I’ll be writing a lot more in the future about the links between labor and the environment. Here’s a development that I’ve been following for some time. The Teamsters have had a long-term project to organize drivers in the ports, particularly on the West Coast–there are thousands of drivers who could potentially be Teamsters but, right now, are considered independent contractors. Independent contractors are not impossible to organize–as yours truly found out over time trying to organize those hard-to-get-out-of-their-pajamas freelance writers. But, if you’re trying to do typical union organizing and you want to have an NLRB-sanctioned bargaining unit election, independent contractors aren’t considered "employees" under the law.

    So…comes this campaign out in Los Angeles to clean up the air in the Port of Los Angeles–which, as a former resident of the city back in the early 80s I can say is pretty foul–and organize drivers. And there is progress to report. From the Los Angeles Times, we learn that:

The Los Angeles Harbor Commission on Thursday unanimously approved a clean air plan requiring shipping companies to buy and maintain a modernized fleet of big rigs and employ thousands of independent truckers who currently operate under contract.

A spokesman for the American Trucking Assn. derided the plan as a "scheme to unionize port drivers" and vowed that his group would sue the port. Spokesman Curtis Whalen said the plan violates court rulings allowing the trucking industry unrestricted access to markets nationwide.

Nonetheless, Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa told about 300 truckers at Banning’s Landing Community Center in Wilmington, "It’s a great day. In a few months from now, your children will begin to breathe easier, and so will your grandchildren.

"Today, Los Angeles has said enough is enough," he added. "When 1,200 lives are cut short every year by a barrage of diseases, ranging from emphysema to cancer of the mouth, we have a moral obligation to act fast."

    Well, Whalen, bring it on. Let’s have the debate about whether this kind of a plan is a "scheme". Let’s debate in the public arena whether it is a good thing for people to breathe decent air and not make children sick AND, at the same time, make sure that 16,000 exploited drivers can operate their rigs safely and get paid decent wages. You want to have that debate when people are clearly worried about both their planet and their wallets? Bring it on, baby.

    You can see more about the campaign here.

    As I see it, this is a very concrete step forward in the rising tide of the calls for strong labor-environmental links. I’ve found a little too much of  those calls to be rhetoric–good position papers, press conferences, and impressive looking advisory boards, though all of it is passionately felt and done with good intentions. This is a great example, if you look at how the campaign developed, of something real and tangible that can come out of these alliances.