Truckers continue protest at Port of Oakland over new gig-worker law
OAKLAND -- Independent truckers continued their protest at the Port of Oakland Thursday over California's new gig-worker law, further exacerbating the country's weakened supply chain.
At the corner of Maritime and 14th, it's day four of a protest by independent truck drivers over 2019 law AB-5. "If implemented your jobs will be gone as independent workers, you will not have a job unless you work under some company," said Harpreet S. Sandhu, a former Richmond City Councilmember.
The 2019 statute is poised to affect some 70,000 California truck drivers- after the recent lifting of a two year legal stay. The drivers at the Port of Oakland are asking for a carveout in the law - which is meant to prevent the abuse and underpayment of independent contractors - that other occupations have received. "I know that none of you are asking that AB5 be taken away, but you are asking that certain amendment should allow you an exemption - exemptions that were given to many other organizations," Sandhu said.
The days long protest has effectively ground work to a halt at the Port of Oakland - the ninth busiest port in the world.
Larry Gross, the president and founder of Gross Transportation Consulting says if this goes on much longer, there could be a fresh set of supply chain nightmares to deal with. "So you can imagine if there's a stoppage it's kinda like a crimp in a hose and the water is going to back up very quickly. It's not going to take a long time of this type of disruption before it's going to break at least the port of Oakland," he told KPIX5.
The Port of Oakland handles about 98,000 TEU's or containers a momth - which can be pushed to other ports like Los Angeles or Long Beach at the moment. Gross is concerned that other independent truckers will cotton on to this movement and shut those ports down as well. "The AB5 regulation, which is what these owner-operator truckers are protesting flies across California and if this kind of activity spreads to Southern California, it is extremely significant from a supply chain standpoint," Gross said.
Nearly 1/3 of all containers coming into the United States enter the country through LA and Long Beach.
"We've been working a long time with this port. We don't have an issue with the port. Our fight is with our government," said independent trucker Mohander Singh.
The truckers have been told they have until Monday to move along. They are in regular talks with the Port of Oakland and are hoping to get the attention of lawmakers in Sacramento and Governor Newsom to protect them.