Port Truckers Threaten to Strike

Owner-operator truck drivers who haul containers at the Northwest ports of Seattle and Tacoma are planning to resume a selective strike against shipping companies on Thursday Oct. 21.

Teamsters union leaders said drivers voted on Tuesday to picket an unidentified steamship line beginning at 6 a.m.

The drivers walked off the job in August to protest low pay and working conditions. The truckers ended their walkout a few days later and have been engaged in talks with port officials and representatives of ocean carriers, railroads and trucking companies since then. Among their demands is to be paid by the hour rather than by the load.