The Teamsters union on Friday led independent drivers in rallies at container ports across the nation.
As has been the case in recent weeks, the rallies were peaceful and did not disrupt cargo-handling operations.
The drivers, most of whom are owner-operators, are attempting to draw national attention to their demands for higher wages, fuel surcharges, improved working conditions and the right to belong to a labor union.
“I think the maritime industry is a powder keg. Ports are sitting on a public relations nightmare,” said Ron Carver, Teamsters spokesman in New York.
Carver warned that fatal accidents could result if drivers are not paid enough to maintain their vehicles.
Drivers have seen a sharp drop in their bottom line due to the surge in diesel fuel prices, especially in the Northeast.
Juan Rodriguez, a leader of New Jersey drivers, said the price had gone from $1.15 to $1.85 a gallon in one week.
The neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach experienced their first Teamsters rally Friday. Drivers and local Teamsters leaders marched to the Port of Los Angeles offices and presented a port representative with the Port Truckers Bill of Rights, a document the union is distributing at seaports across the country.
The drivers then drove in a convoy to the Port of Long Beach to present the bill of rights to that port. They were scheduled Friday afternoon to drive about 25 miles in a truck convoy to Los Angeles City Hall to seek support from the city council.
In the rally at the Port of Los Angeles, the Teamsters said they plan to continue pressing their demands on shipping lines, trucking companies and marine terminal operators until the bill of rights becomes policy at the Southern California port complex.
“We have evidence to show that these drivers are being exploited,” said Ed Burke, coordinator of the Teamsters West Coast port division. Burke asked the port commission to pass a resolution in support of the drivers’ efforts.
Bruce Seaton, chief operating officer at the Port of Los Angeles, accepted the bill of rights and told the drivers he would pass their request on to the harbor commission. If the commission takes up the issue, it will require at least two weeks to place the item on its agenda.
Teamster-led drivers also rallied Friday at the Port of Seattle. The union’s drive to organize harbor truck drivers actually began last summer in Seattle-Tacoma. At that time, Local 174 drew up a bill of rights which formed the basis of the national document, said Steve Williamson, staff director at the Teamsters local.
Williamson noted that steamship lines and terminal operators responded to the drivers’ demands last summer by increasing the rates they pay for harbor drayage and keeping their terminal gates open longer. However, in order to make these gains permanent, the drivers are pushing for recognition as a union, he said.
Independent drivers who demonstrated two weeks ago in Jacksonville, Fla. , Savannah, Ga. , Charleston, S. C. , and Baltimore resumed their rallies Friday in line with the national Teamsters effort.
“We’re going to do whatever it takes. We’re starving here – literally,” said owner-operator Tony Fernandez in Jacksonville.
In New Jersey, close to 200 drivers assembled at Liberty State Park in Jersey City, where they were greeted by Rep. Robert Menendez, D-N. J.
Menendez has encouraged the Clinton administration to release oil from theStrategic Petroleum Reserve, investigate price gouging, and put pressure on OPEC to lift their supply restrictions.
“There’s a crisis for those who make their living hauling the goods and commodities that make the rest of our lives better,” saidMenendez. “The government should be willing to help truck drivers just like it helps farmers when a drought or flood hits, and small business owners when a hurricane or tornado strikes.”
The New Jersey drivers – most of whom are immigrants – planned to proceed in a convoy up the New Jersey Turnpike, across the George Washington Bridge and down Broadway to the World Trade Center, headquarters of the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey. But some drivers decided not to go because of a winter storm in the area, while others were unable to stay in the convoy because local New York City police officials did not want a convoy of trucks driving through their area in snow, sleet and freezing rain.
In the end, only one truck made it to the Trade Center, where they were greeted by Myron Roniss, general manager of port planning, acting on behalf of the vacationing port commerce director, Lillian Borrone.
Carver and Rodriguez presented Ronis with a copy of the drivers’ bill of rights. Carver noted that cooperation between the Teamsters and the port authority, as well as terminal operators and ship lines, had enabled the port to avoid the chaos that has afflicted the Port of Miami over the past two weeks.
Importers and exporters have had great difficulty moving containers in and out of the Florida port.
Carver spoke briefly about the drivers’ grievances, including the fines they get if they’re hauling overweight containers or if the chassis does not meet highway standards.
Carver also urged the port authority to use its influence with steamship lines to pay drivers the fuel surcharge.
Ronis pledged to present a copy of the bill of rights to Robert Boyle, the agency’s executive director, but declined to take a position on the surcharge issue. “That’s really between the truckers and the operators,” he said.
Speaking later, Carver said he thought that port authorities could use their influence with ship lines to get them to pay the surcharge. In some cases, he noted, the carriers may be paying a surcharge to the trucking companies, but the companies may not be passing it on to the drivers.
In Baltimore, Bill Dickens, president of United Container Haulers, said they had a convoy of 70-75 trucks. Police blocked off the streets as they drove to Baltimore’s World Trade Center, where they met with port director Jim White.
“We had a good conversation about what’s going on,” Dickens said.
