Striking LA-Long Beach port truckers return to work LONG BEACH, Calif. — The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach should be free of trucker picketing this week thanks to a deal brokered Saturday by Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Garcetti convinced three harbor trucking companies and striking drivers at those companies to agree to a cooling-off period while the Los Angeles Harbor Commission investigates allegations regarding worker safety, poor working conditions and unfair labor practices. The drivers, who are a minority of all of the drivers at Total Transportation Systems Inc., Green Fleet Services and Pac-9 Transportation, are attempting to affiliate with the Teamsters union. The Teamsters-affiliated group Justice for Port Truckers announced on July 7 that drivers had launched an “indefinite” strike in the harbor. Retailers and other cargo interests are concerned because the trucker picketing took place while contract negotiations have been under way between the International Longshore and Warehouse Union and he Pacific Maritime Association. The ILWU and PMA failed to negotiate a new contract by the July 1 deadline, although both sides have issued statements saying negotiations would continue and cargo would keep moving through the Southern California port complex. The truck driver picketing caused one short-lived disruption of cargo handling at the ports. The ILWU last week extended its previous contract for three days while negotiators traveled to the Pacific Northwest to participate in talks for a grain contract. That contract is unrelated to the coastwide contract negotiations involving longshoremen who handle containers at all of the major West Coast gateways. Some of the drivers at the three companies placed pickets at several container terminals in Los Angeles-Long Beach last week. Longshoremen walked off their jobs early on July 8, employers called in the joint ILWU-PMA area arbitrator, and the arbitrator determined that the driver pickets did not constitute a “bona fide” picket under the terms of the waterfront contract. The dockworkers were back on their jobs two hours later. The Teamsters for more than a year now have been attempting to organize drivers at the three trucking companies. The drivers at Pac-9 and TTSI, and some of the drivers at Green Fleet, are classified as independent contractors (owner-operators) and by law can’t be unionized on an industrywide basis. The Teamsters’ strategy is therefore an attempt to demonstrate that the companies exert the same amount of control over the daily work habits of the drivers as if they were employees. In line with that strategy, the Teamsters charge that the companies are engaged in unfair work practices, wage theft and other infractions. Some of the drivers have filed charges with the National Labor Relations Board and the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement, some of which have resulted in favorable rulings for drivers. Misclassification and wage-theft lawsuits are fact-intensive and rulings normally apply only to relations between the individual companies and the drivers. The rulings do not set a precedent for the industry. Garcetti’s office on Saturday issued the following statement: “Following the city’s meetings with both sides, the Teamsters have agreed to pull down their pickets and enter a cooling-off period to allow the Harbor Commission time to investigate the serious allegations regarding worker safety, poor working conditions and unfair labor practices. Business at the port is back to normal and the city will facilitate a dialog among the parties in the weeks ahead.” “We are grateful to LA Mayor Garcetti for meeting with us and hearing our concerns. We have accepted his request for a ‘cooling off,’ but if the companies retaliate against us again, we will immediately go back on strike,” said Carlos Martinez, a TTSI driver. TTSI, Pac-9 and Green Fleet are three of the dozens of harbor trucking companies in Southern California. Drivers at those companies who are happy with their independent contract status said those drivers who welcome affiliation with the Teamsters represent less than 10 percent of the total driver pool at the three drayage companies. The Teamsters for several years have been attempting to organize drivers at container ports nationwide. The union also supported labor-friendly legislation that in recent years has been introduced in states such as Washington, California and New Jersey, although those bills were not passed by the legislatures. Contract negotiations have resumed between the ILWU and the PMA and are expected to continue this week. JOC NEWS - JULY 13 2014
Posted on: Sat, 19 Jul 2014 05:06:26 +0000
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