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Jul 28, 2016

TRUCKERS' STRIKE * Colombia: Demanding an increase in cargo prices

* Bogota - Striking truckers clash with police in 
--- Truckers have clashed with police in Colombia's capital as part of a strike now in its sixth week.. The demonstrators took control of a street Wednesday with the intention of disrupting Independence Day festivities underway in downtown Bogota. They burned tires and threw rocks before being dispersed by riot police... Truckers went on strike last month demanding an increase in cargo prices. One person died in clashes earlier this month... 
(Photo: Colombia truckers' strike) -- Bogota, Colombia - The Associated Press/The Trucker (USA) - 25 July 2016

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Jul 19, 2016

TRUCKING JOBS DISRUPTION * USA: By hiring practices

* NY-NJ - Port truckers prepare for potential disruption from hiring protest

--- Truckers that service the Port of New York and New Jersey are preparing for possible congestion and delays Monday tied to a planned protest on longshore hiring practices... A New Jersey judge Friday outlined a strategy for the Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, in which part of the port sits, to move ahead with a planned protest at what the mayor sees as the lack of local and diverse hiring at the port... An Essex County Judge ordered officials from Newark and the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey to “engage in good faith negotiations” to come up with a plan that complies with port authority permitting rules for a Monday morning motorcade through the port led by the mayor, according to a draft of the judge’s order provided to JOC.com by the City of Newark... A release from Baraka that came out Friday morning promoting the motorcade event said the gathering would demand “that the International Longshoremen’s Association end discriminatory practices in hiring,” and added that the protest would go ahead “despite efforts by the Port Authority to prevent the protest” ... 
(Credit: Port Driver - Truckers fear that regular truck lines into the NY-NJ port, such as the one pictured, will become worse because of a protest against hiring practices at the port)  --  Newark, NJ, USA - JOC, by Hugh R. Morley - Jul 17, 2016

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TRUCKERS' STRIKE & PROTESTS * Colombia: Too much foreign commercial vehicles

* Bogota - Why Colombia’s truckers are angry

--- For the 13th time in 15 years, Colombia’s truckers went on strike. This time, things have gone violent. Because, according to the protesters, the government has allowed multinational transport companies to flood the country with trucks... The abundance of foreign trucks has virtually eliminated tens of thousands of local truckers’ ability to make a living they way they were able to before... Large transport companies would be able to cover losses for an extended period of time, but individual truckers can not and they are afraid they are purposely being run out of business by the multinationals... According to the truckers, the Transport Ministry even illegally granted 50,000 trucking licenses to befriended companies... The truckers are additionally angry that the government has consistently raised fuel prices when crude oil prices went up, but is refusing to lower gas prices now that crude oil is low... According to the striking truckers, clauses in a controversial free trade agreement with the United States are at the root of what they consider the “monopolization of the economy” ... 
 Bogota, Colombia - Colombia Reports, by Adriaan Alsema - July 17, 2016

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Jun 24, 2016

STRIKE * India: Transporters to stop loading automobiles

* Gurgaon - Protest against ban on oversized trucks

--- District transporters have decided to go on strike starting from June 27 after they failed to get a relief from chief minister on Saturday. The transporters will not carry goods from four automobile companies from Friday. This is in retaliation to transport department's refusal to issue fitness certificates to over sized vehicles... The four companies included Hero MotoCorp Limited, Honda Motor Company, Honda Motorcycle and Scooter India private limited and Suzuki Motorcycle India. The transporters will not load goods for these companies in order to protest against the decision to not give them an extension for fitness certificates... Out of around 15,000 heavy vehicles in Gurgaon, more than a 10,000 have been off road as they do not have a fitness certificate. The Regional Transport Authority (RTA) stopped renewing certificates to the trucks who had altered their body from January 7 this year. Overloading in trucks had become a major concern for RTA and toll agencies as it leads to revenue loss to state Exchequer... The issue of oversizing of trucks was raised in 2015 and at that time the state government had given the transporters a year's time for the necessary changes... 
(Photo from Wikipedia)   --  Gurgaon, India - TNN, by Chetna Choudhry - 20 June 2016

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Jun 10, 2016

TRUCKER'S PROTEST USA: * Florida: Unfair business - ** New Jersey: Teamsters' efforts to organize truck drivers

