Posts tagged truck drivers
California’s War on Autonomous Trucking
May 14, 2026 // As structural economic factors push costs for the freight industry and consumers higher, the American public has three options. It can accept higher prices for all transportation services; it can enlarge the labor pool through immigration; or it can embrace new technology that improves transportation productivity and resolves the Baumol dilemma. Becerra, Steyer, and Khanna have followed the path prescribed by FreightWaves’ Fuller, promising to force higher freight costs onto the public. While the Golden State’s coalition politics might require genuflecting to the Teamsters, Californians are bound to notice before long that they’re paying higher prices than people in other states while also lagging behind them technologically.
100 State Leaders Urge Washington to Protect Independent Work
May 8, 2026 // That is why State Policy Network’s Center for Practical Federalism helped organize a coalition of 100 state leaders from 25 states in support of the US Department of Labor’s proposed rule clarifying independent contractor status under federal law. The coalition includes four statewide officials and 96 state legislators. The proposed rule would rescind the Biden administration’s 2024 independent contractor rule and replace it with a clearer standard for determining when a worker is an employee and when a worker may be classified as an independent contractor under the Fair Labor Standards Act, the Family and Medical Leave Act, and the Migrant and Seasonal Agricultural Worker Protection Act.
Unions sue Trump over immigrant drivers license crackdown
October 28, 2025 // The employee unions challenged a rule implemented by Department of Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy restricting foreign individuals from receiving commercial drivers licenses. Commercial drivers licenses are used for operating large vehicles such as tractor-trailers and buses. Nineteen states and the District of Columbia allow unauthorized immigrants to receive commercial drivers licenses. In California, more than 25% of commercial drivers licenses were improperly issued, according to a Department of Transportation press release.
Amazon Teamsters Face New Challenges in NYC
September 10, 2025 // “The Cemex decision does two key things: one, institutes a new modified…doctrine that facilitates card check recognition; and two, lowers the threshold for when the Board will issue a bargaining order without holding an election,,” the law firm said in the post. The Teamsters spokesman said the union has had successful card check actions at more than 20 DSPs But in February, NLRB Acting General Counsel William B. Cowen issued a memo withdrawing earlier guidance on several earlier legal opinions, including the Cemex decision. That would seem to shut off the NLRB–which currently does not have a quorum but is awaiting Senate confirmation of two White House nominees–from approving a card check filing as a means to gain union recognition by Amazon or any employer…unless a full Republican-majority NLRB rules Amazon is a joint employer with the DSPs.
Walking Dead Production Driver Defends Victory over Teamsters for Unlawful Discrimination in Rigged “Hiring Hall”
September 2, 2025 // Virginia-based driver asks National Labor Relations Board to order notification and compensation of other victims of Teamsters’ discriminatory scheme
Commentary: To Harvard and Back with Julie Su
August 18, 2025 // This year, Julie Su, Joe Biden’s pick for secretary of labor, became a resident fellow with Harvard’s Kennedy School, Institute of Politics. The Century Foundation also brought Su on board as a full-time senior fellow. These prestigious institutions seem to have overlooked key events in Su’s long career. Harvard, where Su, a Stanford grad, earned her law degree, hails the Biden nominee as “a nationally recognized workers’ rights and civil rights expert.” As California’s labor commissioner, Su was “widely credited with a renaissance in enforcement and creative approaches to combating wage theft and protecting immigrant workers.” In reality, her experience was a bit more extensive.
North Texas union truck drivers threaten strike over fair wages and autonomous semi concerns
May 15, 2025 // "When you take the driver out of it, and you take the professional out of it, and you just leave it in the hands of a computer or something we're not fans of that, and I honestly don't feel that anyone who drives a vehicle or has a family shouldn't want that," he said. "That is a big concern for the community, but I don't know about y'all, but I don't want my family, my wife, and my kids, and my grandkids, on the same road as a truck, an 80,000-pound vehicle, without a driver involved."
Coca-Cola union members strike in southwest Fort Wayne
March 12, 2025 // Some Coca-Cola Bottling Co. Consolidated union members in Fort Wayne are protesting what they say are unfair labor practices by the plant. Teamsters Local 414 is on strike at the Coca-Cola plant on Airport Expressway Monday morning.
Teamsters boss Sean O’Brien’s mission to chart a new political path
March 11, 2025 // The Teamsters president may not claim any vindication, but his approach is encouraging some copycats among his counterparts in other major unions. United Auto Workers President Shawn Fain, who spoke at the Democratic National Convention and aggressively campaigned for Democrats up and down the ticket while labeling Trump an anti-union “scab,” has suddenly found a soft spot for the GOP and taken steps to engage with Republican senators.
IBEW Local 98 fined $25,000 for Dougherty lobbying
February 24, 2025 // Prosecutors alleged Henon, who worked as the union’s political director while also serving on City Council, was essentially on retainer to the union leader, using his council position to help Dougherty attack rivals in other unions and pressure large companies to hire union electricians. In November 2021, they were convicted on the majority of counts they faced. The jury found both men guilty of conspiracy and honest services fraud and Henon guilty of bribery.