Six of the 100 port truck drivers working for Long Beach-based trucking company California Cartage Express filed minimum wage violation claims with the City of Los Angeles on Tuesday, Nov. 27.  

Cal Cartage drivers are requesting that the Los Angeles Office of Wage Standards conduct a company-wide investigation to ensure that all 100 port drivers employed by the company are being properly paid for their work.

...The claims filed by the workers allege that Cal Cartage, on average, fails to pay drivers at least an hour a day, every day as a result of their being misclassified by Cal Cartage as independent contractors rather than employees. As independent contractors, the drivers aren’t eligible for minimum wage pay, paid sick leave or health benefits.

...Cal Cartage’s parent company, New Jersey-based NFI Industries, denied that the majority of its workers want to be classified as employees. “The independent contractors who provide services to us are entrepreneurs who have chosen to remain independent business owners instead of becoming employees,” the Nov. 27 statement reads in part. “These hard-working men and women want to remain independent and continue to enjoy the flexibility to provide services when and how they please.” The company blamed the unrest on the Teamsters union, saying that the union wants to get the drivers classified as employees so that they can unionize. “We will continue to fight this union greed and protect the drivers’ rights to act as their own bosses,” the NFI statement reads.