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TEAMSTERS vs. ATA * USA - Pro Union Groups Mislead Public About Port Trucking
In a blast of six press releases today from various union and pro-union sources, backers of the Teamsters' effort to change federal law in order to organize port drayage truck drivers are severely misleading the public and encouraging the waste of taxpayers' funds to help organize unions
Arlington,VA,USA-PRNewswire/USNewswire/SOA World Magazine -Oct. 1, 2009: ... The press releases contain blatant falsehoods about the Clean Trucks Program in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and the American Trucking Associations' (ATA) support of those programs. The ATA has supported the Clean Trucks Program in both ports and its members have helped the ports replace older trucks with newer, cleaner trucks at a rate that is well ahead of schedule. Both programs are successes in their current forms, yet neither port has enforced the restrictive concession plan requirements that the U.S. Court of Appeals declared illegal last March. The releases falsely suggest that the Clean Truck Programs cannot succeed without those concession plan requirements in place... One of the releases praises the findings of the Port of Oakland's economic impact analysis by the firm Beacon Economics, which says, "The majority of truckers serving the Port are independent owner-operators who do not wish to become employee drivers." The analysis also says, "IOO and employee driver earnings are comparable, and significantly higher than non-drayage truck driver earnings". If the port is successful in banning independent businesses from port drayage, "costs of regulatory compliance combined with an employee driver requirement would raise drayage rates by up to 53 percent". That conclusion contradicts one press release's claim that a pro-union plan would make the ports more competitive... Unfazed by the fact that clean air is not related to a driver's employment status, the unions and environmental group supporters are asking Congress to change federal transportation law to effectively nullify the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision and the federal law that protects motor carriers, shippers and consumers from unnecessary and costly state and local regulations. The unions are willing to disrupt national transportation policy, undermine thousands of small businesses and place millions of dollars of unnecessary cost on freight transportation, just to allow them to better advance their organizing goals...* Port trucker wins court fight over driver misclassification
Los Angeles,CAL,USA -Refrigerated Transporter -Oct 1, 2009: -- Trucking companies in the Port of Los Angeles won a court victory recently against the state of California, and Attorney General, Jerry Brown, to force them to stop using independent contractor drivers to dray containers in California’s ports and to use employee drivers instead... In a civil action filed in Superior Court by the attorney general against Pac Anchor Transportation Inc and truck owner Alfredo Barajas, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge, Elizabeth Allen White, held that a federal law, which protects motor carriers from state regulation, pre-empts claims against motor carriers brought under California’s Unfair Competition Law (UCL)... The federal law, part of the Federal Aviation Administration Authorization Act (FAAAA), prohibits states from enacting and enforcing laws “related to” motor carrier prices, routes, or services in order to maximize competitive forces in the trucking industry. White agreed with the “very strong” argument that claims against motor carriers under the UCL are pre-empted per se under the FAAAA... White held that the attorney general’s case, which was based on the allegation that the defendants had improperly classified drivers as independent contractors rather than employees, would have a significant effect on motor carrier prices, routes, and services and was therefore pre-empted under the FAAAA. White found that the attorney general’s actions threatened to erect entry controls that would discourage independent contractor drivers from participating in the trucking market, thereby frustrating Congress’ intent to maximize competitive forces in the trucking industry...Labels: Clean Truck Program debate
posted by Unknown @ 5:53 AM
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