(Source: International Brotherhood of Teamsters press release, November 14, 2014)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Port truck drivers in Los Angeles/Long Beach, Calif., continued their strike today against drayage companies Pac 9 and TTSI. At issue is the continued misclassification of drivers as “independent contractors”. The ports are already seeing a back up in deliveries due to the strike as the heavy season of imports for the holiday shopping season have started to arrive in the harbor.
Drivers are demanding the following (which was delivered in a petition earlier this week):
• STOP misclassifying drivers as “independent contractors,” stop deducting business expenses from our paychecks like fuel, insurance, and truck inspections and repairs, and end wage theft.
• REMOVE obstacles to basic American workplace protections, including safety and health regulations, disability insurance, workers compensation, and unemployment insurance.
• ELIMINATE the illegal barriers to unionization, including misclassification as “independent contractors,” retaliation, harassment, and union busters (also called union avoidance consultants).
• PAY US a fair wage for every hour worked, including waiting for dispatch to give us a load, sitting in traffic on the road to the company’s customer, and waiting in line at the ports.
View the latest video of the strikes here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPZ-WWZSUgU