NABC NEWS: Teamsters Set To Vote On Strike

[Alduria]

PUNTA SANTIAGO, ALDURIA (NABC News) -- Negotiations between two of the nation's largest shipping companies and the Aldurian Union of Teamsters (AUT) have broken down, leading the union to set a vote for a strike at its next general meeting in two days.

The truck drivers and warehouse workers who serve the Port of Punta Santiago are asking for an improvement of their working condition, a wage increase of 35%, and a reversal of the recent classification of drivers as independent contractors.

Aldurian Logistics and Kerularios & Company are the companies targeted by this strike, the companies unionized two years ago.

The vote will ask union membership to strike if an agreement cannot be reached. This would be the first strike by the port employees. The union contends that the truck drivers have been wrongly classified as independent contractors, rather than employees, and are not paid the wages they are owed. The union also highlights poor working conditions, stagnant wages, and lack of benefits.

"The shipping corporations of Punta Santiago have a long history of violating workers' rights, and our members are sending a message that we're not going to take it anymore. They all unilaterally changing workers' pay and work assignments, and then demand we work long hours with no benefits. The pay has not increased for any of us in over two years, but trade volume here has doubled in that same time. Our members felt they had no choice but to strike in order to send these corporations and this Government that enables them a wake-up call," said Maria Lopez, a spokeswoman for the Aldurian Union of Teamsters.

Aldurian Logistics and Kerularios & Company have offered significant concessions in wage increases for employees in negotiations, but they are at an impasse at the reclassification of truck drivers. The previous contracts with both companies expired earlier this year, the first established after unionization. These contracts lasted two years. The union and the companies have been negotiating for a five-year agreement.

Sources with knowledge of the negotiations confirm that negotiations are tense, but that efforts are underway to strike another two-year contract instead.