Facebook's Bus Drivers Seek to Unionize, Request Higher Paychecks to Support ...

Facebook's Bus Drivers Seek to Unionize, Request Higher Paychecks to Support Families

By Julie S julie.s@hngn.com | Oct 06, 2014 06:29 PM EDT

Facebook bus drivers reached out to labor union Teamsters to help them lobby with Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg for higher paychecks. The drivers' pay is so low that they cannot afford to reside near the office.

Rome Aloise, a Teamsters official for Northern California, sent a letter to Zuckerberg explaining the situation of the drivers who pick up and deliver employees to the Facebook campus.

'While your employees earn extraordinary wages and are able to live and enjoy life in some of the most exclusive neighborhoods in the Bay Area, these drivers can't afford to support a family, send their children to school, or, least of all, afford to even dream of buying a house anywhere near where they work,' the letter said.

Teamsters plan to unionize Facebook drivers, and eventually invite the Google, Apple, and other Silicon Valley drivers to join. It is likely that the same issue exists for other companies. Bus drivers earn between $18 and $20 per hour on average.

'You have to start someplace,' Aloise said in a phone interview with the New York Times. 'We hope there will be a domino effect. If we get Facebook and a decent contract, others will follow.'

The primary complaint of the Facebook drivers is working in split shifts, or two shifts per day, without getting paid in between. These drivers are prohibited from taking other jobs while waiting for their next shift.

Aloise recommended that Facebook should pay Loop Transportation, Facebook's shuttle bus contractor, enough money to fix the split shift problem. Google and Apple also outsource their drivers, janitors and security guards to reduce costs.

'Certainly, Facebook, Google, Apple and the rest can afford to do this. I am hopeful that we can make this enough of an issue that these companies do the right thing,' Aloise told USA Today.

Both Facebook and Loop Transportation president, Jeff Leonoudakis, declined to comment about the issue.