Vol. 79/No. 42      November 23, 2015

 

—ON THE PICKET LINE—

Maggie Trowe, Editor

Militant/Deborah Liatos

California Cartage warehouse workers join picket line of port truckers on strike at the docks in Long Beach Oct. 29. Warehouse workers were on their own three-day walkout.
 

Help the Militant cover labor struggles across the country!
This column is dedicated to giving voice to those engaged in battle and building solidarity today — including workers fighting for $15 and a union; locked-out ATI Steelworkers; auto, steel and Verizon workers whose contracts have expired. I invite those involved in workers’ battles to contact me at 306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor, New York, NY 10018; or (212) 244-4899; or themilitant@mac.com. We’ll work together to ensure your story is told.

— Maggie Trowe

 
 
 

L.A. port drivers strike again: ‘We’re workers, not owners!’

LOS ANGELES — Truck drivers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach launched their eighth strike in the last two years demanding port trucking companies classify them as employees rather than independent contractors. This would give them the right to join the Teamsters union and be paid by the hour instead of the load. The median gross annual wage for independent contractors is just under $29,000, compared with $39,520 for truck drivers paid hourly.

The five-day strike was initiated Oct. 26 by drivers at Pac 9 Transportation and XPO Logistics.

“This is the third strike at XPO,” driver Manuel Gonzales told the Militant. “The other two times I stayed home and didn’t work. This time I’m on the picket line. I want them to see me. They cheat us on the miles they pay us. We pay for everything. Now is a good time to try for the union.”

Over the next few days drivers at Intermodal Bridge Transport, warehouse workers at California Cartage and drivers at Gold Point Transportation joined the strike. On Oct. 30, the last day of the strike, a press conference was held outside Los Angeles City Hall to announce the next steps in the fight. “I would like this wage theft and misclassification stopped,” said XPO driver Isabel Samayoa. “I want to get what I think we are all entitled to.”

After winning 113 wage theft claims for $12 million, drivers have filed with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement 14 new claims against the bosses totaling $3.5 million, with 550 claims still pending.

A delegation presented more than 27,000 signatures supporting the drivers to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Drivers also attended a meeting of the Los Angeles City Council to support a resolution calling on trucking bosses to “comply with federal and state employment and labor laws and provide them with the same wage and benefits protections afforded to all employees in our city.” The resolution passed.

— Bill Arth

California Cartage warehouse workers carry out second strike

LOS ANGELES — Warehouse workers carried out their second strike this fall against California Cartage, a massive warehouse at the Port of Los Angeles, Oct. 28-30, with more participation than in their Sept. 22-24 walkout. The strike coincided with that of port truck drivers here at Los Angeles/Long Beach, the largest port complex in the U.S.

About 500 people work in the Cal Cartage warehouse during busy times. The company brags on its web page that it is “non-union.”

The warehouse workers demand an end to wage theft, low wages, unsafe conditions and irregular schedules. Like many workers around the country they are demanding $15 an hour. They are also suing the company for millions of dollars of unpaid wages and overtime. The workers are supported by the Teamsters union and the Warehouse Worker Resource Center.

Teamsters Union International President James Hoffa joined a rally of drivers and warehouse workers in Long Beach Oct. 27.

“These port terminals are making a killing,” said Steve Hatch, a Cal Cartage lumper (loader and unloader), warehouseman and forklift driver, who makes $9 an hour. Hatch knew about the first strike, but didn’t participate. “As I became more informed then I decided it was really worthwhile.”

“I got involved because I was tired of struggling to provide for my son and wife,” said Anthony Vallecillo, who, like most Cal Cartage workers, was hired through a staffing agency.

— Deborah Liatos

Farmworkers push back union decertification in California

FRESNO, Calif. — Amid ongoing protests by United Farm Workers members, Agricultural Labor Relations Board Judge Mark Soble ruled Sept. 17 that Gerawan Farming Inc. and the California Fresh Fruit Association illegally assisted and funded a 2013 campaign to decertify the UFW.

“We need to continue the struggle, organize protests and pickets at the company offices,” Juan Juarez, 50, a UFW veteran who has worked at Gerawan since 2007, told the Militant. “The wage increases and better conditions are a result of fighting for a union.”

Gerawan Farming, the largest tree fruit grower in California, employs some 5,000 farmworkers near here.

Gerawan workers voted for the UFW in 1990, but the company refused to negotiate a contract.

State law permits mediators to impose union contracts when growers refuse to sign. The growers’ challenge to the law is before the state Supreme Court.

In 2013, Gerawan refused to implement the labor board-imposed union contract. Instead, according to the recent ruling that dismissed the decertification petition, the California Fresh Fruit Association and its president gave $20,000 to Gerawan employee Silvia Lopez “to support the decertification effort.” The decision says the company gave Lopez a “virtual sabbatical” to work only eight hours a week while she organized collection of signatures for decertification. Bosses “allowed her to physically block the company entrances” to collect 1,000 signatures during work hours, with the aid of some crew bosses.

“Those against the union have no worries on the job,” said longtime UFW member Augustín Garcia. “I was suspended two times this year for wearing my union hat or T-shirt.” Now the company claims they have no work for him.

Under pressure from the union, Gerawan has raised base wages from $8 to $11 an hour since 2011.

Gerawan has been hiring many workers through contractors who are paid less with no benefits. “We are fighting for contract workers to be paid the same and be covered by the union contract,” Garcia said.

— Ellen Haywood and Gerardo Sánchez


 
 
Related articles:
‘$15 and a union’ protests mobilize in over 270 cities
Unions, opponents of cop brutality join actions
Pakistan factory collapses as bosses ignore worker protests
1943 miners’ strikes set example for fight for Black rights
 
 
 
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