LOS ANGELES: Truck drivers at the ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego walked off their jobs for a second day Tuesday, accusing four trucking companies of “wage theft” and seeking better pay.
Picket lines have been set up at company yards in the greater Los Angeles area and in San Diego, and truckers and their supporters are picketing company trucks at marine terminals, rail yards, and customer warehouses as far east as Mira Loma and as far south as the U.S.-Mexico border, according to a statement from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
Several hundred drivers who haul cargo from the ports began their strike Monday against the trucking yards of Intermodal Bridge Transport, Pacific 9 Transportation, Pacer Cartage and Harbor Rail Transport. Another trucking company, Green Fleet Systems LLC, came to an agreement with the labor union which averted a strike against that company, the Teamsters said.
Drivers say they have been improperly classified as independent contractors, which gives them fewer workplace protections and lower pay than if they were company employees.
Port authorities said the strike has not hurt the flow of cargo at the ports. The picketing only affects a portion of the 16,000 truckers that work at the L.A.-Long Beach port complex.