* Florida - Truck drivers protest along Okeechobee Road, block traffic
--- Truckers lined up along a busy Hialeah Gardens roadway once again, Wednesday afternoon, to protest what they call unfair business practices... Police were forced to shut down Okeechobee Road in Hialeah Gardens as truckers and their families protested. They said they were upset over pay, high fees and government regulations... “The brokers are staying with most of the money,” said Belcys Lopez. “It’s not fair, we’re asking for the government to make regulations for the payment of the miles” ... “We are tired of working for low pay,” said Amarilys Gonzalez, “we’re the one’s who provide your food, your clothes” ... 
 Hialeah Gardens, FLA, USA - WSVN - JUNE 7, 2016


* New Jersey - Trucking Industry, Unions clash over driver classification in

--- Port trucking companies back an Assembly bill that would make it easier to hire drivers as contractors. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters wants drivers classified as employees... The trucking industry has won a round in an ongoing bout with labor unions over whether truck drivers at the East Coast’s busiest port are employees or independent contractors... The New Jersey Assembly had been considering legislation that would have forced port trucking companies to use mainly employee drivers, and raised penalties for improperly hiring contractors. However, the Assembly’s transportation committee last month merged that bill with an industry-friendly measure that would keep the penalties but broaden the definition of independent drivers to include most port truckers... The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, are leading efforts to organize drivers who haul loads from the docks to nearby rail yards and warehouses at the nation’s ports, including the 7,000 truckers operating at the busy terminals around New York Harbor. Employee classification has emerged as a key front, as most port drivers operate as independent contractors, who cannot be unionized... The union-backed bill endorsed a standard that would classify more drivers as employees, and called for stricter enforcement of wage and benefit violations. For example, drivers who own their trucks would still be employees - and able to unionize - if they drove for companies that specified what time shipments needed to be picked up... 
(Photo by BRYAN ANSELM/THE WSJ - Unions want truck drivers that move cargo between docks and rail yards, such as this one at Port Newark, to be classified as employees rather than independent contractors) -- Newark, NJ, USA - The WSJ, by ROBBIE WHELAN - June 8, 2016

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Jun 2, 2016

TRUCKERS' PROTEST FOR FIRING * USA: And for calls of wage theft, misclassification

* California - Teamster Officials announce support of port drivers amid more strikes

-- A truck driver planned to launch a strike Tuesday afternoon following what he claimed was his illegal firing last week from a Chinese port trucking company that ships cargo on and off the Los Angeles-Long Beach Port Complex... According to the Justice for Port Truck Drivers group, Eddie Osoy—the sole provider for his wife and three children—was fired by Intermodal Bridge Transport, a subsidiary of the Chinese government-owned COSCO Group after he and his co-workers filed two class action lawsuits involving wage theft and misclassification... The International Brotherhood of Teamsters claimed the company fired Osoy, a lead union activist, in retaliation to his union activities and for providing testimony to the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), which charged that misclassification is a violation of the National Labor Relations Ac. They also allege the company harassed and humiliated Osoy by having security guards escort him in retaliation to his union activities. In addition, the union group said the company threatened to fire pro-union drivers and to close the company rather than accept unionization, in addition to alleging directed pro-union employees to leave the company, according to the release... An IBT representative could not be reached for comment Tuesday afternoon... 
(Photo: Port container truck drivers protest)  --  Long Beach, CAL, USA - The Long Beach Post, by STEPHANIE RIVERA - May 31 2016

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May 24, 2016

STRIKE: DIESEL SHORTAGE * France - BLOCKAGES IN REFINERIES

* Paris - The situation is "deteriorating at breakneck speed"

