A group of port truck drivers who haul goods to and from the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles plan to launch a labor strike on Monday, Oct. 1, a representative for the Teamsters said Wednesday, Sept. 26.
“We’re here to put you on notice that we’re fed up and we’re going on strike,” Preston Richie, a business representative for Teamsters Local 848 told the Port of Long Beach Harbor Commission during its meeting this week. “We’re preparing picket signs as we speak.”
The strike, Richie told the five-member commission, is meant to protest the “fraudulent” misclassification of workers as independent contractors, instead of as employees, by the trucking companies they work for.
Truckers classified as contractors are not eligible for a minimum wage, or fringe benefits such as health insurance or holiday pay.
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