truckers crop

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They are called troqueros, independent contractors who lease trucks from shipping companies at the ports, thereby making the truck their own small business of sorts. For the ports, they are essential, making the local, SoCal-based trips that provide much of our entire region with goods.

However, their work has been a battle of contention since many troqueros are not only charged by a company they don’t technically work for to lease the truck, but are also charged for its insurance, maintenance and fuel—on top of the tax reductions for being an independent contractor. Their lack of a proper union puts them at the lowest end of the payscale in the trucking industry, earning some $28,000 a year before taxes, and last year the Post covered efforts to organize these truckers that activists are calling “misclassified.”

For some troqueros, howeever, this misclassification will change as the truck drivers who help Australian corporate giant Toll Group’s ability to get consumer goods across Southern California grasped their first union deal—in tandem with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters/Local 848 here in Long Beach, of which they have become members—that doubles their hourly wage, provides them overtime wages, retirement options and healthcare access.

The importance of the deal scored by the 65 workers—mostly Latinos—should not be understated, particularly given that troqueros work within an entirely unregulated, union-free industry that continually drives them into poverty. Last week’s OC Weekly cover story, written by sometime Long Beach Post contributor Joseph Lapin, gives a comprehensive background on this industry and its current state.

Contract highlights include:

  • Shifting the hourly day shift rate from $12.72 to $19 and the hourly night shift rate from $13.22 to $19.75.
  • Overtime pay of time-and-a-half.
  • Automatic enrollment in the Western Conference Pension Trust.
  • Health insurance which includes dental and vision while Toll Group will 95% of the premium for individuals and 90 percent for family coverage.
  • Seven paid holidays, three paid personal days, and sic paid sick days annually.