--- Last night, six of the eight French refineries were shut down, affected by actions within the sites against Bill El Khomri, as reported AFP Emmanuel Lepine, the oil branch of CGT. Only two Esso refineries continue to operate, at Fos-sur-Mer and Notre-Dame-de-Gravenchon, with shipments disrupted by events outside the site... Among the refineries Total, three of them suffer "shutdown of some units" located in Gonfreville l'Orcher, Donges and Feyzin. The site Grandpuits is not stopped. However, it decided to extend the strike for 72 hours while "preventing any release of oil products", on road or pipeline... The radius of the fuel depots, five hundred units on that account the Hexagon continued to be totally blocked yesterday. Of the 12,000 service stations of the Hexagon, 1500 were in partial or total disruption of fuel. Almost 50% of AS24 network stations are affected... According FNTR, TL and Unostra, the situation is "deteriorating at breakneck speed", with an estimated margin of maneuver, by region, 24, 48 or even 72 hours... On Sunday, Prime Minister, Manuel Valls, imitated by Alain Vidal, Secretary of State for Transport, has brandished the threat of the police. Several interventions CRS ​​and gendarmes were held to unlock fuel deposits. This was the case with the release of the oil depot Vern-sur-Seiche... In Normandy, the situation is still tense yesterday for transport companies... According to the executive, the most sensitive to the consequences MRTs are mainly connected to the lack of activity on the port of Le Havre, because of its blocking by dockers and "Road". Philippe Bonneau believes that the participation of road strikers can only be the result of union activists... According to various government statements, the country would have comfortable stocks that should help ensure supply in case of prolonged paralysis refineries. It is, in this case, refers to the 90 days of "strategic reserves" as well as national commercial stocks available from the operators (30 days)... Paris, France - WK Transport et Logistique, by Slimane Boukezzoula - 24 May 2016

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May 23, 2016

TRUCKERS' STRIKE * France - Strategic sites blocking

* El Khomri law: the strike of truck drivers extends


---  Highway drivers went into action on May 16 evening, the call federations transport unions Force Ouvrière, CGT and Sud. Everywhere in France, site blockages occur in the form of filter dams or snail operations... The truck drivers were the first to action this week in socially responsible. From 22 am, Monday, May 16, 2016, the first transactions took place. The movement extended to Tuesday, May 17 throughout France... Access to most ports in mainland France was and remains impossible. This is particularly the case in Le Havre, the main access point to the great Asian import products. Joint action by dockers and lorry drivers. This is also the case in the port of Montoir-de-Bretagne near Saint-Nazaire, and on the Bouguenais port terminal (44). "All ports in the country have had to stop working," said a representative of the CGT... The movement of road also takes place in the form of "strategic" site blockings, as is the case on the Total platform Donges (44), snail operations or filter dams . The ring road of Bordeaux, Nantes, Caen, Dunkirk, Lorient, Marseille and Calais were among the most frequently cited targets. Snail operations with distribution of leaflets were taking place in parallel, on the A1, in the direction Lille / Paris and the A26 in the direction Calais / Reims. CGT activists sealed the permanence of a deputy-was learned, also, source of AFP... Force Ouvriere and the CGT, with late support South, oppose the perspective offered by the Labour Law of the road haulage companies to get the overtime pay of 25% / 50% to 10% . "For a driver who is 200 hours per month is 1300 euros less on the payroll," said Jerome Truth (CGT) told AFP... The word strike call for drivers is renewable. Currently, shares of blockages do not concern Paris and Ile-de-France... This threatens to spread the movement to other transport categories (funds, ambulances ...) if the government turned a deaf ear... If they are not heard, the strikers transport unions pose the threat of new shares during the Euro football which starts in France on June 10. "We will touch on the economy," says Patrice Clos... 
(Photo by Sylvie Mugular: The truck drivers are to turn their voice against the El Khomri law) -- Paris, France -  WK Transport et Logistique, by Slimane Boukezzoula - 17 May 2016

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Feb 3, 2016

STRIKE * New Jersey Ports, by members of the International Longshoremen’s Association

* New Jersey - Workers walk off job at N.J. ports

-- Workers at New Jersey’s ports walked off the job suddenly Friday morning, plunging logistics companies and truckers that use the ports into delays, just three days after the ports reopened following last weekend’s blizzard... The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey said Friday night that operations would resume, and the International Longshoremen’s Association told its members to return to work as it continues to discuss their concerns... The New York Shipping Association, which represents terminal operators, ocean carriers and other marine-related businesses, said it was unclear why members of the Longshoremen’s Association stopped work after 10 a.m. at the four terminals in New Jersey and the two in New York... Sources said the stoppage could be tied to a dispute between the ILA and the Waterfront Commission of New York Harbor, a bi-state body that investigates corruption and hiring practices among dockworkers... James McNamara, a spokesman for the ILA, could not be reached for comment. He told Bloomberg News that the workers told him they walked off because of interference by the Waterfront Commission in the collective bargaining agreement between the ILA and the New York Shipping Association. Specifically, they complained of being “harassed” by the commission and “being subjected to drug tests” ... 
(Photo by VIOREL FLORESCU - Union members gather at the entrance of the Red Hook Terminals at Port Newark in support of workers who walked off the job Friday morning)  --  New Jersey Port, NJ, USA - THE RECORD, by HUGH R. MORLEY and PAUL BERGER - JANUARY 29, 2016

