Genentech bus drivers get wage increases
Shuttle drivers who transport Genentech employees received a wage increase Thursday as negotiations continue between their employer, Compass Transportation, and the Teamsters.
Compass employees driving single-decker buses transporting Genentech employees received a raise to $24 an hour, up from $17 to $20 an hour, according to the Teamsters. Drivers will also receive additional pay if they work a split shift, and drivers of doubledecker buses will earn $25 an hour.
The push comes after a Chronicle investigation revealed that several Compass Transportation bus drivers who transport tech workers to their jobs were living in their cars because they couldn’t afford a place to live.
Compass said in a letter to roughly 45 Genentech drivers
that it is committed to reaching an agreement with the Teamsters and “it is not our intent to undermine or bypass” the union.
Genentech said it is pleased that the wage increase took effect. “We support improved compensation and benefits for the bus drivers,” the company said in an email.
Compass has contracts with Zynga, Apple, Genentech, Yahoo, eBay, PayPal and Evernote to carry employees between their homes and their workplaces, which are mostly in the South Bay. Only drivers for Apple and now Genentech have received raises. Apple raised wages and offered bonuses to drivers with split shifts this year. Compass said the starting salary of a tech bus driver was $35,000 last year and can be as high as $72,000.
Drivers for all the companies are still negotiating other aspects of a union-proposed contract, which include better benefits, 11 paid holidays and overtime pay. When tech companies close for the holidays, often the drivers don’t get paid during that time. The proposed contract also calls for Compass to pay for drivers’ health insurance for the first year, allowing some drivers time to take care of their own expenses, such as debt.
“We want these companies to step up and do the right thing,” said Rome Aloise, Teamsters international vice president and the local union’s principal officer.