The Teamsters union wants Apple to step up to the plate to keep its contracted drivers protected during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Teamsters Joint Council 7, representing more than 1,000 shuttle bus drivers for the world’s largest tech giants, want Apple and Tesla to commit to guaranteeing drivers will receive paychecks and healthcare during the pandemic. Other tech companies including Facebook, Electronic Arts, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Salesforce have all committed to doing this. However, it seems that Apple is one of the outliers.
“I am shocked that Apple and Tesla would be so coldhearted as to refuse to do even the minimum that the other companies are doing for the drivers,” said Stacy Murphy, Teamsters Local 853 business representative, in a press release. “It simply is unbelievable that two of the richest companies in the world won’t do the right thing.”
Rome Aloise, Teamsters Joint Council 7 president, said both companies “seem to pride themselves on being good corporate citizens.” Aloise is therefore hopeful that Apple and Tesla will “step up” and follow their fellow tech companies.
At present, this has yet to happen, however. Currently, fewer workers are traveling to offices like Apple Park to get work done. (A recent drone flyover video of the campus made it look like a ghost town.) Instead, Apple CEO Tim Cook continues to encourage Apple employees to work from home wherever possible. This likely adds to the concerns of drivers who would normally be ferrying them to and from work.
