NATION Independent truckers call strike

Independents are forbidden by U.S. antitrust laws from negotiating together.
NEW ORLEANS (AP) -- Officials at the nation's ports are bracing for a threatened strike by truckers upset over high costs, low wages and laws that prohibit them from unionizing.
Independent truckers, who get paid for each container they haul, have called for a strike to begin today that could slow down the movement of cargo at ports.
Truckers are upset over rising costs and low wages. But they also want to be able to form unions and collectively bargain for better contracts from shipping and trucking companies that hire them out.
"The issues are the same all over the country: It has to do with low rates for the drivers and higher fuel prices and the inability to get more money from shipping lines and trucking companies for the amount of work they do," David Wagner, the chief operating officer of the Port of New Orleans, said Sunday.
Owner-operators of trucks are considered independent business people and are forbidden by federal antitrust laws from negotiating together and each must talk independently with employers.
"The carriers are taking advantage of the independent operators due to their lack of representation and due to their lack of recourse," said Robert Fezekas, a trucker and lobbyist.
Wagner said it appears that mostly long-distance drivers will be involved in the latest strike. But Fezekas said many short-distance local truckers also could walk out.
Grievances
The independent drivers say shipping lines have not increased hauling rates to keep pace with rising insurance, fuel and truck maintenance costs.
Though the increases affect all truckers, private owner-operators are hit hardest, said Rick Todd, president of the South Carolina Trucking Association.
"We just really don't know what to expect," said Byron Miller, spokesman for the South Carolina State Ports Authority. "They've certainly got everybody's attention."
The strike will include truckers such as Carl Hopkins of Johns Island, S.C., who hauled a load of wooden boxes to Georgia last week. He spent $230 on diesel fuel for the 14-hour trip. With meals and other expenses, he made about $11 an hour.
Hopkins, 45, has always driven trucks and says his pay has never been so low. "It's absolutely ridiculous," he said. "We are just getting raked over the coals."