Carers at Google Children’s Centers demand transportation support

Early child educators and caretakers who work at Google Children’s Centers say their comparatively low pay makes it infeasible to live near Google’s campuses, and the company’s refusal to help with their transportation costs reflects an undervaluing of their labour.

Google’s workers who provide childcare and education for staffers’ kids say the internet giant is summoning them back to the office without restoring the shuttle service they rely on, and they’re circulating a petition urging the Alphabet Inc. unit to provide a transportation stipend to cover commuting costs. “Shifting this cost to essential workers, who earn far less than the Googlers whose children they care for, is unacceptable,” according to the petition, which members of the Alphabet Workers Union drafted and began circulating Friday. “Google can be an extraordinary problem solver, but is choosing not to solve this problem for its childcare workers.” The petition, which in its first hours had garnered signatures from about 200 Alphabet workers, says the staffers at Google Children’s Centers have tried raising the issue with managers, to no avail: “The corporate response was ‘Transportation is just a perk, not a benefit.’”