Post by Charlestonguy on Oct 14, 2008 9:29:35 GMT -5
Activists Jam Oakland Meet To Push L.A.-Style Truck Plan
10/12/2008
Now that the truck concession programs at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have completed their first week with no major glitches, the focus by labor and environmental activists is heading north.
Labor leaders, environmental and community activists, and unhappy truckers packed the Port of Oakland Board meeting last week to demand that Oakland follow the Southland's lead and adopt a Clean Trucks Program to protect public health and driver safety. Two dozen speakers from the Coalition of Clean and Safe Ports lambasted port officials for dragging their feet for two years and failing to adopt a comprehensive truck management program.
Oakland's position has been to wait and see what happens in Southern California before committing to any specific action.
The coalition wants the board to require trucking companies that do business at the Port of Oakland to enter into concession agreements. The port could then require the companies to hire independent truckers as employees and provide incentives and bond money for them to purchase a fleet of clean new trucks.
That would basically be the Port of Los Angeles concession plan, first conceived of and pushed by the Teamsters as one prong of their nationwide effort to unionize port truckers.
An employer-employee model would address a myriad of problems on the Oakland waterfront, including pollution, labor disputes, port security, driver safety, and keeping big rigs off residential streets, said Chuck Mack, director of the Teamsters' port division and secretary general of Teamsters Local 7 in Oakland.
Clean and Safe Ports Coalition Director Doug Block and Mack downplayed concerns by port officials that Oakland would lose business to the Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma if it adopts a clean trucks program.
"We want to make sure this happens at every port. If all the ports are doing the same thing no port will be at a competitive disadvantage," Mack said.
-- The Cunningham Report
10/12/2008
Now that the truck concession programs at the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach have completed their first week with no major glitches, the focus by labor and environmental activists is heading north.
Labor leaders, environmental and community activists, and unhappy truckers packed the Port of Oakland Board meeting last week to demand that Oakland follow the Southland's lead and adopt a Clean Trucks Program to protect public health and driver safety. Two dozen speakers from the Coalition of Clean and Safe Ports lambasted port officials for dragging their feet for two years and failing to adopt a comprehensive truck management program.
Oakland's position has been to wait and see what happens in Southern California before committing to any specific action.
The coalition wants the board to require trucking companies that do business at the Port of Oakland to enter into concession agreements. The port could then require the companies to hire independent truckers as employees and provide incentives and bond money for them to purchase a fleet of clean new trucks.
That would basically be the Port of Los Angeles concession plan, first conceived of and pushed by the Teamsters as one prong of their nationwide effort to unionize port truckers.
An employer-employee model would address a myriad of problems on the Oakland waterfront, including pollution, labor disputes, port security, driver safety, and keeping big rigs off residential streets, said Chuck Mack, director of the Teamsters' port division and secretary general of Teamsters Local 7 in Oakland.
Clean and Safe Ports Coalition Director Doug Block and Mack downplayed concerns by port officials that Oakland would lose business to the Port of Seattle and the Port of Tacoma if it adopts a clean trucks program.
"We want to make sure this happens at every port. If all the ports are doing the same thing no port will be at a competitive disadvantage," Mack said.
-- The Cunningham Report