12/16/06 Workers Deliver Candy Canes to Retailers

On Saturday, Dec. 16, over 100 laid-off Monster Cable workers and their community supporters gathered at the Southwest corner of Van Ness and Sutter to hold a press conference and holiday march for justice. Workers and community supporters marched up Van Ness Ave to deliver candy canes to major electronics retailers who carry Monster Cable Products. They asked retailers and consumers to call on CEO Noel Lee’s “holiday spirit” to fairly resolve the concerns of laid-off workers and received positive responses from Cambridge SoundWorks and the Guitar Center store managers.

Most recently, CEO Noel Lee left workers hanging on Monday, Dec. 11^th , when he failed to show up to a scheduled meeting with him, company executives, and members of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. Workers were disappointed and requested to re-schedule the meeting, but were informed by company representatives that Mr. Lee was unavailable and that the severance package was not up for negotiation. “It’s the holiday season, but the attitude of Monster Cable has been anything but one of giving. In stark contrast, the company’s approach has been to ignore laid-off workers and their concerns,” said Shaw San Liu, Organizer for the Chinese Progressive Association.

“The boss has made it clear that he is not concerned about us, and is treating us disrespectfully. This is not the right attitude of a high-level CEO,” says Yijun Huang, who worked for 16 years at Monster Cable’s Brisbane factory and was only offered 4 weeks of severance pay. “His behavior is extremely disappointing to us. All he wants is talk about how well he treated us in the past, without any sincere intention to resolve our current issues—a fair severance and support for a community transition fund.”