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Elks Lodge Arson Suspect Arrested p. 3 Phillip 66 Chickens Out on Wilmington Meeting on Oil Spill p. 3
City Councilman Joe Buscaino, flanked by fire department officials at a press conference at the San Pedro Elks Lodge on Apirl 29, announced the arrest of the suspected arson. Photo by Bob Favro.
Brouwjeri West at Crafted to open January 2015 p. 11
Port truckers, backed by labor rights group Change to Win, strike against goods movement companies April 28 and 29. Photo by Robin Doyno
III. A plan for integrating a liaison between labor and the Harbor Department vendors. However, the vast majority of the agenda item focus was on the first point, guided by a report prepared by Bronner Group LLC. Its recommendations were all along the lines of bureaucratic restructuring to do things that any thoughtful citizen
By Terelle Jerricks, Managing Editor otal Transportation Services driver Dennis Martinez was clear about his reasons for striking against his company on April 28 and 29 at the Ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles terminal entrances. His employer is picking Martinez’s pocket and that of other drivers, and he’s not going to take it anymore. Retailers such as Target, JCrew, Polo Ralph Lauren, Skechers and Home Depot contract goods movement companies such as Total Transportation Services, Green Fleet and Pacific 9 to haul their imports from the ports to their warehouses. Martinez, a husband and father of four, experienced first hand some of the ways goods movement companies pick their worker’s pockets. In November 2013, Martinez was involved in an accident that put his truck out of commission for five weeks. Initially, Martinez was told he couldn’t use another truck. But at some point the company changed their policy. Their revisions allowed drivers to rent a truck from the company or from another driver with the company. Drivers renting a truck from TTSI would have to pay $600 per week on top of all the expenses related to fuel and upkeep. “Not only did I have to pay the rental cost, I had to pay the towing fees and the repair cost [of the truck damaged in the accident],” Martinez said. Martinez earns $30 for a single load to a local destination and $50 per for long distance loads. He runs, on average, six loads a day. However the number of loads he can transport decreases dramatically if there’s a slow down at the ports preventing him from picking and leaving with load on time. When Martinez went back to work Jan. 24, the company began deducting between $300 and $325 from his paycheck every week. That’s on top of the fuel cost. On a good week, Martinez earns $700 after expenses are paid.
Labor in Limbo/ to p. 6
Port Truckers Protest Green Fleet/ to p. 7
T
Gives Them an Earful
By Paul Rosenberg, Senior Editor
May 2 - 15, 2014
On April 21, the Los Angeles City Council Committee on Trade, Commerce and Tourism, chaired by Tom Labonge, had a special meeting at the Port of Los Angeles Headquarters in San Pedro. The prime reason for their presence was to consider POLA’s report in response to the TraPac Terminal budget fiasco. The council had charged POLA to
respond on three points: I. Specific procedural changes that will be made to rectify the issues raised in the reporting of this program to ensure that such issues do not recur. II. A study on the impacts of container terminal automation, specifically on the impacts on the port, workforce, community, etc.; and a cost-benefit analysis that takes into consideration the competitive challenges facing the port.
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Trapac Followup Still Leaves Labor in Limbo City Council Committee Meets In San Pedro, ILWU 13 President
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