Port of Charleston drayage truckers vote to unionize

The drivers’ unionization vote is at least the fourth such decision by intermodal company workers in the past 13 months, according to the Teamsters union.    Drivers who work for a logistics company that hauls goods to and from the Port of Charleston in South Carolina have voted to join Teamsters Local 509, the labor union confirmed Dec. 13.
   The 53 drivers transport shipping containers between the port and a railyard in North Charleston for Container Maintenance Corp. (CMC) Logistics.
   The drivers’ unionization vote is at least the fourth such decision by intermodal company workers in the past 13 months.
   On the first of December, 133 workers at ITS ConGlobal in Harvey, Ill., voted to join Teamsters Local 710 in the Chicago area. This past July, 507 workers at Parsec in Elwood, Ill. voted to join Teamsters Local 179. And in November 2016, 777 workers at Parsec, Inc. in Commerce, Calif., voted to join Teamsters Local 986.
   Driver Reggie McQueen, who has worked for CMC Logistics since 2015, said the workers’ desire to unionize grew stronger this past summer after disagreements with management over compensation.
   “The final straw that led us to unite as Teamsters was in August when the company changed our pay from hourly to ‘production,’ and then cut our pay,” McQueen explained. “Now as Teamsters, we can negotiate a pay and benefits package that works for families like mine.”
   CMC has yet to respond to requests for comment, but Fred Potter, director of the Teamsters Port Division, said the division “worked hand in hand with Local 509” to seal the victory, and that it’s ready to “help negotiate a strong first contract to improve these workers’ lives.”
   “We’re all happy because we know we will have a strong voice at work as Teamsters,” said Antoin Jenkins, who has worked at CMC since 2015. “With a strong voice, we can improve things at work.”