Los Angeles port truck drivers during a previous strike.
More than 100 port truck drivers in Los Angeles staged a
two-day strike Monday and Tuesday protesting low wages, poor working conditions, and frequent violations of labor law they face:
So far, port drivers in California have filed more than 500 complaints of wage theft related to misclassification, according to the state Department of Industrial Relations. The agency said 32 drivers have won decisions against 13 trucking firms, securing $3.8 million in wages and penalties.
Organizers notched a victory last month when Pacific 9 Transportation, a major trucking company, agreed to post notices acknowledging the workers' right to organize.
Misclassification is
rampant in the trucking industry, and is part of a deep dive in truck driver wages in recent decades:
Since Congress deregulated the industry in the 1980s—when a unionized truck driver made today’s equivalent of $44.83 an hour—about two-thirds of the nation’s 75,000-odd port truck drivers have become independent operators. And now, “independence” has become shorthand for earning less: Owner-operators make an average of $28,000 a year. That’s $7,000 less than employee drivers, who are paid by the hour and typically receive more comprehensive benefits. [...]
The Teamsters argue that many of these “independent contractors” shouldn’t qualify as such at all for the purposes of the Internal Revenue Service. Because most trucking companies don’t allow their drivers to work for other companies at the same time, and largely dictate how the job is done, state courts and labor departments have found scores of cases in recent years where drivers were misclassified as contractors when they really should qualify as employees.
That means companies aren't paying unemployment insurance, workers compensation, or payroll taxes, cheating their workers and the government alike and using those illegal means in an unfair competition with companies that follow the law.