New Coalition Campaigns for Clean and Safe Ports


Diesel trucks at the Port of Oakland.

East Bay communities agree that the Port of Oakland trucking system is broken – failing workers, communities, and our environment.

The Port of Oakland’s maritime operations generate $1.7 billion in economic activity for the region. A crucial link in that revenue chain are the truckers who move port containers throughout California. But the trucking system that keeps this engine going is broken. Trucking companies have no standards and receive no oversight from the Port.

As a result of this lack of accountability,

  • truck drivers endure sweatshop conditions, breathing in diesel fumes while waiting in long lines without pay. After waiting time and expenses, drivers make as little as $8 an hour. The majority are uninsured, and only 14% receive health benefits on the job.  
  • neighborhoods are polluted. Poorly maintained old trucks in long lines spew diesel fumes into the surrounding community, and residents suffer the highest asthma hospitalization rates in California.
  • West Oakland residents lack jobs. Surrounding residents, who are primarily low-income people of color, receive all of the health risks of truck pollution, but none of the economic benefits. Trucking companies offer no local hire or training programs for West Oakland residents.
Dawit Ahferomfer, an Oakland Port trucker and father of two recounts, “Like many truckers at the Port, I came to the United States for a better life, but the pay is so low I can’t afford to take my two kids to the doctor or rent a good place for them to live. On top of that, the pollution is terrible. I cough, feel dizzy, and get headaches all the time.”

An estimated 2,500 truck drivers – immigrants from all over the world – work at the Port as independent contractors for over 100 small trucking companies. Because drivers are misclassified as “independent owner-operators” instead of employees, trucking companies fail to pay appropriate taxes, including social security and medicare and do not provide workers’ compensation insurance.  Moreover, because of their status as independent contractors, it is illegal for these truck drivers to form a union to advocate for a better life.

As landlord, the Port of Oakland can set standards. Currently, the Port of Oakland has no direct relationship with trucking firms, so it has no mechanism to hold “bad apple” trucking companies accountable. To establish control, the Port can use its status as the landlord of Port property just as it does at the Oakland Airport. By entering into direct contractual relationships with firms who meet a set of standards on labor, the environment, and local hiring, the Port would create much needed oversight, and:
  • Improve air quality for drivers and surrounding communities,
  • Ensure drivers have decent jobs, and
  • Ensure greater economic opportunities for residents most impacted by the Port.
To raise standards for truckers and the Oakland community, EBASE and the Change to Win labor federation co-convened the Coalition for Clean and Safe Ports in Oakland last Fall.  The Coalition is a broad alliance of environmental, labor, faith and community organizations working to clean up the port trucking industry, reduce environmentally harmful port emissions, stimulate greater economic opportunities for Oakland’s residents, and establish accountability to the Port’s surrounding communities.  Coalition members include Oakland ACORN, the West Oakland Environmental Indicators Project, the Pacific Institute, the Teamsters Union, the Alameda County Central Labor Council, Communities for a Better Environment, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the East Bay Community Law Center, the Workforce Collaborative, Urban Habitat, Ella Baker Center for Human Rights, the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, and the Oakland Black Caucus.

The Coalition has held two major public events. The first, a Port bus tour organized by the Interfaith Committee for Worker Justice, drew 80 clergy and community leaders to learn about the Port’s impact.  The second, a West Oakland town hall meeting, drew 275 participants, including 100 drivers and 175 West Oakland residents.  The Port’s Senior Leadership Team, including the Executive Director and a Port Commissioner, attended and publicly committed to work with the Coalition to advance its goals.

EBASE has a long track record of successful advocacy at the Port of Oakland, having played an instrumental role in the creation of the Maritime and Aviation Project Labor Agreement, which significantly increased access to $3 billion worth of Port-related construction work for Oakland workers; successfully sponsored a ballot initiative that created living wage and labor standards requirements for 3,000 workers at Airport and Seaport businesses; and advocated with the Port of Oakland to incorporate these employment standards into the RFP for Oakland Airport concessions, a campaign that directly parallels this one.

We are hopeful that the Port of Oakland will do the right thing after our sister coalition in Los Angeles won a huge victory. In April, the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach announced a major plan to overhaul port trucking in order to slash diesel pollution from trucks by 80% over five years.

For more information, please contact Doug Bloch at 510-893-1930, ext. 24 or doug.bloch[at]changetowin.org.