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Jan 8, 2016

TRUCKERS' STRIKE & PROTEST * India

* Goa - Bicholim mining company, truckers’ talks failure leads to clashes between workers, agitators

-- Tension prevailed at Pilgao-Sarmanas junction in Bicholim on Tuesday when truckers attempted to block mining trucks that were being plied by the Sesa Goa mining workers themselves following failure of talks between the mining company and the trucker owners, over the rate issue... Following the failure of talks, Sesa Goa company decided to ply their own trucks with their own staff, which infuriated the agitators belonging to Bicholim Taluka Truck Owners Association, who laid on the road as well as under the trucks to prevent the mining trucks from plying. A scuffle took place between the two groups and ten persons including six company workers and four truckers got injured. Later, complaints and counter complaints were filed by the truck owners and the company officials... 
Sankhali, Goa, India - Goa News - January 6, 2016

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Dec 15, 2015

TRUCKERS STRIKE: a REVOLUTION DELAYED * Russia: Trucks revolt, postponed again.

* Moscow - Activist Leonid Volkov: “In fact, right now, as we speak, the long-haul truck drivers are blocking the beltway” around

  (Video by euronews - Dec 3, 2015: Russian truck drivers are continuing to protest over a government plan to "introduce new road tolls" that they say will put them out of business)

-- On Friday afternoon, I was speaking with the anti-Putin organizer and anti-corruption activist Leonid Volkov. He was predicting the regime’s impending collapse when he glanced at his iPhone and said, “In fact, right now, as we speak, the long-haul truck drivers are blocking the beltway” around Moscow. The protest had been awaited for weeks, and it was expected to be big, possibly historic... Russian long-haul truck drivers had been staging smaller protests since at least the middle of last month, demanding the repeal of a new road tax that went into effect Nov. 15. The tax, ostensibly designed to compensate the state for the damage heavy vehicles cause to roads, amounts to 1.53 rubles (less than 3 cents) per kilometer until March 1, and 3.06 rubles (almost 5 cents) thereafter. At current exchange rates, come March, a Moscow-Novosibirsk run would cost about $150 in taxes, or roughly as much as a driver would be paid for the same distance... To add insult to financial injury, truck owners are required to install a tracking payment-processing system called Platon (an acronym for “payment for tonnage” that sounds just like the way Russians pronounce the name of the Greek philosopher), made by a company that belongs to Igor Rotenberg, the son of one of President Vladimir Putin’s lifelong friends and closest associates... The new tax is widely perceived as nothing more than a conduit for corruption. In this country of long distances and import-dependent economy, there are nearly two million long-haul trucks. Their drivers and operators have the power and the equipment to make the Russian economy slow down and its road traffic come to a standstill... With the beltway closed to them, the drivers could still blockade Moscow by clogging the dozen or so highways that lead to it. They have the numbers to do this. But they may lack the level of organization and trust necessary to carry off such a complicated protest. Even if they overcome those obstacles, state-controlled media will likely continue to ignore them, allowing Mr. Putin to continue ignoring them as well. And if it’s not televised, the protest will not be a revolution... 
Moscow, Russia - The New York Times, by Masha Gessen - Dec. 7, 2015

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Oct 2, 2015

STRIKE UAW MEMBERS? * USA: Rejected tentative contract with Fiat Chrysler

* Michigan - UAW-FCA deal appears headed for defeat

-- For the first time in 33 years, it appears that United Auto Workers rank-and-file with Chrysler have defied leadership’s recommendation and rejected a tentative contract with the automaker... Large majorities of workers voting against the deal at Toledo Assembly and Sterling Heights Assembly on Tuesday seem to have mathematically sealed the deal’s fate; at least seven large local UAW chapters representing between 1,000 and 6,000 hourly workers have had majorities vote against the contract. Only a handful of locals are known to have had more than 50 percent of workers support the deal... The rejection by United Auto Workers members of a tentative contract with Fiat Chrysler for the first time in a generation is pushing leaders of both sides down an unpredictable road that doesn’t guarantee a better deal for the union’s 40,000 members... Although the union had not released a final tally of national voting numbers late Wednesday, an overwhelming rejection of the contract by Belvidere Assembly workers cemented its defeat, according to an analysis of results by The Detroit News... A return to the bargaining table could mean contentious talks between the same negotiating committees that had been able to reach the initial deal. The rejection could lead to union strike actions. Fiat Chrysler could threaten to move production of future cars and trucks outside the United States if the UAW is unwilling to bend... 
(Photo: David Coates / The Detroit News - Protestors outside UAW Solidarity House in Detroit on Wednesday 9.23.15. Protestors picket outside the UAW Solidarity House) -- Auburn Hills, MICH, USA - The Detroit News, by Michael Wayland - September 30, 2015

