California Truckers Go Their Own Way in Vote Against Teamsters

The Left has been arguing that workers are eager to unionize, with the recent passage of A.B. 5 in California providing greater opportunity for independent contractors to gain employee status and open up the possibility of collective bargaining rights. This bill has been backed by Teamsters due to a large number of truck drivers being classified as self-employed individuals.

Last week the ballots for a Teamsters unionization vote in California were unsealed, revealing driver employees’ overwhelming rejection of representation. Of 299 eligible voters, 165 rejected and 76 accepted the proposal – both sides showing high turnout among their respective camps with 19 challenged votes and 12 voided ballots not affecting the result.

Last summer, the Teamsters scored a major victory with the NLRB. After challenging their legal employment status prior to A.B 5 taking effect, truckers working for STG Cartage were reclassified from independent contractors to employees with the option to unionize. The move was hailed by Teamster leadership as an essential step toward protecting workers’ wages and benefits in California’s gig economy landscape going forward.

The catch, however, is that workers didn’t take that option. Teamsters believe this was not because they didn’t want to join them. The Teamsters, in fact, said in a statement to Law360, “We had a clear majority of support among XPO’s courageous workers, but XPO refused to recognize the union and instead delayed the process and violated the law with impunity through its egregious unfair labor practices.” The voting results tell a different story – one where they didn’t have the majority.

Source: National Review