LA port truckers enter ‘indefinite strike,’ demand to be classified as employees

Updated Jul 24, 2015
Photo from the Teamsters UnionPhoto from the Teamsters Union

Truckers at California’s Pacific 9 have begun what the Teamsters have described as an “indefinite strike” to be classified as employees instead of independent contractors.

They began picketing at 6 a.m. July 21 at company headquarters in Carson. In recent years, the union began demanding that independent contractors at Pac 9 and a handful of other Southern California drayage companies be reclassified as employees. The drivers filed wage and hour claims with the California Department of Labor Standards Enforcement and began suing for wage theft and misclassification.

The Orange County Register reported July 22 that Pac 9 truckers have wage theft claims against the company totaling more than $6 million. California’s labor commission will begin hearing arguments July 27 after a state appeals court overturned a temporary stay on these claims.