Picketing Truckers Raise Tensions At LA Port Amid Dockworker Talks
Labor tensions are high at the largest port complex in the country — Los Angeles and Long Beach — which handles nearly half of all the cargo coming into the United States.
Short haul truck drivers are striking. They're the independent, contract truckers who bring the containers off the ships to nearby warehouses for companies like Walmart and Costco. At the twin ports, their numbers hover around 10,000.
Just over 100 of them have been protesting this week, including driver Santos Lopez. As he takes a break from picketing a long line of semis waiting to get into a terminal, Santos says in Spanish that he and his family decided that forgoing a paycheck this week was worth it to bring attention to their fight. He says there's no end date to the picketing, and they'll be here as long as it takes.
The drivers want the trucking companies they work for to reclassify them as regular employees, so they can get benefits. Right now, as independent contractors, they have to pay their own way - gas and maintenance for their trucks, insurance, parking fees. The trucking companies have dismissed the protests, blaming outside interests for trying to push a larger agenda.
A few times this week, there have been work stoppages. At least three terminals briefly shutdown as some dockworkers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union stopped working in a show of support for the truckers.
Contract Negotiations
The relatively small trucker strike comes as the shipping companies are also in negotiations with ILWU dockworkers over a new contract. Their previous six year deal expired on Jul. 1. Plenty of observers say the timing of this week's trucker strike is more than coincidence.
More On Labor Unions
U.S.
Sign Of The Times: Labor Strikes May Make Comeback