Port truck driver: Workers' rights should be civil rights

Alex Paz urges other port drivers to join the fight.

Shouldn't federal law protect people for trying to organize -- just as it protects them from discrimination because of their race, religion, sex or national origin? 

Alex Paz thinks so. He's a port truck driver at LA/Long Beach who got fired for complaining that he was misclassified as an independent contractor. 

Today Alex joined U.S. Reps. John Lewis and Keith Ellison at a Capitol Hill news conference. The two congressmen announced they filed a bill to make labor organizing a civil right.

Their bill would change the National Labor Relations Act so it protects workers who ask for better wages or working conditions. George Zornick at The Nation explains:

The Ellison-Lewis legislation would amend the National Labor Relations Act to include protections found under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act to include labor organizing as a fundamental right. That would give workers a broader range of legal options if they feel discriminated against for trying to form a union. 

Currently, their only redress is through a grievance with the National Labor Relations Board—an important process, but one that workers and labor analysts frequently criticize as both too slow and often too lenient on offending employers. 

If the NLRA were amended, however, after 180 days a worker could take his or her labor complaint from the NLRB to a federal court. This is how the law works now for civil rights complaints, which gives workers the option, after 180 days, to step outside the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission process. 

Then, workers would have sole discretion on whether to push a complaint, as opposed to relying on a decision by the NLRB on whether to forge ahead. Workers could also move the process along much faster than the NLRB handles complaints, which can often take years.

Alex with Civil Rights icon John Lewis today.

Alex Paz's story shows why workers' rights should be more than the right to hope they don't get fired. He drove for TTSI in Rancho Dominguez, Calif. The truck he drove belonged to TTSI and it was registered to TTSI, but Alex had to pay for registering it. He also had to pay for insurance, fees, fuel, maintenance and tires. His costs amounted to $3,500 a month, leaving him with minimum wage for his work.

TTSI got away with it by calling him an independent contractor. "There was nothing independent in what I do," Alex said.

In June 2013, Alex complained to the California Labor Commissioner that TTSI misclassified him to avoid paying taxes and treating him as an employee. TTSI then sued him. He was served with papers on Christmas Eve. Alex then led the strike in April against Port of LA/Long Beach employers, including TTSI. In May, the Labor Commission held a hearing on his complaint. The company president showed up. Alex was fired four days after telling labor commissioners about the TTSI's scam.

"These companies are getting out of control," he said. "They used ruthless tactics to scare us, but we're not going to back down. I urge other port drivers to join us. Come along and join us in the fight."

If the Ellison-Lewis bill becomes law, the port drivers will have a powerful new tool in their arsenal.

It's 4.4.11, huge day of solidarity here and overseas

Today is 4.4.11, and more than a thousand solidarity events are planned across the country. There's still time to find an action near you, by either clicking here or here (click on the 4.4.11 banner).

U.S. Rep. John Lewis and AFSCME President Gerald McEntee explained why we're taking action today in a Memphis Commercial Appeal op-ed:

Working people today are defending more than their rights today. They are defending their human dignity. In Wisconsin, Indiana, Florida, Ohio and here in Tennessee, they are saying we are more than numbers on a worksheet, the blight of government programs or impediments to a profit margin. We are this nation's greatest resource.

Allies around the world are supporting us in our struggle. Democrats Abroad are organizing a "Breakfast in America" in Paris. The same group is sponsoring an event (secret for security purposes) in Kabul, Afghanistan. There's even a solidarity dinner in Ulaanbaator, Mongolia.

And today, the UK Trades Union Congress sent a letter to the British ambassador to the US. It said, in part, 

...The TUC and British trade unions would strongly urge you to convey our concerns about what is happening in the USA to the President, and to the Governor of Wisconsin and any other Governor who is attempting to take away workers' rights to bargain collectively.

We understand that public budgets are under pressure in the USA - as they are in the UK - as a result of the global economic crisis. But attacking collective bargaining is exactly the wrong thing to do in response.

The workers who depend most on collective bargaining for decent living standards did not cause the crisis, and should not have to pay for it.

But the declining wages and the increasing inequality which has resulted from the steady erosion of collective bargaining especially in the USA but across the developed world certainly did play a part in causing the global economic crisis.

Stay tuned to TeamsterNation throughout the day for updates on actions here and elsewhere.