L.A. warehouse workers describe horrifying conditions, join strike line

<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9ABiyYePSo1LfZEFLV9K7t6pQBItq27JIffI-S0GNTYFzC88nPWbhBIiNglBsilyvd_5a9ggRIZS0-RJHvEFcaijL-uAtA4_T6aaq9GmZGh3Z0HC2Q9CkWKs2m-eaeQNi9pkb6vt_ym4/s1600/Teamster+warehouse+workers.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir9ABiyYePSo1LfZEFLV9K7t6pQBItq27JIffI-S0GNTYFzC88nPWbhBIiNglBsilyvd_5a9ggRIZS0-RJHvEFcaijL-uAtA4_T6aaq9GmZGh3Z0HC2Q9CkWKs2m-eaeQNi9pkb6vt_ym4/s400/Teamster+warehouse+workers.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Warehouse workers, striking port drivers and Teamsters walk the line yesterday.</td></tr></tbody></table>Workers at two dangerous California warehouses that move <a href="https://www.facebook.com/OURWMT" rel="nofollow">Walmart</a> goods marched with <a href="http://teamster.org/" rel="nofollow">Teamsters</a> and port drivers striking their facility yesterday. The port drivers walked off the job in their fight against payroll fraud and poverty wages, while the warehouse workers joined the picket to protest their horrific working conditions.<br /><br />Our friends at <a href="http://www.warehouseworkersunited.org/lalong-beach-port-warehouse-workers-at-massive-walmart-contracted-facilities-face-daily-danger/" rel="nofollow">Warehouse Workers United</a> tell us about those conditions: workers trapped inside containers, blocked exits, men and women sharing one bathroom and inadequate safety gear. On Friday, the workers filed complaints with  the <a href="http://www.dir.ca.gov/dosh/" rel="nofollow">California Division of Occupational Safety and Health</a>, or Cal/OSHA. On Monday they spoke out. It was the first time non-union warehouse workers exposed working conditions in the port area.<br /><br />The two warehouses are in Carson, Calif. They are Pacer International, Inc., and American Logistics International, Inc. <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/11/port-drivers-who-haul-for-walmart-strike-in-la-with-Teamster-support.html" rel="nofollow">Port drivers, supported by Teamsters</a>, walked off the job at American Logistics International yesterday.<br /><br />According to Warehouse Workers United:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Warehouse workers are told to clean a mysterious oil-like substance, men and women must share a single bathroom and workers are forced to illuminate dark shipping containers with the light on their cell phones at massive Walmart-contracted warehouses near the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles... </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">“We deserve a safe work place where we are treated with dignity and respect,” said Susan Gutierrez , who is a warehouse worker at American Logistics.</blockquote>It was a bad day for Walmart. Not only were port drivers who haul Walmart goods on strike, but it was announced the <a href="http://nlrb.gov/" rel="nofollow">NLRB</a> would prosecute the retailer for retaliating against 117 Walmart strikers, workers walked off the job at Walmarts in Pennsylvania and Ohio and news spread widely about a <a href="http://therealnews.com/t2/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=11039" rel="nofollow">Walmart's food drive for its own employees</a>.<br /><br />Couldn't happen to a nicer company.<br /><br /><br />

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Warehouse workers, striking port drivers and Teamsters walk the line yesterday.Workers at two dangerous California warehouses that move Walmart goods marched with Teamsters and port drivers striking their facility yesterday. The port drivers walked o…

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NJ Gov. Christie: misclassifying workers is okay

