Drayage drivers to escalate picketing against Pac 9

Truck drivers in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach seeking to be recognized as employees have struck Pacific 9 Transportation six times in the past two years, and the current strike has been ongoing for 10 weeks.    The Teamsters said Monday morning drayage drivers on strike against Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9) have begun to “escalate” picketing against the company.
   The drivers, who want to be recognized as employees instead of independent contractors, have struck the company six times in the past two years and the current strike has been ongoing for 10 weeks.
   But a spokesman for the Teamster-affiliated group Justice for Port Truck Drivers, Barb Maynard, said some of the strikers were among 38 drivers for Pac 9 who testified in back-to-back hearings at the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE) over the past six weeks. Maynard said drivers have been “picking up work wherever they can.”
   With the drivers now awaiting a decision from the DLSE, Maynard said they will ramp-up picketing this morning at the Pac 9 truck yard in Carson, where they will be joined periodically by drivers from other companies including Shippers Transport Express and Eco Flo Transportation, both of which have recently unionized. She said no picketing was planned at marine terminals on Monday.
   Maynard said the back-to-back hearings before the DLSE were unusual and that workers gave evidence of “$6 million in unlawful deductions, unreimbursed expenses, and unpaid meal and rest break premiums.” No ruling has been made, but if the workers are successful, she said the company could also be subject to liquidated damages, interest, and waiting time penalties amounting to $2 million.
   American Shipper was unable to get an immediate comment from Pac 9.