Bus drivers who
shuttle workers from their homes to six large employers in Silicon Valley voted
Friday to join the Teamsters union to negotiate better wages and working
conditions.
Founded
in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women
throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.
The 158 full-time
and part-time drivers involved actually work for Compass Transportation, but
they transport workers to and from the offices of Apple, Yahoo, eBay, Zynga,
Genentech and Amtrak.In November 2014 the drivers of Facebook’s shuttles, who work for Loop Transportation, also voted to join the Teamsters.
The tech buses are
a symbol of the San Francisco Bay Area’s changing economy. More tech workers are choosing to live in
urban areas like San Francisco and commute to suburban corporate campuses 30 or
even 60 miles away. Because of this, there is a shortage of housing, rents are
more expensive and house prices are higher.
The working
conditions of the drivers — who make it possible for big tech companies to
recruit employees who live far away — are a flash point in the region’s debate
over the gap between highly paid technology workers and the lower-paid workers
who provide crucial support services.
Drivers have
split shifts, in which they must navigate buses through thick Silicon Valley
traffic during the morning and evening commutes, without enough time to go home
or rest properly between the work stints.
“This is another
step, in addition to the Facebook drivers, for the workers who support the tech
industry to move forward toward decent wages, affordable health care and a
pension for the future,” said Rome Aloise, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters
Local 853, in a statement.
Loop
Transportation drivers who shuttle Facebook employees to and from the company’s
Menlo Park, Calif., campus voted overwhelmingly in November to join Local 853.
Their
contract includes 11 paid holidays; up to five weeks paid vacation; paid
bereavement leave; guaranteed hours based on scheduled shifts; seniority
provisions; health care for workers and the families of full time workers,
fully paid by Loop; a minimum six-hour day for workers who can’t work split
shifts; wage increases for workers on split shifts; pay-rate protections;
guaranteed overtime; paid jury duty and more. With this contract, the average pay for workers at Loop, who live in one of the most expensive areas of the country, will be $24.50 an hour, up from $18 an hour.
The agreement will now be submitted to Facebook by Loop Transportation for their acceptance as the paying client.
edited from The New York Times and Teamsters