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Sep 26, 2015

STRIKES * USA: Drivers & Workers at California Ports

* California - Truckers misclassified as independent contractors 
(Photo: Protester drivers block the traffic in Carson)
 -- As they await a ruling from the California Labor Commissioner on their wage and hour claims totaling in excess of $6 million, on Tuesday, Sept. 12, port drivers from Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9), who say they have been misclassified as independent contractors, have entered their 11th week on strike, according to the Teamsters Port Division. They plan to continue picketing at the company’s Carson-based yard and conduct “ambulatory picketing” at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach and at customers’ warehouses and distribution center, threatening to further exacerbate persistent congestion at America’s largest port complex.- 


* California - Workers demanding dignity 

(Photo: Port Labor Truckers protest)
-- Workers at a major warehouse at the Port of Los Angeles that serves Amazon, Lowe’s and other major retailers will strike tomorrow, according to the Warehouse Worker Resource Center. The group declares that workers are on a campaign demanding dignity, good wages, health and safety, and “an end to wage theft at the warehouse, operated by California Cartage on Port of Los Angeles property.” The workers are employed by – or contracted to – California Cartage, a division of the California Cartage Company family of companies, which is also a major port trucking company serving the nation’s largest port complex. Beginning this morning, workers planned to walk off the job at California Cartage and begin picketing at the rear entrance of California Cartage, at intersection of W. Willow Street and Middle Road, Long Beach, California... 

Los Angeles, CAL, USA - Fleet Owner - 22 Sept 2015

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Aug 5, 2015

STRIKE AGAIN * USA: At Los Angeles and Long Beach Ports

* California - Port truckers going on strike


-- The workers accused their bosses at Pacific 9 Transportation – one of several companies that haul cargo from the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, to shipping warehouses and major retail distribution centers – of misclassifying them as independent contractors instead of employees, thereby depriving them of benefits and higher pay... The picket lines, scheduled to go up around the company’s truck yard and port terminals at 6 a.m. Tuesday, will mark the sixth strike against the company in almost two years, Teamsters Union spokeswoman Barbara Maynard said... The union reported change has become apparent in some companies such as Shippers Transport Express and Eco Flow Transportation have converted to an employee model. Pacific 9 did not respond to requests for comment... Representatives from area trucking companies, however, have said that most truck drivers want to remain independent for the flexibility and the ability to own their own small businesses... 
(Image of a 2007 Teamsters gathering via Wikimedia Commons)  --  Los Angeles, CAL, USA - Rapid News Network, by ANGEL WALLACE - August 3, 2015

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Jul 2, 2015

TRUCKERS' TROUBLES AT BORDER * France & UK - Prisoners of the Calais mob: Three days delays in France as more than 3,400 lorries stuck in Kent

* Calais / Kent - Travellers on both sides of the channel faced serious delays due to the striking workers and migrants attempting to enter Europe


(Photo: Chaos: Around 3,400 truckers are stuck on a 23-mile stretch of the M20 in Kent which has been closed due to the French ferry strike) 
-- British lorry drivers endured a third day trapped in their cabs as migrants and strikers ran riot in Calais... In scenes haulage bosses described as ‘absolute mayhem’, the stranded truckers were yesterday forced to beg for food and water in 100F heat. One said: ‘There are no shops, no toilets, you can’t even leave your windows open in case a migrant gets in’ ... Another said his lorry had moved just 500 yards in two days. Huge traffic jams stretched almost 50 miles from Calais and Dunkirk to near the Belgian border...

