Long Beach and Los Angeles Port truck drivers picket the Evergreen Terminal at the Port of Los Angeles Tuesday during a night of picketing. Photos courtesy of International Brotherhood of Teamsters Port Division.
Update | The Los Angeles and Long Beach Port Drivers who have been on strike since Monday continued to strike throughout Tuesday night and picketing is set to expand to downtown Los Angeles Wednesday, the union said.
According to a release issued by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Port Division Wednesday morning, drivers conducted overnight picketing and are scheduled to strike at Union Pacific’s Los Angeles Transportation Center (LATC) at 2:30PM.
The Teamsters said Port terminal operators continued to turn away trucks from the picketed shipping companies throughout the night, and drivers on strike at Pacer Cartage and Harbor Rail Transport (HRT) continue to be “shocked” by parent company XPO Logistics’ $3.5 billion acquisition of a French company yesterday.
Above, left: A father and son picket at the Port of Long Beach’s ITS Terminal Tuesday night.
PREVIOUSLY: Port Truck Driver Strike to Expand to DTLA, Union Announces
04/28/15 4:39PM | The union representing the Long Beach and Los Angeles Port truck drivers, who have been on strike since Monday, announced that picketing will expand to Downtown Los Angeles on Wednesday.
In a statement released Tuesday evening, the Teamsters said truck drivers from Pacer Cartage will be joined by hundreds of employees from Walmart’s Pico Rivera store at Union Pacific’s Los Angeles Transportation Center (LATC) in downtown Los Angeles.
Pacer Cartage hauls containers for Walmart and other retailers and is one of four shipping companies the Port truck drivers are picketing. The other companies include: Intermodal Bridge Transport (IBT), Pacific 9 Transportation (Pac 9), and Harbor Rail Transport (HRT).
XPO Logistics, a parent company that operates Pacer Cartage and HRT, is facing several lawsuits related to employee misclassification, according to the release. Pacer Cartage specializes in moving cargo to rail yards, while HRT specializes in transporting goods from ports.
“There are 280 misclassified drivers working in both companies in their LA area locations and 90 additional drivers in Pacer Cartage’s San Diego location,” the release states.
A separate Teamster release noted that XPO Logistics announced its acquisition of French company 3PL Norbert Dentressangle for $3.5 Billion in cash and debt on Tuesday.
“We are shocked to learn that just as XPO Logistics battles the company’s immigrant port truck drivers in California Superior Court to avoid reimbursing them more than $2 million in illegal deductions stolen by the company’s subsidiary, Pacer Cartage, from their paychecks, the company has gone on what is being called an ‘acquisition spree,'” said Fred Potter, director of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Port Division.
“The timing of the announcement is particularly shocking in light of the fact that Pacer Cartage and Harbor Rail Transport drivers are currently on strike from Los Angeles down to the U.S./Mexico border to protest the company’s illegal business and labor practices,” he said.
This article was updated at 6:32PM EST with information on XPO Logistics’ acquisition of 3PL Norbert Dentressangle.