LA Strike by Teamster port truck drivers expands to comprise six companies

LA Strike by Teamster port truck drivers expands to comprise six companies
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/drivers-642544-strike-truck.html
Teamsters Reyes Magana, right, and Fausto Castillo, behind him, join a picket at the entrance to Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) in the Port of Long Beach on Monday. Los Angeles and Long Beach truck drivers are conducting a 48-hour strike for fair and lawful treatment against the Ports of LA/Long Beach terminals.

Teamsters Reyes Magana, right, and Fausto Castillo, behind him, join a picket at the entrance to Long Beach Container Terminal (LBCT) in the Port of Long Beach on Monday. Los Angeles and Long Beach truck drivers are conducting a 48-hour strike for fair and lawful treatment against the Ports of LA/Long Beach terminals.
JEFF GRITCHEN, STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER

BY HANNAH MADANS / STAFF WRITER

Published: Nov. 18, 2014 Updated: 7:22 p.m.
Port truck drivers on Tuesday expanded their strike at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to include two new companies. That brings to six the companies that are targets of the strike.
The strike is exacerbating congestion at the ports, which is already high due to a lack of truck chassis and rising trade volume from the improving economy.
Dockworkers with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union have been working without a contract since July and have faced recent accusations from the Pacific Maritime Association that the union is intentionally orchestrating the slowdown.
Drivers from QTS Inc., LACA Express and WinWin Logistics Inc. went on strike Monday, and drivers from Pacer and Harbor Rail Transport struck on Tuesday.
Port truck drivers want to be classified as employees and not independent contractors. As employees, they would be able to form a union and receive workplace protections.
“Port truck drivers are on strike to protest their misclassification as independent contractors, to end wage theft and to have access to common workplace protections that every American worker has the right to,” said Barb Maynard, a spokeswoman for the Teamsters Union, which is backing the drivers.
“We are sick of this misclassification scam,” said Ricardo Ceja, a trucker at LACA Express, in a statement. “We are coming out of the shadows to demand our rights as company employees to provide a better future for our families.”
Officials of trucking companies didn’t return requests for comment.
The strike began last week when drivers for Pac 9 and TTSI protested at company yards. Many marine terminals turned drivers away, though, in an effort to avoid the pickets.
On Friday, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti got company representatives to begin talks with drivers and Teamsters.
Maynard said the talks were the first of their kind. “Because of the progress of these drivers who have been on strike, we are seeing drivers from five different companies come forward and say they want to go on strike as well because they realize there is hope.”
Contact the writer: hmadans@ocregister.com or Twitter: @HannahMadans