Apple executives were recently notified that Amtrak, eBay, Genentech, Yahoo and Zynga shuttle bus drivers contracted to service their employees are seeking to unionize. According to Rome Aloise, the Teamsters Local 853 International vice president and secretary-treasurer, a majority of the drivers working for Compass Transportation have signed union authorization cards as well. Compass currently employs roughly 120 full-time and part-time drivers to shuttle workers at Apple and other tech companies back and forth between work and home. Aloise said the following regarding the matter:

The main driver behind the shuttle drivers’ pushing toward unionizing is compensation. Drivers claim they just frankly aren’t making enough and instead are looking for pay to commensurate with the affluent status of tech companies to which they are contracted. In his notes to Silicon Valley CEOs, including Apple CEO Tim Cook, Aloise hopes to court a favor with the tech companies which would in turn put pressure on Compass to enter negotiations. Aloise went on to write the following regarding the matter:

At the end of the day, the biggest issue appears to be a huge wage disparity between workers with non-skilled jobs such as drivers and security guards, and tech employees earning six-figure salaries. Another issue is the “gentrification” of San Francisco where longtime residents are being displaced by wealthy tech workers. We’ll have to wait and see what ends up happening when the next move takes place.

Source: USA Today