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TRUCKERS' TROUBLES - Time for trucker to focus on his family's needs
(Video by Taylor Haney/ATVN -Nov 13, 2014: Truck drivers at the Port of Los Angeles went back on strike today to demand better pay and working conditions) -- Like many workers, Julio Cervantes has a job but isn't an employee... Cervantes, 46, drives a semi-truck around Southern California, picking up cargo at the local ports and delivering it to warehouses and rail yards... Since 2002, he has worked for a series of trucking companies as an independent contractor, which means he lacks many of the benefits and workplace protections of a full-fledged employee... Cervantes was satisfied with that arrangement at first, and he made a nice living. Then changes in the economy and the port trucking business squeezed the Long Beach resident and many of the other estimated 12,000 short-haul drivers at the local ports... With union backing, Cervantes and other drivers have staged short-lived strikes against several Southland trucking firms and filed lawsuits and complaints with state and federal officials contending that the companies were unfairly denying them employee status... Independent contractors became more plentiful in the last several years as employers sought to increase flexibility and cut costs — including employee medical benefits and unemployment insurance taxes — by contracting for services rather than hiring employees... Also more common: employers who incorrectly designate workers as independent contractors whether because of confusion over complex rules or an effort to evade taxes. The Internal Revenue Service has estimated that millions of workers are misclassified as independent contractors, with significant loss of employment taxes... Only about 10% of the local port truckers are direct employees of trucking companies, experts estimate...In the meantime, the couple are optimistic in spite of their rough financial ride... Los Angeles,CAL,USA - The Los Angeles Times, by Ronald D. White -25 Jan 2015
Labels: truckers' troubles
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