Union Protests Truckers’ Wages

Orange County Teamsters plan to stage a rally tonight against a Montana trucking company that is paying its drivers lower wages than local union rates for work on the Santa Ana freeway widening project.

“We’re concerned because large companies are moving into the area and undermining local companies that are providing their workers decent wages and benefits,” said Patrick Kelly, an organizer and business representative for Teamsters Local 952. “The issue is not so much whether these are nonunion drivers coming in, but that the company is undermining wages that have been established for the area.”

Kelly said the going rate for local union drivers is $20 per hour, plus $10 an hour in fringe benefits. The trucking company, Westrans Inc., is paying its drivers $13 an hour with only some fringe benefits, a company official said.

The Teamsters began picketing Westrans Inc., which is based in Missoula, Mont., at a concrete company in Foothill Ranch about two weeks ago.

Tempers flared Friday night, when a Teamsters protester walked in front of a Westrans truck and the truck made contact with the picketer, authorities said.

There were no injuries or arrests, said Lt. Rich Paddock, watch commander at the Orange County Sheriff’s Department.

“I was told it was a very, very minor impact,” said Paddock, adding that sheriff’s deputies were at the scene when the incident occurred. “Both parties were interviewed and the information will be submitted to the district attorney’s office.”

*

Hall Starnes, a supervisor for Westrans, said that after Friday’s incident his company’s drivers were ordered to stop work on the project, which entails transporting cement from the Foothill Ranch site to the area, just below the El Toro Y, where the Santa Ana Freeway is being widened and carpool lanes are being added. He said the drivers are likely to stay off the job indefinitely.

“To have an incident like this, it’s not worth it,” Starnes said during a telephone conversation from Montana. “We don’t want anybody hurt or for tempers to get out of hand.”

Suspension of the cement delivery should not affect work in the area this morning or during the coming week, said John Standiford, spokesman for the Orange County Transportation Authority, which is funding the widening project.

Starnes said the union sent company officials a letter a few weeks ago, informing them that they planned to stage an “informational picket.”

“It was a very courteous letter,” he said. “But it hasn’t turned out very courteous.”

Starnes said he believes his company’s wages are appropriate for the market. “We hire according to what folks will work for,” he said. “We would not be able to run trucks if we didn’t have people who are willing to work.”

Kelly, however, said local workers are hurt when one company lowers wages, because it could inspire other companies to do the same.

“We’ve got these companies coming in and taking advantage of the economic plight of the construction business,” he said.