In Silicon Valley, Protesters Line Up Outside Apple HQ during Shareholder Meeting

Occupy movement participants from San Jose and Mountain View were among those outside Apple's headquarters in nearby Cupertino, California today.

The demonstration was organized by SumOfUs, a non-profit organization that works for "governments that answer to citizens – not corporations". Members of SumofUS delivered a letter that is a direct appeal from ex-factory workers in China for better working conditions.

Groups including SumOfUs and the Raging Grannies, along with citizens who gathered under the umbrella of http://www.change.org to organize an international protest recently, say that Apple’s joining the Fair Labor Association and paying for audits are just white washing labor problems in China. SumOfUs founder Taren Stinebrickner-Kauffman said that when Apple joins a group like FLA it is like the “fox guarding the hen house.”

Protesters lined up in front of the main building outside of Apple‘s Cupertino headquarters today. It was Apple's first shareholders meeting since the death of co-founder Steve Jobs. Jobs lived in Palo Alto, another Silicon Valley hotspot, where monthly protests are being held in front of the Apple store in the downtown area. Organizers of the monthly Palo Alto protests, the Raging Grannies, say that "Steve Jobs worship" is extreme in that city, which is why they choose to protest at that store.