Port truckers resume strikes due to alleged wage theft

Drivers picketing at a similar strike held this year at Southern California ports.Drivers picketing at a similar strike held this year at Southern California ports.

Some port truckers serving the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach began another work strike Thursday, protesting what they’ve said are retaliatory actions by their carriers and theft of wages.

Drivers for three companies, Green Fleet Systems, Total Transportation Services and Pacific 9 Transportation began the strike Nov. 13, but by the afternoon, drivers for two of the companies had agree to a cooling off period.

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says he is working with the drivers and the carriers to negotiate a return to work.

The strike — the fourth this year — was again organized by the Teamsters’ Justice for Port Drivers.

Work slowed at the ports when trucks representing one of the three fleets approached, but no terminals were closed.

The two ports in Southern California serve about 15,000 trucks a day and several thousand carriers.

California Trucking Association CEO Shawn Yadon noted the strike is the second work stoppage since the International Longshore and Warehouse Union’s West Coast contract expired July 1.

Last June, a study commissioned by the National Retail Federation and National Association of Manufacturers indicated a five-day port shutdown would cost the national economy $9.4 billion and would disrupt 73,000 jobs.

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The companies and the Harbor Trucking Association, a coalition of Los Angeles and Long Beach intermodal carriers, did not have immediate comment.

The American Trucking Associations is seeking hours of service waivers for port truckers at the two ports, which ATA says could help with labor negotiations.

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