"GLOBAL CODES OF CONDUCT PUT TO THE TEST BY CA DRIVER MISCLASSIFICATION", 12 September 2019

... Rio Tinto is the latest example of companies that have been trying to clean up their act across the globe and are now facing scrutiny of their supply chains here in the United States.

...Rio Tinto’s trucking contractor.... NFI-owned Cal Cartage Express, (NFI/CCX), has a long record of labor and wage violations... [T]he California Labor Commissioner has found 14 NFI/CCX drivers to be employees – not independent contractors...

[D]rivers [and warehouse workers] walked out [again]... to protest unfair labor practices... [T]he company recently moved [from its]... warehousing and trucking operation on Port of LA property... after the City moved to require that the company agree to provisions to protect against further labor disruptions...

[A]n administrative law judge [has] issued a decision finding that Cal Cartage management... unlawfully threatened workers...

The persistent labor and wage violations at NFI/CCX and reports of indentured servitude within the port drayage industry have activists questioning whether codes of conduct like Rio Tinto’s actually mean anything...