From The Globe Business Desk

On Thursday, Assemblyman Sandré Swanson, chairman of the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment, convened an informational hearing in Long Beach on the plight of California’s port truck drivers. Senator Alan Lowenthal (D-Long Beach), Assemblyman Felipe Fuentes (D-Arleta) and Assemblyman Mark DeSaulnier (DMartinez) were in attendance.

   At the hearing, port truck drivers testified about some of the working conditions they face on the job, including low pay, long hours, little or no benefits and hazardous conditions. The committee also heard testimony from staff from the Port of Los Angeles, who gave a presentation on a Clean Trucks Program proposal that the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are currently considering. The proposal has garnered widespread support from labor and environmental groups, among others.

    Under the proposal, the ports would gradually phase out the use of older trucks and would require trucking companies operating at the ports to employ drivers rather than utilize independent contractors or “owner-operators.” Under the proposal, the transition period of phasing in clean trucks and moving the drivers to employee status would be completed by 2012. The plan is intended to reduce pollution at the ports by 80 percent over a five-year period.

    Industry groups such as the California Trucking Association have opposed the plan, which the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach are scheduled to vote on the plan later this month. The Port of Oakland is discussing similar proposals and may consider action as early as November.

    “Although the parties may have different ideas about what the proper solution is, I think everyone acknowledges that the current system is broken,” said Swanson. “We need to do something to improve the lives of these drivers, as well as the lives of those who live in the communities surrounding the ports. For this reason, I believe we need to be open to innovative solutions such as the one currently under consideration.”

    The committee also heard testimony from Chuck Mack, western region vice president for the International Brotherhood of Teamsters; Professor Kristen Monaco, PhD, from Cal State Long Beach; and Tom Politeo of the Sierra Club’s Harbor Vision Taskforce.

    In recent years, the Assembly Committee on Labor and Employment has conducted a number of hearings on the working conditions of port truck drivers. The most recent hearing was held in January 2005.