Drivers of shuttles that transport Facebook employees to and from their residences in locations such as San Francisco and Palo Alto are seeking to unionize against their employer, Loop Transportation, on the basis of low wages and long, inconvenient hours. Loop Transportation is currently under contract with Facebook to transport its employees.
The drivers are seeking to be represented by the Teamsters union, and an official from the union wrote a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Facebook, to help in the effort.
"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 reads.
"This is reminiscent of a time when noblemen were driven around in their coaches by their servants. Frankly, little has changed; except the noblemen are your employees, and the servants are the bus drivers who carry them back and forth each day," it added.
The letter further explains that a majority of bus drivers have sought out the Teamsters union for help, and that it is the second official time that they've sought representation from them.
"I am asking that you immediately encourage Loop Transportation, the company that is providing transportation services for Facebook, to recognize the Union of the employees' choice," wrote Rome A. Aloise, the secretary-treasurer from Teamsters. "We are offering to present indisputable evidence that these employees wish to be represented by Teamsters Local 853 and would like to bargain a fair contract that allows these drivers to earn a livable wage and support their families in dignity."
Drivers make from $18 to $20 per hour, but they pointed to high prices for real estate around Facebook's offices, and complained of having to wait hours, unpaid, until the employees of Facebook are finished with work to take them back home, and of difficult work hours that require them to wake up early to drive long distances.
"When I leave home in the morning, my kids are sleeping, and when I get home at 9, they're done with their homework," Jimmy Maerina, one of the drivers, told the New York Times.
"It's very hard for me to make ends meet," Maerina said. "Housing costs are crazy in the Bay Area."
Though Facebook has been declining to comment on the issue to numerous media sources, Jeff Leonoudakis, the president of Loop Transportation, told the Times that the company believes "that we take really good care of our drivers."
He cited generous medical and dental insurance plans, paying for overtime, and providing lounges at the Loop parking lot for the drivers, which, he said, are benefits that competitors don't provide. However, one of the drivers expressed to the Times that the lounge was "less than ideal for napping.'
