Facebook employees living in California want their boss Mark Zuckerberg to know about their challenges to make ends meet as he travels the U.S. to connect with others.
Nicole, 26, and Victor, 29, both of whom work in cafeterias at Facebook, live in a two-car garage in Menlo Park, Calif. with their three children and would often wonder if the tech giant’s top boss will ever “come here?”
“He doesn’t have to go around the world,” Nicole, who only identified herself by her first name, told The Guardian. “He should learn what’s happening in this city.”
The family has lived in the cramped garage next to Victor’s parent’s home for three years. Nicole and Victor recently voted to join a union, Unite Here Local 19, along with 500 other Facebook employees who hope to seek better living conditions for their families.
Facebook and Flagship Facility Services, the company’s food services contractor, didn’t oppose the unionization.
Nicole makes $19.85 an hour, and Victor earns $17.85 – well above California’s $15 minimum wage. Though they make a decent amount, the couple doesn’t have enough to pay for the company’s health care nor do they qualify for state health care because they earn too much.
Nicole recalled to the Guardian that she felt more secure at her previous job than at Facebook because “you didn’t have people looking down at you.”
“They look at us like we’re lower, like we don’t matter,” she told the newspaper about the Facebook employees. “We don’t live the dream. The techies are living the dream. It’s for them.”
A Facebook spokeswoman told the Guardian, “We are committed to providing a safe, fair, work environment to everyone who helps Facebook bring the world closer together, including contractors.”
