We port drivers at the Ports of LA and Long Beach are fed up with how careless the ports continue to be with our safety. As drivers we move truck-loads of goods from the ports to warehouses and come into contact with a wide variety of people, equipment and facilities. We are worried about our own safety and that of our families. We are worried about how we will continue to pay for our trucks, insurance costs and our family expenses without our regular income.

We are considered “essential workers” but we are treated like garbage. We share phones, speakers and other equipment when we check in at the port terminals but there isn’t any protective gear such as gloves or masks provided. Many of us are immigrants and we work hard so that people all over the country have the things they need on the store shelves and so our hospitals get the medical equipment they need.

We demand and deserve for our survival that the following is done immediately:
• Provide drivers cash assistance right now including access to unemployment and other payments to replace our lost income.
• Make sure we can take paid leave so that we are able to stay home when we are sick and take care of our families.
• Suspend all payment requirements for truck loans, leases and insurance.
• Provide free Covid-19 testing and treatment for all drivers because most of us do not have health insurance.
• Provide us masks, gloves and other personal protective gear.
• Wipe down and disinfect the speakers, phones and other shared equipment after each person uses it.
• Provide hand washing stations, hand sanitizer, and clean bathrooms at all port facilities.
• Enforce social distancing at the ports.