Layoffs: Activists protest outside Twitter HQ

San Francisco: A group of protesters gathered outside the Twitter headquarters here in support of employees who were laid off by its CEO Elon Musk. The rally took place outside Twitter headquarters at 1355 Market Street over the last weekend, according to NBC Bay Area.

Steve Zeltzer, who led the protests with fellow labour activist Andrew Kong Knight, was quoted as saying that the rally was in support of both the laid-off workers and those who remain at the company. "We think he (Musk) should comply with the labor laws. He has a history of flagrantly flouting labour laws. He fired 700 Tesla workers who were trying to organise," Zeltzer said.

Performers at the event included the Angry Tired Teachers Band, a pro-labour group. Some of the laid-off employees filed a class-action lawsuit against Twitter and Musk, alleging the sacking violated state and federal labour laws.

Last month, the group of sacked Twitter employees was told by a US judge to drop their class-action lawsuit against Musk. In a ruling, US District Judge James Donato said that the workers must make their case in private arbitration instead, "citing the employment contract they signed with Twitter."

The lawsuit accused Twitter of not keeping its promise on severance pay package. Musk initially promised three months of severance pay but several employees, who were sacked, claimed they only received one-month pay in addition to the two months of non-working pay they also received in compliance with the US WARN Act.