Teamsters take on Toll

Peter Mitchell January 28, 2012

LOS Angeles truck drivers have accused their Australian employer, transport company Toll, of treating them like ''second-class citizens'' by providing filthy toilets, no access to running water and no shelter during their breaks.

Most of Toll's 74 drivers have signed a petition filed with the US National Labour Relations Board to seek representation with America's largest union for transport workers, the Teamsters, and plan to hold union elections at their workplace.

Nick Weiner, the port campaign director for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, said he had toured ports around the US and the conditions the drivers at Toll in LA endured ''hit a new low''.

The drivers and the Teamsters said they believed Toll would try to hamper their plan by using a ''union buster'' and other tactics as they held the elections.

''As someone who has been around the labour movement my entire life, I can tell you, for many workers it is akin to management putting them through a meat grinder,'' Mr Weiner, describing the election process, said.

The Teamsters claim Toll sacked 26 drivers last October when they donned T-shirts with union logos. Some of the drivers have since been rehired.

AAP