{"id":9019,"date":"2019-12-24T02:35:45","date_gmt":"2019-12-24T10:35:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/teamsters848.local\/?p=9019"},"modified":"2020-11-06T05:19:07","modified_gmt":"2020-11-06T13:19:07","slug":"70-employee-port-truck-drivers-fired-told-get-your-own-truck-and-come-back-to-work-as-an-independent-contractor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/teamsters848.org\/70-employee-port-truck-drivers-fired-told-get-your-own-truck-and-come-back-to-work-as-an-independent-contractor\/","title":{"rendered":"70 Employee Port Truck Drivers Fired; Told \u2018Get Your Own Truck\u2019 and Come Back to Work as An Independent Contractor"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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70 Employee Port Truck Drivers Fired; Told \u2018Get Your Own Truck\u2019 and Come Back to Work as An Independent Contractor<\/h1>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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PORTS OF LOS ANGELES\/LONG BEACH, CA\u00a0\u2013 In direct and flagrant violation of\u00a0California’s Assembly Bill 5<\/a>, which unequivocally makes it illegal to misclassify California\u2019s truck drivers as \u2018independent contractors,\u2019 multi-billion dollar logistics company\u00a0Universal Logistics Holdings<\/a> has fired up to 70 employee port and intermodal drivers in at least three subsidiaries \u2013\u00a0Universal Intermodal Services, Universal Truckload Services, and Roadrunner Intermodal Services. Drivers report that the company told them\u00a0that if they buy their own trucks then they can come back to work as independent contractors.<\/div>
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Universal\u2019s morally reprehensible action happens just weeks after 28 employee drivers at Universal Intermodal voted overwhelmingly to be represented by Long Beach-based Teamsters Local 848<\/a>, all of which have now been fired. It appears they are being replaced by misclassified independent contractors,\u00a0in flagrant violation of federal labor laws.\u00a0Further, under Section 6 of California\u2019s Assembly Bill 5<\/a> (AB5), \u201cNo provision of this measure shall permit an employer to reclassify an individual who was an employee on January 1, 2019, to an independent contractor due to this measure\u2019s enactment.\u201d\u00a0<\/div>
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Tyler Ross, an employee driver at Universal Truckload, said, \u201cI was let go just like that. It\u2019s heartbreaking. I don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to pay my rent; times are tough. This is really hard for me.\u201d\u00a0<\/div>
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Saul Zuniga, an employee driver at Universal Intermodal and new member of Teamsters Local 848, said, \u201cThey let us go right after we voted to form our union. It\u2019s Christmas and we had plans. Now we\u2019re not going to have enough money for the rent, let alone Christmas presents for our children. This is incredibly sad for us.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0<\/div>
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Willie Davis, an employee driver at Universal\u2019s Roadrunner subsidiary said, \u201cI don\u2019t know how I\u2019m going to make ends meet. It\u2019s Christmas and we\u2019ve been absolutely blindsided. I don\u2019t know why they would just let us go like this a few days before Christmas. It\u2019s cruel.\u201d\u00a0<\/div>
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\u201cUniversal Logistics Holdings is the poster child for misclassification in California and across the United States and now they have doubled down on a business model that the State of California has clearly banned,\u201d said Fred Potter, Vice President of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters and Director of the Teamsters Port Division. \u201cOur hearts go out to the drivers that were unlawfully fired just before Christmas and the Teamsters will not stop until this company complies with the law and these drivers \u2013 and their families \u2013 get justice.\u201d<\/div>
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\u201cThe drivers at Universal Intermodal are the newest members of Teamsters Local 848 and we are family. An injury to Universal drivers is an injury to all and we will take strong legal action, hold Universal\u2019s customers like\u00a0Home Depot, Target, and TJ Maxx\u00a0accountable, and take the fight to the streets to protect our Sisters and Brothers,\u201d said Eric Tate, Secretary-Treasurer, Teamsters Local 848.<\/div>
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Contributions to the Port Driver Hardship Fund can be made to Labor Community Services and mailed to:<\/div>
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Los Angeles County Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO<\/div>
2130 W. James M. Wood Blvd.<\/div>
Los Angeles, CA 90006<\/div>
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Background<\/strong><\/div>
Universal Logistics Holdings (ULH) has nearly $1.5 Billion in operating revenue and has recently purchased several trucking companies around the country, including\u00a0Roadrunner Intermodal Service<\/a>s<\/a> and drayage companies operating out of the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. One of these companies, Deco Logistics, which was formerly known as and still does business as\u00a0Container Connection of Southern Californi<\/a>a<\/a> (CCSC), is one of the largest drayage companies at the ports.\u00a0<\/div>
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Universal\u2019s Container Connection has one of the most extensive records of misclassification-related claims and findings of violations at the ports. Since 2013, CCSC has faced at least six labor and employment-related lawsuits in California Superior Court. In one of these lawsuits, a judge issued a final judgment in 2016 ordering CCSC to pay 11 truck drivers over $2.2 million in damages resulting from their misclassification as independent contractors. One of these lawsuits includes claims for wrongful termination and race discrimination and is still pending. The remaining lawsuits appear to have been settled, and in the cases where there were final judgments, they appear to have been satisfied after years of collections efforts.\u00a0<\/div>
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The resolution of these cases only addressed past violations; if the underlying misclassification and wage theft continues \u2013 which it certainly appears to be continuing \u2013 then CCSC would continue to be in violation of employment laws and still open to future such claims.<\/div>
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