http://themilitant.com/2015/7942/794232.html
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Vol. 79/No. 42 November 23, 2015
—ON THE PICKET LINE—
Maggie Trowe, Editor
Militant/Deborah Liatos
California Cartage warehouse workers join picket line of port truckers
on strike at the docks in Long Beach Oct. 29. Warehouse workers were on
their own three-day walkout.
Help the Militant cover labor struggles across the country!
This column is dedicated to giving voice to those engaged in battle and
building solidarity today — including workers fighting for $15 and a
union; locked-out ATI Steelworkers; auto, steel and Verizon workers
whose contracts have expired. I invite those involved in workers’
battles to contact me at 306 W. 37th St., 13th Floor, New York, NY
10018; or (212) 244-4899; or themilitant@xxxxxxx. We’ll work together to
ensure your story is told.
— Maggie Trowe
L.A. port drivers strike again: ‘We’re workers, not owners!’
LOS ANGELES — Truck drivers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach
launched their eighth strike in the last two years demanding port
trucking companies classify them as employees rather than independent
contractors. This would give them the right to join the Teamsters union
and be paid by the hour instead of the load. The median gross annual
wage for independent contractors is just under $29,000, compared with
$39,520 for truck drivers paid hourly.
The five-day strike was initiated Oct. 26 by drivers at Pac 9
Transportation and XPO Logistics.
“This is the third strike at XPO,” driver Manuel Gonzales told the
Militant. “The other two times I stayed home and didn’t work. This time
I’m on the picket line. I want them to see me. They cheat us on the
miles they pay us. We pay for everything. Now is a good time to try for
the union.”
Over the next few days drivers at Intermodal Bridge Transport, warehouse
workers at California Cartage and drivers at Gold Point Transportation
joined the strike. On Oct. 30, the last day of the strike, a press
conference was held outside Los Angeles City Hall to announce the next
steps in the fight. “I would like this wage theft and misclassification
stopped,” said XPO driver Isabel Samayoa. “I want to get what I think we
are all entitled to.”
After winning 113 wage theft claims for $12 million, drivers have filed
with the California Division of Labor Standards Enforcement 14 new
claims against the bosses totaling $3.5 million, with 550 claims still
pending.
A delegation presented more than 27,000 signatures supporting the
drivers to Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti. Drivers also attended a
meeting of the Los Angeles City Council to support a resolution calling
on trucking bosses to “comply with federal and state employment and
labor laws and provide them with the same wage and benefits protections
afforded to all employees in our city.” The resolution passed.
— Bill Arth
California Cartage warehouse workers carry out second strike
LOS ANGELES — Warehouse workers carried out their second strike this
fall against California Cartage, a massive warehouse at the Port of Los
Angeles, Oct. 28-30, with more participation than in their Sept. 22-24
walkout. The strike coincided with that of port truck drivers here at
Los Angeles/Long Beach, the largest port complex in the U.S.
About 500 people work in the Cal Cartage warehouse during busy times.
The company brags on its web page that it is “non-union.”
The warehouse workers demand an end to wage theft, low wages, unsafe
conditions and irregular schedules. Like many workers around the country
they are demanding $15 an hour. They are also suing the company for
millions of dollars of unpaid wages and overtime. The workers are
supported by the Teamsters union and the Warehouse Worker Resource Center.
Teamsters Union International President James Hoffa joined a rally of
drivers and warehouse workers in Long Beach Oct. 27.
“These port terminals are making a killing,” said Steve Hatch, a Cal
Cartage lumper (loader and unloader), warehouseman and forklift driver,
who makes $9 an hour. Hatch knew about the first strike, but didn’t
participate. “As I became more informed then I decided it was really
worthwhile.”
“I got involved because I was tired of struggling to provide for my son
and wife,” said Anthony Vallecillo, who, like most Cal Cartage workers,
was hired through a staffing agency.
— Deborah Liatos
Farmworkers push back union decertification in California
FRESNO, Calif. — Amid ongoing protests by United Farm Workers members,
Agricultural Labor Relations Board Judge Mark Soble ruled Sept. 17 that
Gerawan Farming Inc. and the California Fresh Fruit Association
illegally assisted and funded a 2013 campaign to decertify the UFW.
“We need to continue the struggle, organize protests and pickets at the
company offices,” Juan Juarez, 50, a UFW veteran who has worked at
Gerawan since 2007, told the Militant. “The wage increases and better
conditions are a result of fighting for a union.”
Gerawan Farming, the largest tree fruit grower in California, employs
some 5,000 farmworkers near here.
Gerawan workers voted for the UFW in 1990, but the company refused to
negotiate a contract.
State law permits mediators to impose union contracts when growers
refuse to sign. The growers’ challenge to the law is before the state
Supreme Court.
In 2013, Gerawan refused to implement the labor board-imposed union
contract. Instead, according to the recent ruling that dismissed the
decertification petition, the California Fresh Fruit Association and its
president gave $20,000 to Gerawan employee Silvia Lopez “to support the
decertification effort.” The decision says the company gave Lopez a
“virtual sabbatical” to work only eight hours a week while she organized
collection of signatures for decertification. Bosses “allowed her to
physically block the company entrances” to collect 1,000 signatures
during work hours, with the aid of some crew bosses.
“Those against the union have no worries on the job,” said longtime UFW
member Augustín Garcia. “I was suspended two times this year for wearing
my union hat or T-shirt.” Now the company claims they have no work for him.
Under pressure from the union, Gerawan has raised base wages from $8 to
$11 an hour since 2011.
Gerawan has been hiring many workers through contractors who are paid
less with no benefits. “We are fighting for contract workers to be paid
the same and be covered by the union contract,” Garcia said.
— Ellen Haywood and Gerardo Sánchez
Related articles:
‘$15 and a union’ protests mobilize in over 270 cities
Unions, opponents of cop brutality join actions
Pakistan factory collapses as bosses ignore worker protests
1943 miners’ strikes set example for fight for Black rights
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