accurate results by providing feedback on Bing search engine results. We help safe search filters filter out adult content, in the process of which we expose our personal computers to viruses and occasional illegal content. In doing these tasks we take pride in the work we are doing because we believe it to be truly valuable and useful. We ask Microsoft to match our commitment to the platform by not treating us as disposable. We understand that as contract workers there are many rights enjoyed by others in the workforce which we do not, such as a guaranteed minimum wage, employment benefits, job security or a guaranteed right to work. While we are truly grateful for the opportunity to perform work for a successful company through the UHRS platform, which offers competitive pay and the opportunity to work from home, there are certain changes we would like to ask Microsoft to consider in the interest of fairness and productivity. Many of us rely on this platform as our sole source of income. While this is our choice, we do believe there should be a strict set of guidelines and some sort of system in place to ensure that we all know what is expected from us and that we as workers are able to deliver high-quality results. In short, we are asking that Microsoft stop treating its workers as disposable and address some longstanding inefficiencies with the UHRS platform. Happier workers means higher quality work delivered and faster output, which as a result will benefit Microsoft and the exchange between workers and hitapp owners as a whole. We believe that these changes will not only help to ensure that those working for Microsoft are treated fairly, but will also enable workers to perform the highest quality of work for Microsoft. Improving work conditions will potentially place Microsoft on the vanguard in terms of recognizing the value of contributions made by crowdworkers, and ensure continued improvements to UHRS in the years to come.