LOS ANGELES, August 19, 2006 -The City of Los Angeles has issued 9 Franchise Contracts to taxi companies which allow them to work LAX. These companies have permission to use about 3,000 drivers. Most are poor immigrants from a variety of countries, such as Iran, Russia, Congo, Pakistan, etc. The companies have banded together and have invented a non-standard workplace with characteristics that have been institutionalized and accepted as the "standard" and which the workers have fatalistically believed was their reality.
Full Story: IWW Victory for Taxi Drivers at LA Airport
LOS ANGELES, May 1, 2006 – Troqueros one day strike shut down 90% of the operations of the Port of Los Angeles on Monday. On any given week day up to 12,000 truckers are working at the port. On Monday, May 1 the ports looked empty. At the main gates to the port at the intersection of Figueroa and Harry Bridges normally 1000’s of trucks are coming in and out of the gates, on Monday at about 10:30 am one LA-IMC reporter saw no trucks.
A rally for the Troqueros was held in nearby Banning Park on the Pacific Coast Highway. Troqueros at the rally said that on a typical workday one could expect to see hundreds of trucks rolling by on the highway every hour. In one hour less than10 trucks were counted. AUDIO: Troqueros Huelga – Truckers Strike Reports from the newswire: Report back: Troqueros May Day strike shuts down port | | As Immigrants Strike, Truckers Shut Down Nation's Largest Port