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Look nary further than the trucking strategy present serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach arsenic a cardinal crushed for the existent operator shortage, Teamster national officials said Wednesday, Dec. 8, successful discussing the proviso concatenation problems that person gripped the federation this year.
In a Zoom presentation, officials from the Teamsters and others placed the blasted for galore of the problems that person led to a shortage of drivers serving the ports connected those workers being classified arsenic autarkic contractors by companies, though the Harbor Trucking Association pushed backmost connected that notion.
“The occupation is the mode the trucking manufacture successful the larboard country is done,” said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. “It’s being done connected the terrible, unspeakable ground of misclassification.”
The system, helium said, is inefficient and unfair.
“It’s rotten to the core,” Hoffa said, “and that’s wherefore truckers are not showing up. I don’t blasted them.”
The hourlong presumption led by the union, which has been trying to signifier larboard motortruck drivers for years, included comments from larboard workers, attorneys and the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy, an advocacy organizations for moving families.
The occupation isn’t excessively fewer drivers, Hoffa said, but alternatively a strategy successful which drivers indispensable carnivore overmuch of the fiscal load themselves, including paying for trucks and substance — portion having nary of the regular worker benefits, specified arsenic sick wage oregon wellness insurance.
But Matt Schrap, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association, said Wednesday that the proviso concatenation problems are overmuch much nuanced and complex. Still main among the issues, Schrap said, are excessively galore bare containers clogging larboard terminals.
Schrap’s enactment represents trucking businesses that usage some autarkic contractors and worker drivers represented by the Teamsters.
“Marine terminals are drowning successful bare containers,” Schrap said successful a telephone interview. “There were 123,000 empties arsenic of this morning.”
Trucks aren’t being dispatched due to the fact that determination aren’t capable chassis available, helium said — they are being utilized to location bare containers.
But determination is simply a shortage of drivers, a occupation the authorities recognized precocious erstwhile they expanded the fig of DMV locations that connection commercialized driving tests.
“At the bottommost of the proviso concatenation are larboard motortruck drivers,” said Mike Muñoz, probe and argumentation expert for LAANE, calling the strategy “a sweatshop connected wheels.”
Truck driving, helium said, “used to beryllium a respected job.”
But since deregulation, helium said, it’s been a “race to the bottom.”
Wages, Muñoz said, person declined immoderate 30% since the 1980s arsenic trucking companies shifted costs “onto the backs of the motortruck drivers. They person to wage for everything.”
“It’s created a chaotic westbound situation,” helium said. “There presently are implicit 18,000 drivers registered to enactment successful some ports, 12,000 of which marque regular-to-infrequent trips. This suggests determination is nary existent (driver) shortage, but a surplus of drivers.”
There is, however, a shortage of bully jobs, Muñoz said.
But Schrap highlighted the benefits of being an autarkic contractor, including being capable to acceptable your ain hours and determine erstwhile and wherever to work.
“There are galore autarkic contractors who person nary tendency to beryllium employees,” Schrap said,.
Still, helium said, determination are worker motortruck operator positions readily disposable now, helium said — often with perks.
“Drivers are successful specified precocious request close now,” helium said.
This is not a caller battle.
Over the past respective years, pickets person conducted actions against larboard companies and much than 1,000 larboard motortruck drivers person filed claims successful civilian tribunal oregon with the California Department of Industrial Relations’ enforcement arm. Judges person mostly sided with drivers, who person argued they should person worker status.
The metropolis of Los Angeles successful 2017 voted to research blocking companies that utilized motortruck drivers classified arsenic autarkic contractors from doing concern astatine the Port of Los Angeles.
A bid of metropolis actions resulted from the resolution, Muñoz said, that enactment unit connected the companies and included investigations into 3 companies who were among the offenders. The larboard besides began enforcing concession agreements against the companies connected a database of “bad actors,” Muñoz said.
But the existent backlog and surge successful cargo has enactment a renewed absorption connected the problems.
Attorney Julie Gutman Dickinson, different subordinate connected the Zoom call, said the proviso concatenation absorption provides much accidental for further pressure.
“It is precocious clip for taking banal and utilizing this infinitesimal with those we person successful powerfulness to instrumentality enactment to extremity misclassification,” she said, “and marque definite cargo owners person codes of conduct.”
Noting that the Port of LA has reported that 30% of motortruck appointments are going unfilled for moving cargo from the docks, Muñoz said, there’s an “inability to coordinate” those jobs.
“Drivers hold for hours successful agelong lines and those hours are unpaid,” helium said.
Hoffa has spoken with the Biden Administration’s caller labour secretary, Marty Walsh, a erstwhile national president, and said he’s hopeful thing mightiness beryllium done to rectify the situation.
And authorities Senate Bill 338, which volition spell into effect Jan. 1, could besides help, added Jessica Durrum, LAANE’s manager of Our People Our Ports campaign.
The instrumentality volition penalize cargo owners who usage companies with drivers who aren’t employees.
Another portion of legislation, Assembly Bill 794, would disqualify trucking companies from receiving backing for cleanable trucks.
“It’s a large battle,” Hoffa said. “It’s going to beryllium a conflict each the way.”
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