Truckers Told to Avoid Violence in Port Strike

A union of truck drivers was ordered Thursday to refrain from acts of violence on one of several picket lines at container terminals in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach.

But Long Beach Superior Court Judge Robert Parkin rejected a request by lawyers for the Long Beach Container Terminal that he order a halt to picketing at the giant facility by members of the Waterfront/Rail Truckers Union.

The court action came on the third day of the strike by the union--whose members own their trucks and specialize in the hauling of the 20-foot and 40-foot shipping containers--to protest long waits at terminals and force trucking companies to negotiate a contract.

The strike has slowed the movement of container trucks in the harbors, where container terminals are experiencing one of their busiest times of the year as imported goods arrive in anticipation of the Christmas buying season. A Long Beach Container Terminal official said the picket line cut truck traffic at the facility by about 35% Wednesday alone.

D. Steven McEvers, an attorney for the terminal, asked Parkin to halt picketing inside the terminal because of acts of violence that included the breaking of windows on two truck cabs by flying objects Wednesday night.

In addition, according to Long Beach Police Lt. Richard Lacey, the radiator of a parked truck was punctured, roofing nails were thrown in the roadway outside another terminal and a trailer slid away from a truck’s cab after it allegedly been disconnected by a striker.

Container Falls Off Truck

In the Port of Los Angeles, strikers disconnected a container from a truck near the American President Lines Terminal, causing it to fall into the street, Port Police Detective John Smith said.

Jerry Bakke, president of the 1,000-member drivers’ union, denied that his members were responsible for the incidents.

When they began the strike Tuesday, the drivers said their goal was to force trucking companies to join them in talks with container terminals aimed at cutting waiting times at terminals. Members complained that, with container shipping growing quickly, they have had to wait up to eight hours in lines at terminals for loads that may gross them about $200 for delivery.

But Bakke said Thursday that members also want to force the trucking companies to sign an agreement with them.

Dean Ross, director of membership for the Sacramento-based California Trucking Assn., which represents trucking companies, said his organization has had ongoing discussions with terminal operators about waiting times but has been reluctant to negotiate with the union.

The trucking association and the union have formally asked the Federal Maritime Commission to force terminals to pay truckers for unreasonable waiting times. The union wants drivers to receive $68 an hour, starting after an hour’s wait, a price pegged to the expenses of operating a truck.

But in a ruling published Monday, the commission rejected the request for waiting-time pay.

‘A Lot of Allegations’

“There were a lot of allegations but not a lot of hard facts to support the request,” said Tony Kominoth, assistant secretary to the commission in Washington.

Bob Macias, co-owner of International Truck & Transfer, a small Torrance trucking company that hires independent drivers, said the truckers have routinely been forced to wait in lines of 60 or 70 trucks.

Union leader Bakke said he experienced waits of four hours on three days last week at the Long Beach Container Terminal, which is busy because it serves four steamship lines.

Art Merrick, the terminal’s general manager, acknowledged that some truckers faced long waiting times last week because of “horrendous” problems at his yard. A container ship arrived a week late and many longshoremen were on vacation, he said.

“We had so many containers in the yard that we were stumbling over them,” he said.