Toll’s New Jersey drivers vote to unionize

   Nearly 70 percent of the truck drivers employed by the New Jersey division of Toll Group have voted to form a union and affiliate themselves with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters.
   The final vote, which united 112 drivers under the union, took place on July 17.
   According to a release by the Teamsters Port Division, Australia-based Toll, along with the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, mounted a “surprisingly fierce” opposition to the move. The company allegedly hired a union buster who made threats and kept tabs on employees, according to a filing with the National Labor Relations Board. Toll’s employees in Australia are unionized. 
   “New Jersey Toll drivers refused to buy into the lies and threats that the company told them and voted overwhelmingly to join the Teamsters,” the Teamsters’ Fred Potter said in a statement. “Toll drivers in New Jersey now have the same rights as Toll Group drivers in Los Angeles, who are represented by Teamsters Local 848, and as Australian Toll drivers represented by the Transport Workers Union.” – Jon Ross