The road to Silicon Valley riches is paved with underpaid workers' labor.
The bus drivers at the wheel of the oft-derided "tech buses" -- the large, white shuttles that ferry workers from San Francisco to the likes of Google, Facebook and Apple -- make about $18 an hour and are "barely making it" while their passengers enjoy top salaries, according to USA Today.
Bus drivers work split shifts, which means nine hours of driving split between the morning and the evening commutes, the newspaper reported.
For the jobs they do -- making sure Silicon Valley firms can employ workers who can enjoy free Wi-Fi and don't have to drive to work every day -- they aren't well-compensated.
Few have job security, wages are low and benefits minimal, with some not earning sick time or vacation, the newspaper reported.
Meanwhile, tech firms are spending "tens of millions of dollars on hundreds of shuttles to transport thousands of far-flung employees," the newspaper reported. Some of the buses are owned by the tech firms but they're operated by outside firms.
The drivers' workdays are tough, too: they deal with choking Bay Area traffic and are not allowed much time to go to the bathroom in between runs. They're also not allowed to sip water while on the job, USA Today reported.
Local
Tech companies like Facebook declined to comment to the newspaper about their drivers' plight.
