Fliers circulate about May 1 trucker strike in Los Angeles

Fliers circulate about May 1 trucker strike in Los Angeles    In response to the U.S. Congress' debate over an overhaul of the nation's immigration policy, an independent trucker group is trying to organize a truck strike in Southern California for May 1.
   Fliers are circulating from the Los Angeles Troquero Collective, which is fighting for truckers' rights but is not supported by trucking companies or the Teamsters officials who are trying to organize port truckers in Los Angeles and Long Beach.
   Most of the truckers who work in the Southern California ports are independent owner-operators and many are immigrants from Latin America. A recent survey of port truckers conducting by the California Trucking Association found that 90 percent of participants preferred to take the survey in Spanish. Some also say the language and cultural barrier facing many harbor draymen is preventing them from securing higher drayage rates.
   In the meantime, the trucking companies who employ the independent draymen can't prevent the drivers from participating, nor discipline them if they do, and the protest could significantly impact the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach if it stretches beyond a day.