Submitted on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 4:33am
Once again a step ahead of intermodal truckers across the US, Stockton truckers, led by the majority Sikh drivers, launched a strike over the issue of fuel prices on Monday, May 5, 2008.
While many truckers participated in various protest shutdowns on either April 1st or May 1st this year, the 300-400 Stockton truckers working out of the Union Pacific and Burlington Northern-Santa Fe railyards have shut down their industry until their demands have been met.
Rather than demand the fuel surcharges paid by shippers but often pocketed by companies rather than passed along to drivers, the Stockton truckers are asking for a dramatic increase in the rates paid in order to keep up with increases costs such as fuel.
On April 26, 2004 Stockton intermodal truckers, inspired by rumors circulating of an LA port trucker shutdown, were the first to join what became a strike of west cost port truckers on April 30, and by June had spread to most southern and eastern ports as well.
Submitted on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 4:13am
By Reed Fujii - San Joaquin Record Staff Writer, May 06, 2008
For the second time in four years, hundreds of independent truck drivers
went on strike Monday against companies that hire them to haul cargo containers
out of railroad terminals near Stockton.
And again, as in 2004, the issue was the failure of freight rates to keep
up with rapidly rising fuel prices.
Ajit Gill of Stockton, a truck owner-operator and a spokesman for strikers,
said the truckers face fuel costs that have more than doubled since 2004, as
well as higher costs for insurance, stiffer inspection fees and more. But
freight rates have not kept pace.
"There is nothing raised," he said Monday by cell phone.
The drivers would prefer to keep working, if it was practical.
"Unfortunately, we have to stop," Gill said. "Nobody can afford $4.35
diesel."
Submitted on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 3:59am
Disclaimer: The action described here was not organized by the IWW.
By Francine Brevetti - staff writer, inside bayarea.com, May 6, 2008
OAKLAND — About 80 striking truckers from Middle Harbor Road at the Port of Oakland were ticketed and dispersed Tuesday after some of them committed vandalism, police said.
Some drivers had damaged a truck's window while the driver was operating the rig, Sgt. Peter Lau said.
Nevertheless, the protesting truck drivers who own and operate their own rigs vowed to continue demonstrating at the port for the rest of the week. They say motor carrier firms have been underpaying them for diesel fuel.
Submitted on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 3:35am
By Jim Crutchfield, IWW NYC GMB - Industrial Worker, May 2008
Members of the New York City IWW
branch attended a rally on April 1 at a
truck stop on the New Jersey Turnpike,
where an estimated 300 drivers, mostly
owner-operators, met to protest fuel
price gouging and address the media.
The rally was part of a nationwide
work stoppage by truckers that reportedly
shut down several major ports on
the East and West Coasts and turned
highways around Chicago into parking
lots.
Drivers from as far away as Florida
were present at the New Jersey gathering,
along with many drivers’ family
members and other supporters.
Two Wobblies addressed the crowd
and were warmly received. The union
collected contact information from
nearly 100 drivers, many of whom
expressed great enthusiasm for continuing
their agitation and solidifying their
organization.
Submitted on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 3:15am
Industrial Worker, May 2008.
On April 1, troqueros from New Jersey
rallied on the New Jersey turnpike.
On April 3, Houston followed. Truck
drivers across the country participated in
scattered actions to protest rising diesel
fuel prices.
The price of diesel across the United
States has risen by 21 per cent since the
end of December 2007, from $3.35 to
$4.05 per gallon, according to the US
Energy Information Administration. A
month before the March 2003 invasion
of Iraq, the price of diesel was $1.71 per
gallon.