This was only the beginning. This week all port truck drivers will shut down. Los Angeles will follow suit.





Truckers shut down CXS railyard

at Charleston SC!

Truckers in Charleston, SC on sat morning picketed outside

the csx rail yard which is on the main north/south corridor (where

Amtrak comes through yard to new York/Florida) ..



There was only going to be around fifteen to show up trying to disrupt the last min weekend rush to move several hundred rail loads before the Monday shutdown.

Instead - over seventy truckers showed up at 6:00 am in the moring & caused not only the union crew in the yard not to work but the engineers refused to move trains, causing backup with the freight, passenger, & intermodal services..



The four trucking companies that came into the yard expecting to move over two hundred loads couldn't move out but 16 loads, and many of the truckers coming to pick up loads even parked there trucks refusing to work joining the crowd of protesters which by then had police & camera news teams lining the streets.

It's going to be a powerful statement here in the east!

Please provide more infomation on this story.

The truckers in question are considered "owner operators" because they own their trucks. The problem is, they are not treated as such, and are treated more like employees by the company, but not given any employee rights or benefits.

It's not dissimilar to the issue of Microserfs, or temp workers at Microsoft who'd been working there for years. Likewise, a lot of other high tech workers find themselves in this situation, where they do the same work and same hours (or more) than regular employees, but are not eligible for benefits, severance, overtime, etc.

These truckers basically net around minimum wage, after all the expenses are paid for -- truck maintenance, payments, insurance, etc.

Now, with rising fuel prices, the truckers need to raise their rates, but, the companies that contract with them are not (or were not) wiling to pay higher rates. Actually, they did get a big victory a few weeks back, with a rate increase. So, they did win. I'm not sure why they're striking again. It may be to demand more.

Anyway, this feels like it was a long time coming. If you have people working near minimum wage, and constantly getting screwed over by big companies with more leverage, it causes people to unionize. Even if they are the kind of people who'd normally *resist* collective action -- and if you think about it, these guys who go independent are precisely the kind of people who'd resist it.

Peacenicks should get out and support and represent for the left.

For more see:

www.etrucker.com/apps/news/article.asp?id=44263