<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7hj4QWGaEdz1D-ykDPYklBMpW9eIV_M58eMy2EY41Ejc2Tf0r_uDjACQzz_ZRRPZCjdYkox65doFKNTWokWsxPD6C_k_GXS_wFzLKu2e3NNvpklnto_CZENTTfpHepYKE4l6cC_YP0Dg1/s1600/misclassification.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7hj4QWGaEdz1D-ykDPYklBMpW9eIV_M58eMy2EY41Ejc2Tf0r_uDjACQzz_ZRRPZCjdYkox65doFKNTWokWsxPD6C_k_GXS_wFzLKu2e3NNvpklnto_CZENTTfpHepYKE4l6cC_YP0Dg1/s1600/misclassification.jpg" /></a></div>This week New Jersey Gov. <a href="http://wepartypatriots.com/wp/2013/09/11/gov-christie-delivers-one-two-punch-to-the-gut-of-nj-construction-workers/" rel="nofollow">Chris Christie vetoed a bill</a> that would have helped the state crack down on the misclassification of workers in the trucking industry. <br /><br />By killing the <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/05/woot-nj-senate-approves.html">legislation</a> (A1578/S1450), Christie gave his blessing to employers that deny basic employee rights to port truck drivers and cheat the state out of tax revenues through willful and widespread misclassification.<br /><br />Teamsters International Vice President <a href="http://www.teamster.org/sites/teamster.org/files/91013A1578VetoCoalitionStatementdocs.pdf" rel="nofollow">Fred Potter said in a statement</a>:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Governor Christie has demonstrated time after time that he does not care about New Jersey’s working families. He is leaving New Jersey behind by doing the bidding for law‐breaking trucking companies that willfully misclassify drivers to avoid paying employer taxes and to push the most basic cost of doing business onto the workforce.</blockquote>The problem of misclassification in the trucking industry is <a href="http://nelp.3cdn.net/000beaf922628dfea1_cum6b0fab.pdf" rel="nofollow">well-documented</a>. It's part of an industry-wide effort to keep workers out of the middle class so companies can rake in more profit. But it's also a problem that -- thanks in part to <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/07/teamsters-fight-misclassification.html">Teamster action</a> -- is finally being addressed in many states. The <a href="http://cleanandsafeports.org/new-yorknew-jersey/about-the-campaign/" rel="nofollow">Coalition for Healthy Ports</a> points out:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">Across America, the trucking industry is being modernized as states crack down on the misclassification of truck drivers. A worker misclassification law was recently signed in Illinois and another one is expected to be signed in New York.</blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">And port truck drivers are not waiting for new laws to assert their rights as employees. In California over 500 claims have been filed with the CA Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (CA DLSE) by port truck drivers who say their companies have misclassified them. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">At a time when so many agencies and Legislatures are moving in the right direction on worker misclassification, Governor Christie’s veto is in the wrong direction.</blockquote>Thousands of port truck drivers in the U.S. are wrongly classified as owner-operators. Drivers are often required to buy or lease their own trucks from companies and pay for their upkeep. But they are denied "employee" status despite the fact that the companies control their compensation and regulate their work. This means the workers are not allowed to form a union and the companies avoid paying millions in taxes.<br /><br /><a href="http://www.thenation.com/blog/175424/industry-where-few-workers-are-employees-teamsters-mount-multi-front-attack#" rel="nofollow">Teamsters have been leading</a> the fight for workers' rights and against misclassification in the industry, using lobbying, lawsuits and organizing to bring dignity to drivers. In July, Teamsters successfully organized Toll Group <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/07/woo-hoo-another-teamster-organizing.html">drivers in New Jersey</a> following an historic organizing victory at <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2012/04/woo-hoo-historic-teamster-organizing.html">Toll in Los Angeles</a>. And just a few weeks ago Teamsters organized a <a href="http://teamsternation.blogspot.com/2013/08/la-port-strike-ends-with-return-to-work.html">powerful one-day strike at the Port of LA</a>.<br /><br />But with anti-worker politicians like Christie at the wheel in New Jersey, there's still a lot of work to do to stop the war on workers in port trucking and beyond. <br /><br />Christie also used this week as an opportunity to <a href="http://blogs.wsj.com/metropolis/2013/09/09/chris-christie-no-prevailing-wage-provision-in-tax-incentives-bill/?mod=wsj_streaming_latest-headlines" rel="nofollow">attack workers in the building trades</a> by gutting <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prevailing_wage" rel="nofollow">prevailing wage</a> provisions in the New Jersey Economic Opportunity Act of 2013. That's a blow to construction workers whose employers won't be required to pay prevailing wages even while they receive tax credits from the state.<br /><br />The struggle continues.

