Comcast Employees Protest Trump’s Immigration Ban
Hundreds of Comcast employees took to the streets of Philadelphia yesterday to protest Donald Trump’s immigration ban. The employees, many of whom are immigrants themselves, marched from the cable giant’s headquarters downtown to City Hall. There were undoubtedly inspired by a similar walkout at Google earlier in the week.
According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, “The company put the crowd at 500 to 600, citing police estimates. Smaller protests were also held Thursday in Washington and Sunnyvale, Calif., according to the company and Twitter.
Comcast employees rallied to protest Donald Trump’s immigration ban.
Under police escort at 2 p.m., Comcast employees walked south on 17th Street toward Market to reach Dilworth Plaza. The police closed off Market Street for the orderly procession. Comcast employees carried signs saying “Immigration Innovation” and “Tech Has No Borders.”
Rather than docking workers for walking out on the job, Comcast opted to pay the protesters. Some higher-ups in the company, including Chief Technology Officer Sree Kotay, even joined in the march themselves.
Comcast has a somewhat sticky situation regarding their relationship with the president at this time. One one hand, Trump is viewed as pro-business, and more likely to be amenable to big mergers. This works in Comcast’s favor. Comcast CEO Brian Roberts reportedly told Wall Street analysts that he was looking forward to working with the president. On the other hand, Comcast owns NBCUniversal, which has a bad relationship with the Commander in Chief. Not only has Saturday Night Live skewered Trump repeatedly on the NBC television network, but Trump has accused NBC news of unfair reporting. In a leaked memo, a top NBC executive referred to the then-candidate last year as “pompous” and “toxic.”
Per abc6, “Some signs read “Tech has no borders” and “Have we tried turning America off, waiting 10 seconds and turning it back on again?”
Comcast is one of the largest employers in the Philadelphia area.
Spokesman John Demming says the company’s primary focus is to make sure all employees “feel safe in their jobs, including while traveling.”
