Drivers at Shippers Transport Express, a Southern California trucking company, ratified a contract that the union said was the first of its kind for port truckers in more than three decades.
The vote by a 65-5 margin was announced in a joint statement by the union and the Carson, California-based motor carrier.
The one-year contract covers about 125 drivers who work at the neighboring ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The company plans to hire more drivers, who also will be members of the bargaining unit, Nick Weiner, director of the Teamsters’ port campaign, told Bloomberg BNA on Feb. 9.
“This really is the first time in 35 years that a port trucking company has reclassified its drivers as employees, agreed to a fair unionization process and followed through by bargaining a union contract in good faith,” Weiner said.
As a result of the new contract, the drayage drivers received a $3-per-hour raise in starting pay to $21 per hour and additional benefits. The contract is retroactive to Jan. 9 and expires Dec. 31.
Shippers Transport’s parent company is Carrix, which also owns Stevedoring Services of America, a port terminal operator that uses union labor.
The contract was ratified as members of the International Longshore & Warehouse Union and the Pacific Maritime Association continue to negotiate a new contract.
The union has been seeking to convert drivers from contractors to employee status for at least five years to further its port trucking organizing campaign.
Three years ago, the union won the right to represent employees at the U.S. affiliate of Australia’s Toll Group. The contract covering those workers also expires Dec. 31.
