House reps unveil federal port driver protection legislation

The Clean Ports Act and Port Drivers’ Bill of Rights were introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Reps. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., and Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., respectively.    U.S. House Reps. Grace Napolitano, D-Calif., and Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., on Oct. 26 announced legislation they say would ensure that truck drivers who haul goods to and from ports around the country would be provided with rights and protections that would prevent them from being exploited by the companies for which they work.
   The two legislators, joined by port truck drivers from the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach, and New Jersey, as well as representatives from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and other supporters, held at a press conference at the U.S. Capitol House Triangle in Washington, D.C. to announce two new pieces of legislation, the Clean Ports Act of 2017 and the Port Drivers’ Bill of Rights.
   The Clean Ports Act, introduced by Nadler, aims to improve air quality for the estimated 87 million Americans who live and work in port regions, while Napolitano’s Port Drivers’ Bill of Rights addresses the problem of low wages and poor working conditions for the nation’s port truckers.
   The Clean Ports Act of 2017 aims to loosen federal restrictions that bar cities from regulating port trucking companies, while the Drivers’ Bill of Rights would legalize basic work standards for drayage truckers, including coverage by federal, state and local labor and employment laws; coverage under workplace safety and health laws; and freedom from “exploitative truck lease or rental arrangements,” the lawmakers said.
   Also included is the freedom to organize and join a union, something that the Teamsters have long championed for drivers.
   Among those who came to support the legislation was Rep. Alan Lowenthal, D-Calif., who represents Long Beach and parts of the surrounding areas.
   “In my community we hear story after story of drivers who work two shifts, sometime three shifts, only to go home with pennies,” Lowenthal said. “And we hear about drivers coerced to drive well past the legal limit by trucking companies who know that those drivers can’t afford to turn back work.
   “These bills will take these abuses head on,” he continued. “They’ll ensure the basic rights for port drayage drivers and they will make it clean once and for all that port authorities can regulate truck operations as part of their efforts to curb emissions or address congestion. This is a common sense solution.”
   Also in attendance was Rep. Nanette Diaz Barragán, D-Calif., who represents the San Pedro area, which includes the Port of Los Angeles.
   “This has been on ongoing issue year after year,” she said of the problems between the truckers and companies they work for. “The injustice happening to our truck drivers is something that we just can’t let stand,” Barragán said. “We have to stand together and do something.”
   “This is a personal issue for me. My cousin is a truck driver,” she remarked. “I remember seeing him come home and look at his [wage] statements and try to figure out why he got so little money at the end of the week.”
   The Teamsters for years have organized short-term strikes at the Los Angeles-Long Beach seaport complex to protest what they and some drivers say is wage theft being committed by trucking company owners who hire drivers as independent owner-operators rather than employees.
   Although the companies have repeatedly stated that most of their workers prefer to be their own bosses, the periodic strikes that the Teamsters have organized at the ports, including the most recent one in June, show that not all drivers prefer the non-employee business model.
   Teamsters International Vice President Fred Potter said during Thursday morning’s Capitol press conference and rally that more pressure should fall on local politicians.
   “The mayors of Long Beach and LA have failed to take action,” Potter said. “We believe that they should take a page out of the book of these Representatives and stand up for these workers. Ban the lawbreakers, protect the workers from wage and hour theft.”
   Nick Weiner, the director of the Justice for Port Truck Drivers campaign and a spokesman for the Teamsters Local 48, also called for municipal political leaders to do their part.
   “We’ve been appealing to the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach because the ports are controlled by the cities and we think local elected leaders need to step up and make sure that law breaking companies aren’t doing business at the port,” he said.
   Nadler also called for political pressure, but his aim was focused on his Congressional colleagues, as well as the White House.
   “We’re going to see now,” he said. “We’re going to give an opportunity to the President and to the majority in Congress which talks about how they’re for working people, to show whether they are or not.”