Union prods Apple workers to help in NVIDIA action

A labor union intends to use today's Apple notebook announcement to gain support in a move against NVIDIA, according to a statement. Unite Here says it will use the event to persuade Apple workers to cooperate in any Securities and Exchange Commission investigations of NVIDIA, from which it is pushing for a chip recall. Apple is among many companies that build NVIDIA hardware into their computers, and the union says it has already provided fliers on the Sarbanes-Oxley Act to employees of HP and Dell.

Sarbanes-Oxley provides people with measures against employer retaliation when an SEC investigation requires a worker's help.

Unite Here's campaign against NVIDIA stems from publicly-acknowledged defects in earlier GeForce 8000-series video cards, such as the 8400M and 8600M. The flaws are said to be the cause of errors not only in MacBook Pros, but also in HP desktops, and possibly Apple desktops as well. The union notes that while NVIDIA set aside $196 million to cover costs associated with its problems, shareholders have launched a securities fraud suit, which may theoretically draw in the SEC as well.

Filed under: industry, Apple
Other story tags: Dell, NVIDIA, HP, MacBook Pro