A big showdown is bringing the Port of Oakland in California to a standstill. Truckers are protesting a gig worker labor law known as AB5, which makes it harder for companies to classify workers as independent contractors rather than employees. Clarissa Hawes, Senior Editor of FreightWaves.com, explains what AB5 is and why some workers are against it. 

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Truckers Shut Down Port In California In Protest Of Labor Law

here with more insight is Claressa Haase, senior editor of freight waves dot com. Thank you so much for joining us. Claressa first. What is A B five And why are these truckers in California protesting against it? sure, Initially the target was maybe like the ubers and lifts that relied on independent contractors and wanted to give them more employee protections, But then it spilled over to a lot of other industries, including trucking, um, freelance writers, contract, any contractors in the state fell under this 85 as well. So the these independent contractors at the California ports, um, You know, largely owned their own trucks. They work under 2 99, um, you know, independent contractor agreements and they want to remain that. And, you know, in talking to some of the the drivers, I was out in Oakland this week, You know, they say, I've been doing this for 20 years, if I thought I was being exploited or needed um, employee protections, I would go work, you know, for a company, I've done that and, and this model, the independent contractor model works best for me. And, and so they feel like they're being forced into, you know, a situation that they don't want to be in and so they're out in force trying to protect, um, you know, their businesses. This is really interesting, especially as we've heard some of the argument on the opposite side for some of those drivers from ride sharing companies, but that's now spilling over into other occupations. And ancillary sectors as well. And this is one of the biggest container ports in the country. It's also coming at a time when we talk about it constantly, supply chain issues are ongoing. What impact is this protest having on the movement of cargo in and out of the ports so far the in the, this going into the fifth day, these poor drivers have basically shut down the entire operations at the port of Oakland and um that all of the major terminals are closed and you know, and you know, because, you know, they and the court has, you know, been, you know, like trying to, has been in touch with the driver saying we have to return to normal because yes, you know, our supply chain, I mean, no one has anywhere to put these containers, you know, they need to go on the ship, some need to be taken off ships and and there's nowhere for them to go. And so yeah, the truck drivers have basically brought the port of Oakland to a standstill. And on the opposite side of the debate, you kind of broke down exactly what these truck drivers are saying about their protest, why they're against this, but on the opposite side for a lot of workers out there who are in support of a B5, what is the alternative discussion that's being had? Sure that there are some drivers, I think that want, you know, the employee protections and want unemployment benefits and, and health insurance and things like that that are offered as an m you know, as being an employee of a company and there are some who say, you know, there were drivers out there that were company drivers and say this worked for me and you know, but I'm fighting for the drivers that want to be independent, that know what they need to make in a year and don't want to be controlled in their hours controlled. You know, they say I can run as much as I want right now, but if I work for an employer and they're like, oh, you know, money's getting tight, we're not getting quite the same loads, They're gonna say, oh, you can only work this many hours this week or and and so Or they're going to restrict how much time they can take off. And a lot of the drivers that serve, there's like 70% of the drivers at that serve the bay area are independent contractors. A lot of them Um are from Colt, you know, all around the world, there's 32 languages spoke at the port of Oakland, you know, and a lot of them, you know, take a month off, go back and see their families and a lot of them send money home As well. And so they feel like if they're lumped into this W2 employee model, they're not going um to be able to do this or take the time that they need, they run hard, maybe 10 months out of the year and then go back, you know, for two months. And so this could this could, you know, this shift into an employee model really for them, Especially as we know the economy right now has so many different pressures that are heading Americans way and the Supreme Court declined to review this case last month. Do you think it could make its way up to the high court? And if so, how does this impact the future of 85? Well um in correspondence with the port of Oakland and the governor's office last night, um you know like the drivers were hoping for an exemption, you know, like other industries like real estate Agents and lawyers have been, have gotten carve outs where they're exempt from a B five and truckers were hoping that would happen for them as well, but the governor in a statement last night said this is a path, we want to partner with a pathway forward and there's no there's not gonna be an exemption and they're like, here these are your options and you must comply with this and you know that. And so you know right now they're feeling like there's it's that they're still upset about it, that other industries have, have gotten the carve outs and exemptions, but they haven't and you know, they think, well we don't have a collective group that has money to be able to fight this for independence and it's really hard to all agree on what, what's best for us. And so like the industries that had the most money, they say, are the ones that became exempt from this. Mm. Claressa Hawes, senior editor of freight waves dot com, really appreciate that breakdown.