Truckers fuel actions build toward May Day
Submitted on Thu, 05/08/2008 - 3:15am
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.
Something is wrong when we have to choose between feeding our families or buying diesel, said truckers. The message was heard, but it was not loud enough, according to organizers, including members of the IWW, of a new round of protests on April 30-May 1. Truckers across the board had called for better organization and coordination In response, truckers at the three largest ports in the United States —Newark on the Atlantic, Houston on the Gulf of Mexico and Los Angeles on the Pacific— are planning to take coordinated action to shut down ports on the morning of April 30.
The organizers called “for all truck drivers across the nation to shut down to protest the high cost of diesel” and “to bring out the community to participate in May Day actions.” They are encouraging all truck drivers —intermodal, Over- The-Road (OTR), regional— to join them in letting government leaders know that something has got to be done. “Truck drivers are the new slaves. Truckers are getting tired of working just to pay the cost of diesel,” said one poster advertising the action. The same poster said that actions will vary from a convoy on Washington, DC, to week-long shutdowns.
“Truck drivers realize that it doesn’t matter what race you are or where you’re from. Abuse from the brokers, dispatchers, and companies hurt everyone. Immigrants will be marching on May Day as well,” said the call.