The Port of Oakland returned to work when truckers protested the contractor’s law

OAKLAND, Calif. (CN) — Protests over government contractor rules that kept California’s third-largest port out of business for five days have ended and goods are continuing to flow through the Port of Oakland.

Thousands protested at the port last week, demanding that the state replace Free Riders with Assembly Bill 5 — a state law that designates private workers as employees. However, the port has become operational after action was taken against the barricades of trucks making it impossible to move containers through the port.

In a statement given by Port Executive Director Danny Wan, the port is fully operational again. He said last week’s protests had blocked international trade, including medical supplies, agricultural products, auto and technology parts, livestock and manufacturing parts.

“Truck drivers have been heard and now we urge them to take their complaints to lawmakers, not the Port of Oakland,” Wan said, adding that Oakland and state and local law enforcement are working to keep operations and traffic on track.

Opponents, many of whom are refugees from authoritarian regimes, say AB 5 would limit their ability to make ends meet by requiring them to work for one employer instead of driving for multiple companies, as they do now. He also said that if the law comes into force, there will not be enough positions for all drivers.

A 2019 court order blocked AB 5’s implementation after Governor Gavin Newsom signed it. The Ninth Circuit Court later reversed that order.

In June, the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review a Ninth Circuit decision, clearing the way for AB 5 to take effect.

Truck drivers are awaiting a response from Newsom’s office, which did not come until Monday. They said Friday that they have no plans to protest at the Capitol yet.

Kimberly Sulsar Campos, vice president of Oakland-based Iraheta Bros. Trucking, said some workers at the terminals are protesting behind the curbs this week. After nearly 200 truckers met with lawyers last week to discuss the port’s request to remain in these zones to protest, she said they did not ask legal counsel about the port’s fight against the “free speech zones.”

Sulsar-Campos said truckers are essential workers who help keep a troubled supply chain moving, especially given the issues facing the country during the pandemic. They still hope to be freed from the legislature.

“This is being pushed by the Teamsters Union. Their membership is declining and they are trying less and less to form a union,” she said, noting that of the 9,000 truckers in Oakland, about 7,500 are independent contractors.

“We’re not anti-union, we’re pro-choice,” Sulsar Campos said. “I think it’s good that the government wants to protect people, but in this case they’re creating a problem that doesn’t exist. They (truck drivers) want to remain small business owners and they’re being told you can’t own a business anymore.

Sulsar Campos called the bill “very racist” because the affected workers are disproportionately people of color and immigrants from other countries.

“I strongly believe that maybe they feel they’ve made a lot of money and they want to bring them down,” she said. “If these were white people and white drivers protested, they would be heard.”

Joe Rajkovacz, a government affairs spokesman for the Western States Trucking Association, said the owner-operators feel they have made up their minds to close the port for a week. But he said the union doesn’t expect any movement from state leaders to consider AB 5’s changes to independent trucks.

“They are disappointed that port leadership and the governor don’t really understand what’s at stake for these truckers, namely, that life will be very difficult for them if they don’t have common sense in Sacramento,” he said in an email. “Many of these owner-operators have mortgages on their equipment and the government seems to care little if they are forced into bankruptcy in their zeal to carry out the union-sponsored attack on their livelihoods.”

Representatives of Sulsar-Campos and other operators are considering all legal counsel options for independent drivers. “If you go to 10 different lawyers, you’re going to get 10 different solutions,” Rajkovacz told FreightWaves.

The Oakland chapter of the Teamsters Union did not respond to a request for a press release.

The Port reports that the economic impact of port maritime activity in California is estimated at $56.6 billion, including $281 million in state and local taxes. Direct employment from the operation is 11,000, with over 10,000 additional jobs and nearly 6,000 indirect jobs. About 10,000 containers move through the port on any given working day.