LA Mayor Garcetti Helps Broker Trucker Picketing Cooling Period-ILWU Tops Extended Contract To Limit Solidarity

LA Mayor Garcetti Helps Broker Trucker Picketing Cooling Period-ILWU Tops Extended Contract To Limit Solidarity
http://www.gazettes.com/news/update-garcetti-helps-broker-trucker-picket...
By Jonathan Van Dyke
Staff Writer | Posted 4 hours ago

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti brokered a pause on Saturday regarding truck driver labor unrest at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles. Some truckers had been picketing three companies at the Port of Long Beach for the entire week.

“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,” Garcetti said in a statement. “Business at the port is back to normal and the city will facilitate a dialog among the parties in the weeks ahead.”

On Monday, July 7, truckers, with the guidance of Teamsters-led Justice for Port Drivers, began to picket at three Port of Long Beach container terminals: ITS on Pier G, Long Beach Container Terminal on Pier F and Total Terminal International on Pier T. Many other labor groups and passionate community members joined them.

“Teamsters are providing support, but it’s all (coming from) the truck drivers,” said Barb Maynard, spokesperson for Justice for Port Drivers.

The picketing continued through Friday, before Garcetti stepped in. The truckers are specifically aligned against trucking companies Green Fleet Systems, Total Transportation Services and Pacific Nine Transportation.

On Thursday, July 10, many other drivers met at The Grand Long Beach to voice their displeasure with the Teamsters and the picketers. Harbor Trucking Association members were at the meeting, but said it was taking place at the behest of the truckers.

“The majority of Green Fleet employees do not want the union,” said Blanca Machado, driver for Green Fleet.

“If we don’t want the union, then we don’t have to have the union,” added Amado Zamora, also a Green Fleet driver. “Our company gives us what a union is supposedly going to offer us.”

According to the Green Fleet truckers there, about two-thirds of employee-drivers do not want to unionize. Several drivers for Pacific Nine Transportation, which contracts only with owner/operators, also were present, and echoed the anti-union sentiments.

Still many continued to picket through Friday, with representative claiming bad practices were occurring against the truckers.

“These strikes are about retaliation and labor practices,” Maynard said, noting picketers believed that all three companies were violating federal labor laws.

For a moment on Tuesday, July 8, it looked as though the picketers might be joined by the largest labor union at the Port of Long Beach and Port of Los Angeles, the ILWU, which has about 10,000 employees at the two ports.

That morning, just before 10 a.m., some longshore workers left their posts at one terminal to honor the picket lines, but by 11 a.m. a labor arbitrator ordered the workers back, Port of Long Beach Spokesman Lee Peterson said. Negotiations between the ILWU and Pacific Merchants Association remain ongoing, as that union’s six-year contract was up at the beginning of July.

Overall, the ILWU is negotiating for 20,000 longshore workers up and down the West Coast at 29 ports. Should, at some point, the negotiations get contentious and break off, a walk off would be crippling to the ports, officials say.

“Without the longshore workers, the terminals can’t operate,” Peterson said. “All facets of cargo movement and container movement are done by ILWU workers.”

On Thursday, trucking company officials said there was minimal disruption from the picketers.

“We’re obviously concerned about any disruption in service at the ports,” Harbor Trucking Association Executive Director Alex Cherin said. “Our organization supports both independent contractor and employee models. It’s frustrating for the drivers on a day-to-day basis getting in and out of the port, but overall it has had pretty minimal impact.”

Jonathan Van Dyke can be reached at jvandyke@gazettes.com.