In a move that reflects the growing assertiveness of the labor movement in the technology industry, drivers that shuttle Facebook's handsomely paid software engineers from their homes to their offices and back have decided to unionize to represent them in their battle for better working conditions.
87 drivers of Loop Transportation who daily drive the buses that transport some of the most highly paid workers in Silicon Valley to Facebook's headquarters and other places in Menlo Park have voted to allow Teamsters Local 853 to represent them in negotiating higher wages and better schedules.
The drivers have complained about the inhumane working schedules, which require them to start at 6 a.m. and take a break at 11 a.m. and continue their shift during rush hour at 5 p.m. until 9:45 in the evening. The six-hour period in between is left unpaid, and most drivers say their wages are too low to allow them to go back home and rest.
Loop Transportation CEO Jeff Leonoudakis says his company is proud of the $18 to $21 hourly wages of its bus drivers. He also says that the drivers can spend their six-hour breaks at the company provided lounge with recliners and bunk beds or Facebook's cafeteria that offers free meals and snacks. They also receive paid vacations, sick leaves and full medical benefits for themselves but not for their families.
Teamsters, however, says the wage, although at par with the national industry standard, is not enough considering the high cost of living in the San Francisco Bay Area fueled by the skyrocketing salaries of the very same technology industry workers that the bus drivers shuttle to and fro. Cliff Doi, one of the drivers who voted for union representation, also says the recliners provided by the company are not suitable for sleeping and the bunk beds are non-existent.
"These companies need to step up and stop demanding the lowest bid contract. They need to all agree to pay their contractors an amount that allows the union to negotiate for decent wages and benefits," says Rome Aloise, international vice president and secretary-treasurer at Teamsters. "Of all the industries in the world, the tech industry can afford to compensate those that help make them successful."
Leonoudakis says Loop Transportation respects the drivers' decision and will move for negotiation.
"Even though we don't feel that our drivers' interests are best served by union representation, our drivers have spoken and we will now begin the negotiation process," he says.
Silicon Valley has long held a steadfast way of thinking against organized labor, with Intel co-founder Robert Noyce saying "remaining non-union is essential for survival for most of our companies." Most of the startups, and even the biggest players, minimize hiring to just the engineering jobs and the most essential non-technical staff while hiring the contractor with the lowest bids for janitors, bus drivers and other laborers to ensure profitability.
The unionization of Facebook's bus drivers should be one more step in closing the extreme income gap among the engineers and service workers in the technology industry, following Google's earlier move to directly hire 200 security guards with bigger pay and better benefits.