Chris Christie misclassification New Jersey port drivers prevailing wage NJ Gov. Christie: misclassifying workers is okay

This week New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie vetoed a bill that would have helped the state crack down on the misclassification of workers in the trucking industry. By killing the legislation (A1578/S1450), Christie gave his blessing to employers that de…

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Port drivers rise up against employer abuse, plan protest

<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNymgtyTl33OOhA1I_nUwZWH6SrOvcFWBIZ09MfrzWUeXt_AGratP-1Csa5tAgARcam_UhsaGgOP-vSKpK4cmy-KnY3kPMjprj_Q87YvFJHPf7vLtQ7ty76PayqX0DH9dQ4Orkv8nL6pTd/s1600/Port+truck+driver+rally.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNymgtyTl33OOhA1I_nUwZWH6SrOvcFWBIZ09MfrzWUeXt_AGratP-1Csa5tAgARcam_UhsaGgOP-vSKpK4cmy-KnY3kPMjprj_Q87YvFJHPf7vLtQ7ty76PayqX0DH9dQ4Orkv8nL6pTd/s320/Port+truck+driver+rally.png" width="240" /></a></td></tr><tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Port driver Jose Luis Alvarado invites<br />you to a rally to demand respect on Tuesday.</td></tr></tbody></table>Truck drivers at the Port of L.A. are holding a large rally on Tuesday to demand respect from their abusive employer, Green Fleet Systems. One of the drivers, Jose Luis Alvarado, invites you to attend:<br /><blockquote class="tr_bq">My name is Jose Luis Alvarado. I am a port truck driver working at Green Fleet Systems. I have been a port truck driver for 13 years serving the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Although the work that is done by me and my coworkers is vital to the American economy, our work often goes unnoticed. Besides the times we might be driving next to you on the freeway, we are mostly invisible. On a daily basis, people buy TVs, toys, and clothes that we haul to warehouses and distribution centers for you and your family. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">Almost no one is aware of the <a href="http://www.forbes.com/pictures/efkk45kifl/no-8-driversales-workers-and-truck-drivers-3/" rel="nofollow">working conditions</a> that we face on a day-to-day basis and how this affects us and our families. We work long hours for little pay. At the end of the day, it’s hard to make ends meet. As the father of 3 children, I am often stressed about being able to pay my bills and provide my children with the opportunities that I never had in Guatemala. Green Fleet Systems offers us a company medical insurance plan, but in order to get coverage for me and my family, I would have to pay $100 a week. There is no way that I can afford it. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">At work, my coworkers and I face constant disrespect from management. We are insulted and screamed at for any small mistake that is committed. No one deserves to be treated this way. We have earned the same rights and treatment that every hardworking American deserves. </blockquote><blockquote class="tr_bq">It is because of the harassment that we are facing as we try to form a union that we are taking action to demand justice at Green Fleet Systems. We demand that Green Fleet Systems management stop retaliating against us as we organize to form our union. We say stop the intimidation! Stop the union busting!</blockquote><i>The rally will be held on Tuesday at 3:30 pm in Carson, Calif., at Green Fleet Systems warehouse, 20500 S. Alameda St.  Read more <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/1395542780671801/" rel="nofollow">here</a></i>.<br /><div><br /></div>

port drivers protest union busting Port drivers rise up against employer abuse, plan protest

Port driver Jose Luis Alvarado invitesyou to a rally to demand respect on Tuesday.Truck drivers at the Port of L.A. are holding a large rally on Tuesday to demand respect from their abusive employer, Green Fleet Systems. One of the drivers, Jose Luis…

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