Labor Board Sides with L.A. Toll Group drivers in Struggle to End Sweatshop Conditions

[Omaha Steve]

http://grimtruthattollgroup.com/2012/01/03/labor-board-sides-with-l-a-toll-group-drivers-in-struggle-to-end-sweatshop-conditions/

Violations Add New Layer of Risks to Operations in Key First Test for Toll Group’s New CEO

LOS ANGELES – In another blow to Guess? and Polo Ralph Lauren’s trucking carrier, the local region of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) is preparing to issue a highly anticipated complaint against Australia’s Toll Group for committing a range of unfair labor practices to retaliate against its U.S. employees for union organizing. The violations will force the $8.6 billion global logistics giant to face federal trial if management does not remedy the charges of intimidation, harassment, and surveillance in full accordance with the law [see nlrb.gov].

The port truck drivers welcomed the news of their latest victory by immediately announcing plans to lead an early new year’s delegation with clergy and community advocates to implore Toll’s local management to make a resolution to recognize their union. Some 62 drivers out of 75 have already signed a petition to their Melbourne-based employer seeking their right to collectively bargain to end well-documented degrading and discriminatory workplace practices that have sparked public comparisons to Jim Crow at Toll’s Southern California facilities.

“They wanted us to keep our heads down but instead we took action together and now the tables are turned,” said Luis Alay, the father of a toddler and 11-year-old with 15 years of port hauling experience. “Management should pay a price for treating us like second-class citizens. We work long, hard hours away from our families. Don’t truck drivers deserve respect and dignity for all that we do to help our company succeed?”

Mr. Alay was one of the first drivers to file a series of charges last September. The board found he was suspended under phony pretenses and sided with several of his co-workers who presented evidence that they were wrongly singled out for interrogation and other illegal workplace bullying because they were identified as pro-union.

Toll – which provides transportation services for America’s name-brand fashion and athletic lines – also faced additional allegations it let go of one-third of its workforce prior to Black Friday due to blatant anti-union retaliation following worker protests, not because of some sudden “downturn” before the busy Christmas rush. But right after the workers cried foul to the Australian Consul-General, and the lead NLRB attorney publicly revealed the matter was a “priority investigation” for her agency that could warrant injunctive relief and back pay, the company reinstated 10 employees. Even the media openly speculated it a clear maneuver to thwart the board’s ability to conclude wrongdoing: “So strange were the layoffs, and the rehiring…” led one daily newspaper.

FULL story at link.

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For a comprehensive media account and chronology of events, see:

Raising Hell in the City of Angels, Australasian Transport News, December, 2011

More resources for the media and shareholders can be found at:

www.GrimTruthAtTollGroup.com

Toll drivers are available for interviews in English and Spanish, as well as officials from the Teamsters, Transport Workers Union, and Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports.