RE: the JoC Report
Unfortunately, it isn't bullshit, at least in LA/LB. The truckers are being abused, including by longshore workers. I have seen it many times, to my disgust. The truckers have tried to organize, without support from us. They have tried to approach us, to join with us over and over, but we have turned up our noses at them.
Our union is missing the biggest opportunity that has come our way in many years - to organize or help organize tens of thousands of truckers, and seal the harbors up tight. But we act like we are too good for them. This is a failure of union politics that could cost us heavily in the future.
The truckers are like the longshoremen used to be before 1934. An exploited workforce that is forced to shape up and compete with each other, that is at the mercy of the companies, that is disrespected and looked down on by everybody, including union people who should know better.
All they want is what we fought for back then: a hiring hall with a fair dispatch system, payment for the hours they actually work, and a little respect. If we had the internal will to do it, we could make sure that the truckers became unionized, either as part of the ILWU or another union.
Then together we'd have immense leverage. But we seem to be too busy reading the stock market pages and negotiating side deals.....
D. Stock 36057
