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ShareThisNJ Port Drivers Sue Over Contractor Status
Lawsuit claims drayage company misclassified them as employees
Owner-operator truck drivers this week sued one of the largest drayage operators at the Port of New York and New Jersey, claiming the company improperly classified them as independent contractors instead of employees.
The lawsuit, filed Wednesday in New Jersey Superior Court in Newark, represents a new tack in a Teamsters-backed campaign to classify owner-operators as employees who would be eligible for union representation.
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The drivers claim Ironbound Express wrongly deducted workers’ compensation premiums from their pay. “You can’t, as an employee, have your workers’ compensation premiums deducted from your pay,” said David Tykulsker, the drivers’ attorney.
A separate lawsuit challenging drivers’ classification as independent contractors was filed against Ironbound in U.S. District Court in April. The federal lawsuit claims owner-operators who haul containers to and from the port are under company direction and should be considered employees.
“I believe these actions will inspire several lawsuits by other drivers at other trucking companies,” said Fred Potter, director of the Teamsters union’s port division.
Ironbound CEO Frank Borland said the company will contest the lawsuits, which he said challenge industry practices that are long-established and legal.
He said drayage companies are required to ensure that drivers carry workers’ compensation insurance, just as a homeowner must for a contractor. “Some of the drivers carry their own workers’ comp,” he said. “If for some reason they don’t, we’re obligated to provide it for them and pass through the cost.”
Borland also said that unlike employees, owner-operator drivers sometimes drive for other companies and take time off when it suits their schedules. “They can move around as freely as they want to,” he said. “They are as independent as you can get.”
Potter spoke along with Rep. Donald Payne, D-N.J., and Newark City Councilman Ronald Rice at a sidewalk rally attended by about 30 drivers and supporters.
Payne praised the drivers for being “willing to stand up here and try to shine a light on a broken port trucking system that allows their hard-earned dollars to be stolen from them.”
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there ae no shortage of truck driving jobs in this country and the pay is very good for not requiring a high school diploma. the owner operator issue is a tough debate on both sides of the coin, the drivers always want more pay and do not understand the dynamics of what the trucking company has to endure as far as expense. many drivers do not realize that the average medium sized yard in north jersey costs upwards of $10,000 per month and insurance alone runs approx $13,000 per truck. add dispatchers, sales, and safety personnell cosst on top of that and you are looking at a large and capial intensive nut each month regardless if trade is busy or slow. workers comp is requied to be carried for all employees and contractors for trucking. of course i do not know all of the particulars but ironbound needs to proect itself to make sure they have it in case thre is a problem. it is hard enough to get drivers to stay on top of their medical cards, bobtail insurance, and required maintenance. i can only imagine how hard it is to keep them updated on expensive workers comp ( the rate levels for this are the true crime here ).