Wobblies Ping!
That's the IWW to the youngsters out there.
Posted on 05/01/2006 4:51:58 PM PDT by claudiustg
For the past 20 years port truckers in Los Angeles have been organizing for employee recognition, respect, dignity, and decent wages. Their struggle has past through various ups and downs, but this May 1st might just be the beginning of a new wave or radicalism for Los Angeles port truckers. If all goes as planned LA Harbor, the biggest port on the west coast, will come to a screeching halt on May 1st.
Unlike the common vision of a trucker, an old white man wearing a cowboy hat drinking a big gulp full of coffee, most truckers in LA are Latino, some are women, and most speak Spanish. They call themselves troqueros. They work an average of 60- 80 hours a week, and are often forced to drive under dangerous and illegal conditions. Many of them have histories as organizers or radicals in their home countries. And now they are making history organizing in the U.S.
Troqueros, or owner operators as the trucking companies call them, are denied benefits given to most employees because the companies contend that they are independent contractors and thus not entitled to collective bargaining rights. Trucking companies have also used this loophole to set up dubious insurance scams. Instead of offering insurance plans from private HMOs like most employers do, the trucking industry has been charging truckers high premiums for a company health plan, and then buying a cheaper plan from an HMO, and pocketing the profit. And the money trucking companies are making from this scam is substantial. One company, Pacer, made over three million dollars in a period of ten years with this insurance scam. On top of this, wages for truckers has stayed stagnant for years, and with the cost of diesel rising to almost 3$ a gallon, it is the truckers who are feeling the pinch.
But the tide may be turning for the troqueros. Recently the International Longshoremans Union along with the International Brotherhood of the Teamsters have committed to supply serious time and resources into organizing the 50,000+ truckers in the LA area. The Teamsters have tried before, without much success, but some hope that now with the support of the ILWU, the truckers might have another shot at organizing.
In the end however, the fate of the troqeros lies in their own hands. The Troqueros are organizing themselves, mostly over via two-way and CB radio. If you happened to tune into one of their conversations these days, the radio is filled with talk, in Spanish and English, of the Huegla General the General Strike on May 1st. The planned strike is part of a larger general strike called for in support of immigrant rights, but the truckers are also calling for their own demands including a 25% wage increase.
In Long Beach a small band of truckers and supporters stands across one of the major freight lines with a sign that reads: Huegla General, 1 de Mayo. Trucks pass by with drivers leaning out their windows to see the sign, most raise their thumbs or their fists in support, some honk and smile. The rumor is that truckers in ports across the United States may join the LA truckers in striking on mayday. The extent to which the strike takes hold is yet to be seen, what is certain is that if these truckers and successful, they will do some serious economic damage to the international commerce, and if the truckers are able to successfully organize, either through official union recognition or otherwise, it will be a serious victory for workers in Los Angeles and across the country.
Oh, what a great idea - shut down our ports. Yeah, that's the way to get sympathy for their "rights." Where's the Dubai Ports Company when we need them?
Oh for crying out loud. We have absolutely become a country largely composed of whiners and complainers.
Unions do more to end businesses by threat and bankruptcy than any other thing I can think of.
Fire them and get new people.
We have discovered that many businesses are growing and thriving at our expense. Their interests are in direct conflict with our own. Therefore they should be seen as enemies of US!
The Dubai company was going to use the same people.
Silly goose, you LIVE in California. You KNOW that's illegal there.
(... which is one of the many reasons I lovingly refer to it as the Soviet State... ;) )
That's the IWW to the youngsters out there.
Hire illegal aliens. You know, doing the jobs Americans won't do. /sarcasm
They would show up in stolen trucks.
Are they legal?
Good question, but in this case one wonders if they are imported agitators. These folks were threatening earlier to close down the Port of Los Angeles. It would appear to be the sort of "port security" issue that Homeland Security might concern itself with.
---Many of them have histories as organizers or radicals in their home countries. And now they are making history organizing in the U.S.---
So how did it go, were they shut down? ;)
I don't think so...but the article doesn't say, does it? Then again, that kinda answers the question!
This morning Fox was reporting that the truckers were told that if they struck, their trucks would be towed and impounded for 30 days.
I haven't heard anything since. Maybe they believed them.
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