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On Friday, striking port truckers who have accused shipping companies of wage theft took their issues to the Los Angeles City Council, where they gained new political ground for their grievances.
The City Council voted unanimously in favor of a resolution voicing support for the truckers, calling on the companies doing business at the city-owned Port of Los Angeles to follow federal and state labor laws.
The truckers also delivered a petition with 27,000 signatures from members of the pubic to Mayor Eric Garcetti's office, urging him to weigh in on the drivers' behalf as well.
Scores of drivers have been on strike this week against four freight-hauling companies they say are denying them fair pay by refusing to recognize the truckers as full-fledged employees and illegally misclassifying them instead as independent contractors.
Over 65 percent of all 75,000 U.S. port truckers
are misclassified as independent contractors,
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Photo credit: Random Lengths News
according to a 2014 study by the labor-backed National Employment Law Project.
The Teamsters have rallied to the drivers' cause, winning labor contracts for 500 truckers at several Los Angeles-area shipping companies and have helped them file hundreds of wage theft claims.
For more of the Reuters story: www.reuters.com
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