By Stas Margaronis
Two Southern California owner/ operator harbor truck drivers say they welcome the passage of California’s Assembly Bill 5 which they hope will help pave the way for owner/operator drivers to become employees with better wages, healthcare and job security.
The recent passage of California’s Assembly Bill 5 (AB-5) makes employing owner operators more difficult for companies, such as Uber and Lyft, but its impact on the trucking industry “creates more questions than answers,” according to Weston LaBar, CEO of the Harbor Trucking Association (HTA), representing harbor trucking companies at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland.
The two drivers who identified themselves as Juan and Chem spoke in Spanish interpreted by Kristal Romero, a Teamsters Union communications specialist.
The two men said that they have worked at the Ports of Los Angeles, Long Beach and San Diego for many years with no improvement in their pay.
Chem, who switched over to English, said: “We welcome the passage of AB-5 and we supported it because we want our companies to pay us as employees and make sure we have benefits such as healthcare.”
Chem said that since the passage of AB-5 his company “has started to threaten that they will move out of California and leave us with no jobs. “
He added: “All we want is to be treated just like the law treats everyone else.”
Juan, speaking in Spanish, said that he had been driving for fifteen years and that during that time he had never gotten a raise from the trucking company he works for.
He said delays picking up and delivering containers at the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach terminals have gone down but delays delivering containers at rail intermodal yards have not gotten better.
Since he does not work on an hourly basis as company employees do, Juan said delays in the harbor cost him money since he is not paid on an hourly basis or subject to overtime compensation as he waits in line for a pick up or delivery.
A Teamster official, who spoke on background, said that the passage of AB-5 sets an important first step toward “dealing with the proliferation of companies that are evading taxes and rights and benefits of employees by treating them as independent contractors.”
The official said the most immediate effect of AB-5 is “it begins to address the Gig economy and the employment of drivers by Uber and Lyft as independent contractors when they are truly employees… AB-5 now will make it harder for those companies to avoid making them employees.”
The effect on owner/operator truck drivers in California “is that State Law is now taking the first steps to crack down on companies who are essentially employing people, but avoiding the legal and financial responsibility.”
So, “it’s a good first step and it sends the right signal.”