Tune in tonight and support port drivers
Labor Desk
April 01, 2009
If you live in the Los Angeles, area, tune in to Channel 34 at 5 pm tonight to watch Primer Impacto, Univision´s award-winning national news program. The segment, an investigative report on the dangerous conditions port drivers face, reveals daily life for this mostly immigrant workforce, and their fight to unite together in the Teamsters and win a shot at the American Dream. Don´t speak Spanish? You can still help port workers who are being retaliated against for wanting to form a union right now.
Four port drivers were fired in February simply for wanting a voice on the job. Their employer, Swift Transportation, is a national trucking firm that does business at Southern California Ports that now faces an unfair labor practice charge. Without the Employee Free Choice Act, this process could languish in the National Labor Relations Board for months, while Bismark Sanchez Jr., Anthony Herron, Marco Diaz, and Salvador Gonzalez remain out of work and unable to keep food on the table for their families.
Will you tell Swift CEO Jerry Moyes that it is unjust to fire these port workers -- the backbone of our economy -- for speaking out against workplace injustices?
Nearly 17,000 mostly immigrant port drivers keep our economy moving each day at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Most are victims of an exploitive, highly-polluting industry that has used a loophole in the law for decades to misclassify them as independent contractors. This tactic – which has been the subject of a California Attorney General crackdown – allows trucking companies to skirt work rules and safety regulations, and deny the drivers basic rights including access to health care, retirement benefits, worker compensation.
It´s time to stand up for fairness and against the deregulation that has allowed this industry to use a scheme to squeeze every bit of profit on the backs of hard-working drivers. Join local elected leaders like LA City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, community residents, clergy, other union members and the Teamsters who are standing with the Swift drivers. Send an email to CEO Jerry Moyes right now and don´t forget to tune in to Univision on Channel 34 tonight at 5 pm.
Four port drivers were fired in February simply for wanting a voice on the job. Their employer, Swift Transportation, is a national trucking firm that does business at Southern California Ports that now faces an unfair labor practice charge. Without the Employee Free Choice Act, this process could languish in the National Labor Relations Board for months, while Bismark Sanchez Jr., Anthony Herron, Marco Diaz, and Salvador Gonzalez remain out of work and unable to keep food on the table for their families.
Will you tell Swift CEO Jerry Moyes that it is unjust to fire these port workers -- the backbone of our economy -- for speaking out against workplace injustices?
Nearly 17,000 mostly immigrant port drivers keep our economy moving each day at the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. Most are victims of an exploitive, highly-polluting industry that has used a loophole in the law for decades to misclassify them as independent contractors. This tactic – which has been the subject of a California Attorney General crackdown – allows trucking companies to skirt work rules and safety regulations, and deny the drivers basic rights including access to health care, retirement benefits, worker compensation.
It´s time to stand up for fairness and against the deregulation that has allowed this industry to use a scheme to squeeze every bit of profit on the backs of hard-working drivers. Join local elected leaders like LA City Councilwoman Janice Hahn, community residents, clergy, other union members and the Teamsters who are standing with the Swift drivers. Send an email to CEO Jerry Moyes right now and don´t forget to tune in to Univision on Channel 34 tonight at 5 pm.
Print
Email