(Photo: Trucker Stricken drivers, Stuart Simpson, 63, from Dartford has been stuck in the queue for the Eurotunnel in Calais for two days, and Gary Chandler -right-, 48, from Eastbourne, pictured holding supplies of food and water) 
... Gary Chandler, 48, from Eastbourne, also became stuck in the gridlock on Tuesday. The father of three said he had travelled just 500 yards in two days and was nearly out of water... The authorities in Kent handed out 2,000 bottles of water provided by Tesco and 750 snack meals on Tuesday, and another 5,000 bottles and 200 meals yesterday... Help has also been provided by the Red Cross and portable toilets have been set up along the closed stretch of the M20 where the lorries are waiting in ‘Operation Stack’... The operation is designed to allow lorries trying to make the crossing to queue... 

(Photo: Migrants check the trailer of a stationary truck during an attempt to make a crossing to England) 
... With lorries and cars gridlocked for 10 miles on the approaches into Calais, hundreds of migrants again tried to break into vehicles heading for England. Migrants crowded around lorries could be seen working together distracting drivers so others could sneak on board, while others pelted journalists and photographers with stones... A Eurotunnel spokesman said there were ‘migrants everywhere’ and that they had moved from attacking trucks to trying to access the terminal directly...
(Photo: A general view of the empty harbour of Calais. Police have warned that the Port of Calais will remain closed until Thursday)
... MyFerryLink was previously owned by Eurotunnel, the company that operates the undersea cross-Channel rail link... Eurotunnel chief executive Jacques Gounon was due to meet French Economy Minister Emmanuel Macron on Friday, Mr Vercoutre added... Eurotunnel announced in May it was halting its operational partnership with MyFerryLink due to legal complications, and this month decided to sell its ferries to DFDS... The Danish ferry operator has said it plans to provide work for only 202 of the current 600 MyFerryLink workers... 
 Calais, France / Kent, UK - The Daily Mail, by ROSIE TAYLOR & and LYDIA WILLGRESS / JENNY STANTON for Mail On Line - 1 July 2015

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Jun 27, 2015

* USA - TRUCKERS PROTEST at Port of New Orleans

* Louisiana - Truckers protest for changes at 

  (Video from WDSU News - Jun 22, 2015: Dozens of local truck drivers protested on Monday saying they have finally had enough of being forced to transport damaged goods that come into the New Orleans port on ships from overseas) 
-- Dozens of local truck drivers protested on Monday saying they have finally had enough of being forced to transport damaged goods that come into the New Orleans port on ships from overseas... It's a problem they say has been going on since just after Hurricane Katrina. They say instead of there being an area dedicated to handling these damaged boxes near the unloading zone, they have to carry the boxes to a separate location for inspection -- then off to a third location for storage... Darrell Williams says each time, this is process that takes several hours that they are not paid for. He says that’s forcing them to lose $200 or $300 a day... Williams says that last week they met with representatives from Ports of America, the New Orleans Terminal, the Port of New Orleans and some of the companies they work for -- but he says nothing was resolved...

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May 1, 2015

TRUCKERS' STRIKE * USA: ... and picketing

* California - Striking L.A. port truck drivers take picket line to rail yard

-- Striking port truckers seeking recognition as employees rather than as independent contractors for their companies picketed a rail yard on Wednesday as they called again on the mayors of Los Angeles and Long Beach to weigh in on drivers' behalf... Hundreds of drivers launched a strike on Monday against four trucking firms they accuse of defying federal and state labor enforcement decisions and a court ruling that found the truckers had been victims of wage theft through misclassification... Many truckers end up earning less than minimum wage due to company paycheck deductions for truck-leasing charges and other costs that can leave a typical driver short-changed by $60,000 a year, according to Teamsters union officials backing the strike... The four companies - Pacific 9 Transportation, Intermodal Bridge Transport, Pacer Cartage, and Pacer sister firm Harbor Rail Transport - are among the largest drayage operators doing business in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach... Those companies represent fewer than 500 of 13,600 trucks registered to haul cargo in and out of the harbor complex... But the dispute's outcome has implications for hundreds of companies and thousands of truckers serving the twin ports, which rank as the nation's two busiest and together handle 43 percent of all containerized cargo entering the United States... Picketing in the truckers strike has been confined mainly to truck and rail yards outside the ports, with little or no cargo disruptions reported so far... 
 (Photo from the Teamsters)  --  Los Angeles, CAL, USA - Reuters, by STEVE GORMAN / Eric Walsh - Apr 29, 2015

