For decades, port truck drivers have been demanding local agencies address wage theft and misclassification of workers at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.
More than 100 construction workers who helped build Browning High School in Long Beach will be paid back wages out of a $1.1 million settlement labor officials recently secured against a contractor accused of cheating workers out of their fair pay, authorities announced Monday.
SB-1402, titled the “Dignity in the Driver’s Seat” bill, would make retailers jointly liable for abuses of port truck drivers if they’re found to have hired a trucking company that is not paying fair wages, has unpaid final judgments due to a wage theft suit, imposes unlawful expenses on its employees and those who misclassify its workers as independent contractors.
After years of port truck drivers asking for the Long Beach City Council to take action against alleged wage-theft occurring at the Port of Long Beach it appears that the council is prepared to start the process of finding a solution.
Port trucking companies operating at the complex shared by Los Angeles and Long Beach are facing legal action after years of allegations that they’ve misclassified workers and forced them into agreements as independent contractors that in some cases have left them owing money on pay day to the companies they work for.
In an early morning press conference at the nation’s capital on Thursday Democratic lawmakers introduced two bills aimed at curbing employment abuse of the nation’s port truck drivers as well as curbing pollution levels.