BY GEOFF MIRELOWITZ
SEATTLE - Truck drivers who are owner-operators are engaged
in an intensifying battle for union recognition and an hourly
wage on the waterfront here and in the neighboring city of
Tacoma. For some 15 months an effort has been under way to
win port drivers to Teamsters Local 174. The stepped-up fight
follows the example by drivers at the Port of Vancouver,
British Columbia, who walked off the job on July 22.
Owner-operators at the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma voted to shut down on August 17 to demand union recognition. Drivers gathered in front of various trucking firms to talk with other workers about the need for a union. Many other drivers were convinced to "turn off their rigs." This effort has continued.
Seattle and Tacoma together constitute the third largest port system on the West Coast as measured by container volume. The port drivers transport containers between ships at berth and railroad yards and warehouses. They are considered self-employed independent owner-operators. In fact they have little independence. Their situation is similar in some ways to that of working farmers who must bear all the costs of production, while getting whatever price the market assigns to their products. Drivers bear all the expense of purchasing, maintaining, repairing, and running their trucks. They sign leases that bind them to specific companies which tightly direct their work. Only 3 percent have employer- provided health insurance. An AFL-CIO information sheet on the truckers' fight, in fact, describes these workers as "sharecroppers on wheels."
The drivers are paid for each container they transport. Delays caused by long lines at marine terminals and rail yards, traffic jams, equipment breakdown or most any other problem cut into the amount of money each driver can make. The union estimates that drivers average $8.50 an hour once they pay their expenses. Many drivers - who include immigrant workers from Russia, Eritrea, India, Latin America, the Pacific Islands and elsewhere - work long hours to try to make a living.
On August 19 drivers and some supporters gathered across from the Port of Seattle's Terminal 18 for a barbecue and discussion. They then drove to Seattle Freight, a trucking company, where more than 200 people gathered for a rally.
Seattle Freight was chosen as a target because it fired two drivers that week in retaliation for union organizing efforts. Both workers, Diane Hulse and Eugene Pindes, addressed the crowd and captured the fighting determination of the truckers. "I've been down here a long time on the waterfront," said Hulse and now, "I've been asked to go some place else." But, "good things are happening," she said referring to the drivers' fight. "This is just the beginning."
"My story is coming from my heart," said the Russian-born Pindes to cheers from fellow workers. "I'm offering everything that I have," for the union recognition fight.
Also speaking at the rally were national AFL-CIO President John Sweeney and King County Labor Council Executive Secretary Ron Judd. Sweeny reported that Vancouver port drivers who planned to join the Seattle rally were stopped and turned back by U.S. Customs officials at the border.
Drivers discussed the next steps at a gathering August 20 across from Terminal 18. The union has decided to establish "primary pickets" against four trucking companies: United Motor Freight, MacMillan Piper, West Coast Trucking, and Western Ports Trucking. These primary pickets are sanctioned by Teamster Local 174 and are a step beyond the informational picketing that began the week. A majority of workers at these four companies have signed union cards and stopped work.
"The pickets for union recognition will be ambulatory, following trucks," said the newsletter Teamster Port Power. The list of targeted companies "will continue to spread as owner operators build momentum for our campaign for union recognition."
Geoff Mirelowitz is a member of United Transportation Union Local 845.