Seeking new avenues to pressure trucking companies at the Port of Los Angeles to stop classifying their drivers as contractors, a City Council committee voted Friday (Oct. 19) to support a Southland congressswoman’s bill that would create a federal task force to investigate the issue.
Some port truckers maintain they are improperly classified as independent contractors in a scheme that deprives them of benefits and job protections while increasing their overhead costs by forcing them to lease their trucks from the companies for which they drive.
The Rules, Elections and Intergovernmental Relations Committee unanimously approved a resolution in support of HR 4144, the Port Drivers’ Bill of Rights Act of 2017. The legislation introduced by Rep Grace F. Napolitano, D-Norwalk, calls for a federal task force to investigate the lease-to-own agreements commercial truck drivers enter into with trucking companies at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. The task force, within a year of its establishment, would be tasked with submitting a report to Congress with findings and recommendations for any necessary legislation or regulations.
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