Union Asks Ports of L.A., Long Beach to Ban Trucking Companies That Misclassify Drivers

Monday, June 6, 2016 | 1

The Teamsters union has asked the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach to ban from the premises trucking companies that classify drivers as independent contractors, the union’s Port Division director told the American Journal of Transportation.

The Port of Long Beach, seen here, is being asked by the Teamsters to ban trucking companies that classify drivers as independent contractors.

Hundreds of drivers and warehouse workers attended a special meeting of the Los Angeles Board of Harbor Commissioners on Thursday to demand “the port ban companies who are breaking the law and have been found guilty by the state of California of classifying drivers as contractors when they are in fact employees,” Teamsters Port Division director Fred Potter told AJOT.

"It was a bit raucous," said Barbara Maynard, communications director of the Teamsters' Justice for Port Drivers campaign. "The drivers are very, very angry that the port has not taken action on this issue."

"They have gone week after week after week to the Harbor Commission to ask them to stop allowing companies making blatant violations of labor laws to keep operating out of the port" to no avail, Maynard said.

The issue was not on the board's agenda on Thursday. It hasn't been on any agenda so far, leaving the angry drivers to air their concerns during public comment, Maynard said.  

"There was a discussion last night about putting it on the agenda for the future but no commitment to do so," Maynard told WorkCompCentral on Friday.

More than 40% of Los Angeles and Long Beach harbor trucking companies treat their drivers as employees, but action needs to be taken against the approximately 60% who don’t, Potter told AJOT.

Last month, the state Department of Industrial Relations offered to waive civil and administrative penalties to trucking companies that switch truck drivers’ classifications from contractor to employee, WorkCompCentral reported.

As of late May, none of the firms that service the Los Angeles and Long Beach ports had taken the DIR up on that offer, department spokesman Peter Melton said.