Protest Outside Twitter HQ In Support Of Employees Laid Off By Elon Musk: Report

Activists had gathered outside Twitter headquarters in San Fransisco to protest against the company's owner Elon Musk's move to layoffs thousands of Twitter employees.

Activists had gathered outside Twitter headquarters in San Fransisco to protest against the company's owner Elon Musk's move to layoffs thousands of Twitter employees. The rally will take place outside Twitter headquarters at 1355 Market Street at 11 am on Saturday, said Steve Zeltzer, who is leading the rally with fellow labour activist Andrew Kong Knight, the media has reported.

Performers at the event include the Angry Tired Teachers Band, a pro-labour group whose playlists include selections like "(I Can't Get No) Contract Satisfaction." Kong Knight, a muralist and former Hayward high school teacher, will present a painting depicting Musk on a one-way trip to Mars, says a report by CBS News.

Zeltzer was quoted as saying that the event is in support of both the laid-off workers and those who remain at Twitter.

"We think he should comply with the labor laws. He has a history of flagrantly flouting labor laws. He fired 700 Tesla workers who were trying to organize," Zeltzer said.

"There's a cult of personality around Elon and we want to burst the bubble about who he really is. His employees need protection. They need labor rights."

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.

Meanwhile, Twitter Blue, the premium subscription service by Twitter started rolling out for users in India last week. Twitter's paid subscription adds the much-talked-about blue checkmark to the user's account, according to Twitter's support page.

The premium service also brings the ability to get early access to special features introduced by the company. Twitter Blue subscribers in the US will be able to post 4,000-character tweets, which is up from the previous limit of 280.

Twitter Blue subscription in India is available for both iOS and Android users as well as Twitter web users. Twitter Blue's monthly subscription fee for iOS and Android users in India has been set at Rs 900 while Twitter web users can get the Twitter Blue plan at a lower cost of Rs 650 per month. For web users, there's an annual subscription plan for Rs 6,800, which will cost approximately Rs 566 per month. However, this plan will not be applicable for Twitter users on iOS and Android.