Truck drivers transporting goods from the Port of Los Angeles filed a formal complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal / OSHA) due to insecurity with which they carry out their work, lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), lack of social distancing, shared equipment that is not disinfected and their classification as independent workers.
The complaint filed on behalf of David Averruz and Juan Carlos Giraldo, current truck drivers of Deco Logistics, which operates under the name of Container Connection and is located at 14575 Innovation Drive, in the city of Riverside, sent a formal letter of complaint to Victor Copelan, Cal / OSHA district manager in the Los Angeles office.
Complaint dated 19 of February – the copy of which was given to Real America News – requested that Cal / OSHA conduct an immediate inspection ediata at the port truckers’ workplace, including customer warehouses to investigate COVID contagion hazards – 19 to which they were exposed.
In addition, it was explained that “the policies and prevention procedures implemented by Container Connection, under a COVID Prevention Program – 19, apparently absent ”, was contrary to the COVID Temporary Emergency Standards – .
“The dangers of contracting COVID – 19 and lack of implementation of prevention policies and procedures have occurred since the state was declared by the Governor of California on March 4, 2020, Despite the specific measures required by virtue of the Public Order for the Protection of Work issued by the Mayor of Los Angeles [Eric Garcetti] ”, it is stated in the complaint.
As if that were not enough, the document also establishes that the COVID Control Order is being violated – 17 of “Safer at Home,” issued by the City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services.
“More than anything I hope they treat us better and that they are interested in our health and not just in the company’s profits,” said David Averruz, a Nicaraguan truck driver from 46 years living in Crestline, San Bernardino County.
“I hope they protect us better,” he added. “Since the pandemic began, they have not given us any protection; we have had to pay for masks, gloves and everything else that is required to avoid getting infected. ”
Container Connection is a short-distance goods transportation company serving the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach for businesses in the retail and manufacturing industries in the Inland Empire and California’s Central Valley. The company employs some 120 drivers, all classified as independent contractors and the majority of they are Latino men
Work with fear of contagion
David Averruz informed Real America News that, in the last week of February, the pandemic took the life of “Daniel”, a truck driver who was his friend.
“Every day, we all go to work in fear, because we are exposed to any type of contagion, and I would not want to get sick and then come home and make my family sick, “he said.
Aside from the fact that truckers are” wrongly “classified as independent contractors, his complaint indicates that Container Connection says they are responsible for their own Personal Protective Equipment.
Due to its size and volume of container movements, Container Connection is one of the largest shipping companies of goods that operate in the Port of Los Angeles and the Port of Long Beach, known as the Ports of the Bay of S an Pedro.
The complaint establishes that the nature of the operations in Container Connection presents multiple risks of becoming infected with COVID – . throughout their working day.
Drivers collect containers at port terminals, which are international entry points.
“This requires them to handle containers shipped from abroad and use frequently shared public equipment such as microphones and chassis. In the clients’ warehouses, the drivers exchange information very close to the security guards who record all the entrances and exits ”, the complaint indicates. “In the same way, drivers also enter large closed facilities, while warehouse personnel pick up the container”
It adds that, “throughout the trip from from the port to the warehouse, drivers rely on public truck stops to refuel and share a single bathroom in the truck yard where they park their units, that is, in the truck yard of the head office or one of all three truck yards in [la ciudad de] Compton. Those truck yards in Compton are shared with drivers from other companies.
Without health insurance or vacations
Other hazards include touching shared surfaces, such as the document drop box, document collection table, and door handles; In addition, drivers frequently interact with subcontracted security guards in all truck yards.
“I have been in this job for five years,” said Juan Carlos Giraldo , a Pereira, Colombia. “I am still in this job for the security of an income, but now we are raising our voice and bringing out the truth of what affects us. I used to have a job where they gave me all benefits, including health insurance, but an injury took me out of my comfort zone and now I work as to 100 weekly hours and I do not have any type of insurance, or vacations or help from the company. ”
In his point of view, Container Connection“ should have a conscience that we drivers are the ones who take risks on the roads, license our trucks, make extra payments for any breakdown of the truck, they do not give us any type of protection, and they must realize that we are not disposable people, “he told Real America News.
Repeated calls to Universal Intermodal or Universal Logistics Holdings, Inc. that operates under the name of Container Connection in the freight transport market in Los Angels, they were not answered for comment.
On the verge of death
Manuel Chavarría, from 44 years clears his throat when he speaks. It is one of several sequelae left by the COVID disease – .
This truck driver originally from San Vicente, El Salvador, who as a child suffered from asthma was discharged from a hospital on 17 June 2020, after being intubated for more than one month.
“I could not work; I am incapacitated… I left my lungs damaged, I have pain in my joints, shoulders and in my back ”, Manuel told Real America News. “After I got out of the hospital, I was unable to move for a month. I only thought about my wife and my daughters, but God gave me the strength to overcome that… I had never been in a hospital. ”
Even though Manuel is classified as an independent worker of Container Connection, authorities of the Employment Development Office (EDD) granted him unemployment benefits, considering that the trucking company was responsible for answering for him.
“I told the company that I had caught the coronavirus [en mayo 2020], but so far they have not even called to ask if I need something or not,” said Manuel, who has 12 years of seniority in that company. “I was working throughout the pandemic and with my own money I bought masks, gloves and sanitizer because the company did not provide us with anything.”
Manuel, the only one of his working family said they hope the truckers’ complaint to Cal / OSHA about working conditions will prosper.
“Hopefully this will change a little this industry because they are really committing too many injustices, “said Manuel. “They are selling like crazy, making multi-million dollar profits, but they don’t even want to protect our health.”