Court Order Limits Picketing of Truckers at Port Gates

Lawyers for terminal operators at the Los Angeles-Long Beach harbor complex won a court order late Tuesday to bar off-the-job truck drivers from picketing en masse in front of terminal gates.

About 500 unionized truck drivers protested outside the gates of Evergreen America Corp. terminal at the Port of Los Angeles all day Tuesday, crippling the flow of traffic of the few trucks there were still operating. The protesters carried union signs and shouted at truckers who passed through the terminal entrance. Late in the day, the Pacific Maritime Assn., which represents the terminal operators, sought the temporary restraining in Long Beach Superior Court.

“It’s just to keep the situation under control so we don’t have a volatile thing like we did at Evergreen,” said Carie Clements, area manager for the association.

Under the order, no more than 10 protesters can congregate at a single terminal gate, and other supporters must stand at least 75 yards away.

Thousands of drivers who used to operate as independent contractors have signed up to be full-time employees at a new leasing firm that has promised to pay them $25 an hour and honor a new union contract.

Most of the drivers have not been dispatched to make pickups, however. Donald L. Allen, a former insurance agent who founded the company, claims to have $125 million in financial backing but has shown no documentation to prove it.

Local 9400 of the Communications Workers of America, which represents striking drivers at the port, argued against the order.

“These guys have been peacefully, legally picketing,” said union director Laura Reynolds.

Meanwhile, a lawyer for the new leasing firm, Transport Maritime Assn., said he is preparing to file a lawsuit stemming from an incident last Saturday when 40 trucks leased by the firm were turned away from a terminal where they were to pick up some NYK Line cargo containers. The lawyer, Robert Morris, declined to specify who would be named in the lawsuit.