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Mar 3, 2015

TRUCKERS PROTST * Brazil

* Sao Paulo - Strike truckers grows, creating shortages

-- Weeklong protests by Brazilian truckers demanding lower fuel and toll prices have spread, causing shortages of gasoline and other products... Truckers began their protest on Feb.18 by blocking a highway in the soybean-producing state of Mato Grosso. The movement quickly spread and on Wednesday they were blocking highways and other roads, mostly in the agriculturally rich south, southeast and central-western parts of Brazil... Truck drivers are also protesting low freight prices and are demanding that freight costs be based on the distances trucks travel to deliver goods. Freight costs are currently determined by tonnage... Government officials, union leaders and representatives of transportation companies were scheduled to meet to discuss the drivers' demands...  Sao Paulo, SP, Brazil  -THE ASSOCIATED PRESS- FEB 26, 2015

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Feb 26, 2015

STRIKE * Brazil: Trucker Protest Widens to More States

* Curitiba - Truckers press the government to cut the diesel tax
 -- Protests by truckers denouncing higher taxes on diesel fuel and low incomes spread to at least six states in Brazil over the weekend and on Monday, causing concern over potential disruptions to the flow of soybeans to ports as the country’s soy harvest is nearing its peak... Truckers blocked some highways in the states of Mato Grosso, Mato Grosso do Sul, Goias, Minas Gerais, Santa Catarina and Parana on Monday, according to Brazil’s Federal Highway Police. Most of the states are big producers of soybeans... Truckers demanded that the government cut the tax on diesel fuel, which the federal government increased by 0.15 real a liter on Feb. 1. They said costs have risen too quickly, and their incomes haven’t kept up... Transport groups met with representatives of the Mato Grosso state government Friday to discuss possible solutions, and the local truckers appeared satisfied with the result... Police said the blockades have backed up traffic for miles, even with passenger vehicles allowed to go through...  (PHOTO: REUTERS - Federal police talk with protesting truck drivers on a highway in Curitiba, Brazil, on Monday) - Sao Paulo,SP,Brazil -Reuters, by JEFFREY T. LEWIS & Jacob Bunge -Feb. 23, 2015


* Sao Paulo - Brazil's main port of Santos reopened on truck strike's 8th day

 -- Brazilian police on Wednesday dispersed striking truckers to reopen access to the country's main port of Santos but the protesters' stoppage still gripped a broad swathe of the nation where most farming and industry are concentrated... Highway operator Ecovias said via Twitter that the protest on the main Anchieta highway leading to Santos, had ended and all lanes were clear... Santos police forced truckers to clear the highway but said they were maintaining a strong presence on the road for fear that protesters planned to return Wednesday afternoon... Brazilian truck drivers have been blocking roads for eight days, in protest over high fuel and toll prices, poor road quality and changes to rules governing drivers. The protests have interrupted supplies of diesel and raw materials across the country and threatened to hold up grains exports at ports during a record harvest... Rota do Oeste, the company that runs the main highway in Brazil's leading soybean state of Mato Grosso where the trucker protest started on Feb. 18, said trucks continue parked along the shoulders in several cities of the state on Wednesday... The threat has had little effect however, as the protest spread into more than 10 of Brazil's 26 states, though some roads that were totally blocked by more aggressive strikers have been opened to the flow of traffic... Trucks breaking the strike and driving through protest points are still potential targets of vandals in the grain belt... (Photo: Truckers block access to Brazil's port of Santos) Santos,SP,Brazil -Reuters (UK), by Asher Levine, Reese Ewing, Marcelo Teixeira & Alison Williams, W. Simon -Feb 25, 2015

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Feb 23, 2015

TRUCKERS' STRIKE & PROTEST * Brazil

* Mato Grosso - Blockade halts Brazilian grain trucks
-- Truck drivers protesting high diesel prices in Brazil used road blocks to restrict the flow of soy, corn and other commodities in a key grain-growing region for a third day on Friday, threatening what is expected to be a record harvest... A group of transport companies and independent truck drivers are blocking the flow of goods on the main highway and other major roads in Mato Grosso, a center-west state that is Brazil's top producer of soybeans and a major source of corn and livestock... The protest began on Wednesday as truckers parked on the shoulders of highway BR 163 in two of the state's towns but quickly spread to include the towns of Nova Mutum, Lucas do Rio Verde, Sorriso and Sinop, said Rota do Oeste, the road operator for the highway in Mato Grosso... Truckers and transport companies are scheduled to talk with officials of the state government later on Friday... (Photo: A Brazilian transport for livestock truck) - Cuiabá,MG,Brazil -Maritime Executive -20 Feb 2015

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