By Michele Fuetsch, Staff Reporter This story appears in the April 21 print edition of Transport Topics.
A bill opposed by the trucking industry to classify independent drayage operators and parcel delivery drivers as company employees has been reintroduced in the New Jersey Legislature.
An identical bill was approved by lawmakers last year but vetoed by Gov. Chris Christie (R).
Sponsors of the bill, reintroduced in March, are Assemblyman John Wisniewski and Sen. Loretta Weinberg, both Democrats.
“The fact that the governor vetoed it once does not mean that it no longer needs to be addressed,” Wisniewski said.
The trucking industry portrays the bill as if it would eliminate independent contractors, which is untrue, he said.
“But if I have to come to your place of employment, and I have to drive your truck, and I have to wear your uniform, and I have to have your logo, and I have to follow your work rules, I’m no longer an independent contractor,” Wisniewski said.
If workers fit all the criteria for being contractors, Wisniewski said, he has no problem.
“But when you require them to be an employee in every respect except how they get compensated, that’s a problem,” he said.
A battle over contractors is being played out in several port areas around the country, with labor unions and other critics of independent contracting arguing that drivers are being classified as contractors so companies can avoid work rules and payroll taxes.
Supporters of independent contractors have responded that they are small-business owners and that trucking needs them in order to meet flux in freight demand.
Gail Toth, executive director of the New Jersey Motor Truck Association, said the group will continue to fight such legislation.
“Anyone that really cares about the people of New Jersey will not vote for that bill because it’s not designed for the people and the businesses in New Jersey,” Toth said. “It’s designed for union organization, and that’s not right.”
If passed, the measure would wipe out the port drayage model there, Toth said.
She also said NJMTA is drafting a legislative proposal to clearly define independent contractors versus employees.
“It would allow the independent contractor model to continue to exist but clarify — for those who fear there’s some map of misclassification going on — the set of rules that must be followed in order to be classified as independents,” Toth said.
Wisniewski said: “I welcome that. I don’t know why they haven’t been involved before now.”
