California mulls bill to make independent harbour truckers employees

CALIFORNIA Teamsters are backing a state bill to reclassify harbour and intermodal truckers as employees rather than independent contractors because individually they do not have a big enough client base to justify independent status.


The bill, passed 4-1 by the state labour legislative committee, would "deem drayage truck operators to be statutory employees for employment purposes" if passed by the full assembly, where the legislation is now destined.


Such a change is necessary if the Teamsters union is to unionise harbour truckers nationwide, reports Newark's Journal of Commerce adding that drivers at most ports are independent contractors, and cannot be unionised under federal law.


Teamsters, together with other unions, claim that the drivers have been misclassified as independents because they do not control how, when and where they work because they work for the same companies, making them de facto employees.


The Teamsters also appealed to legislators on the grounds that bill AB 950 would open new areas taxation as independents, being self-employed, pay no employment or social security taxes that big trucking firms are obliged pay on behalf of their employees.


Nor are the independents able to access workers compensation, say Teamsters; nor are they covered by occupational safety and health laws and have no protection against companies that pay them in cases of retaliation or discrimination, say the bill's proponents.


Independent truckers have shown no desire to have such benefits. The Port of Los Angeles' ban on independent truckers is being challenged in court by the American Trucking Associations, which claims that the port's edict unconstitutionally usurps federal powers that governs interstate commerce.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)