Thousands of cargo containers headed for Long Beach, Calif.,  have been stranded at sea ever since the Hanjin shipping company declared bankruptcy. Port truck drivers, Teamster leaders and politicians led a press conference Saturday to address how the halting of shipments is hurting working families.

“There are a lot of people suffering,” said Patrick Kelly, Secretary-Treasurer of Local 952 in Orange, Calif. “The situation has been particularly hard for truck drivers, as many of them are illegally misclassified as independent contractors, not as company employees, so not only do they have to fight to collect unemployment benefits but their employers often keep charging them for truck lease payments and insurance, even when they are not working.”

The Los Angeles Times and other news outlets covered the press conference. To read the Times’ article, Click Here 

 

• Share on Facebook
• Share on Twitter
• Share via email