LOS ANGELES -- Port truck drivers struck four major drayage firms serving the nation's largest port complex at the twin ports of Los Angeles/Long Beach, site of a crippling slowdown in early 2015.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters Port Division says picket lines went up at  Intermodal Bridge Transport, Pacific 9 Transportation, Pacer Cartage, and Harbor Rail Transportion in the Los Angeles and Long Beach area yesterday. 

A fifth drayage firm, Green Fleet Systems, LLC, avoid a strike by entering a comprehensive labor peace agreement designed to ensure that Green Fleet's drivers have an opportunity to exercise their rights under the National Labor Relations Act and, if they choose, to select an exclusive representative for purpose of collective bargaining.

This agreement also allows for the orderly conduct of business and insures that Green Fleet's loyal customers will continue to receive their deliveries timely and without interruption."

West Coast Ports Slowdown Hurting Wood Manufacturers  By Bill Esler | Posted: February 12, 2015 - West Coast ports were closed two weekends in a row in a management lockout following months of negotiating over a union contract with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union. Furniture makers like Flexsteel say it is affecting business.

"We are here to make sure that these companies stop their lawless behavior," said Hector Flores, a port truck driver for Intermodal Bridge Transport. "We demand re-­ classification to employees."

Since drivers last struck in November 2014, says the union, the U.S. Department of Labor has joined the National Labor Relations Board in ruling that drayage drivers are misclassified as "independent contractors." 

According to the union, the industry now faces an estimated annual liability for wage and hour violations of $850 million in California alone.