Judge to Block SoCal Ports’ Concession Plans
A federal judge said she will block the concession plans at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, including L.A.’s requirement that truck drivers be trucking company employees and not contractors, the Associated Press reported.
In a tentative ruling on American Truck Associations’ petition for a preliminary injunction against elements of the ports’ plans, Judge Christina Snyder of the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California said Monday that she will issue a final decision later this week.
“There’s no good reason to kill off the independent trucker except to allow the Teamsters [union] to cut down the number of trucking companies working the ports so they can unionize the drivers more easily,” ATA spokesman Clayton Boyce told AP.
The U.S. Court of Appeals for the 9th Circuit in San Francisco ruled last month that the injunction against parts of the program should to be granted. That court remanded the case to the District Court, which had refused to grant the injunction in July 2008.
ATA said in a statement following the decision that it has always supports the ports’ efforts to retire older trucks along with the container fee that assists in the transition.
