Truckers protest AB5 in California

As part of a protest against California’s Assembly Bill 5, truck drivers participated in a convoy on Wednesday, July 13 near the Port of Los Angeles.

Rachel Campbell, media relations manager for the Port of Los Angeles, confirmed the protest to Land Line.

“There is a convoy of approximately 100 truckers moving through the LA/Long Beach port complex,” Campbell wrote in an email. “At this point, there is no disruption of terminal activity. Los Angeles Port Police will assist in making sure all parties are able to express their First Amendment rights while also making sure the port continues to operate safely and commerce continues to flow.”

Multiple media outlets, including NBC Los Angeles, reported about the convoy. As of Wednesday morning, the TV station said “the 110 freeway was backed up from Sepulveda Boulevard and could be seen from Carson and Torrance.” In addition, NBC said the protest “seemed to be going up the 91 freeway.”

The protest follows the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent decision to not hear the California Trucking Association’s case against AB5, which is a worker classification law that makes it more difficult for someone to be considered an independent contractor.

The case

AB5 was passed in 2019, but an injunction prevented the law from being enforced on motor carriers until the Supreme Court’s recent decision.

Many truck drivers, including OOIDA life member Barbara Veit-Harwell, oppose the law, saying they do not want to be classified as an employee.

Veit-Harwell and her husband, David Harwell, have been leased on to Landstar for 22 years.

“If we felt we were being taken advantage of, we wouldn’t have stayed with them for 22 years,” she said.

The Supreme Court’s decision kicks the case back to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California, which granted the preliminary injunction in 2020.

A hearing is set for Aug. 22. LL