Port Truck Drivers are on STRIKE!

Tell Rio Tinto: it's time to drop Cal Cartage Express/NFI Industries.

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This week, workers from Cal Cartage Express, a subsidiary of NFI Industries, walked off the job to call for an end to retaliation and disrespect at work. These drivers haul heavy loads of borax from a mine owned by global mining corporation Rio Tinto out in the Mojave Desert to the Port of Los Angeles and Long Beach every day. They have been fighting against wage theft and misclassification for years.

Like most companies at the ports, Cal Cartage Express/NFI breaks the law by claiming their drivers are “independent contractors.” But the CA Labor Commissioner has found these drivers to actually be employees. By misclassifying drivers like this, NFI steals from its workers and the public by not paying minimum wage, paid sick days, payroll taxes, and workers compensation insurance.

These drivers need your support.

That's why we need you to call Rio Tinto’s corporate offices today and let them know you support the drivers’ strike and want Rio Tinto to drop its supplier Cal Cartage Express/NFI.

Call Rio Tinto TODAY!

Rio Tinto is the primary customer of Cal Cartage Express/NFI in Southern California. It’s time for Rio Tinto to enforce its Supplier Code of Conduct across its supply chain.

Cal Cartage Express/NFI has a long record of breaking the law by misclassifying its drivers. In December 2018, the California Labor Commissioner determined that Cal Cartage Express owed stolen wages to 14 drivers. New claims were filed in 2019, bringing the total owed to close to $5 million. Additionally, the Los Angeles Office of Wage Standards is conducting an ongoing investigation of Cal Cartage Express for violating Los Angeles' minimum wage and paid sick leave policies.

We are appalled that Rio Tinto would continue to be associated with a supplier with clear violations of labor law and standards, and we ask you to join us in making our voice heard. On Monday, LAANE’s Our People Our Port coalition led a delegation to management at the Rio Tinto mine. On Tuesday, we accompanied drivers to delegate Rio Tinto’s corporate offices in Salt Lake City and delivered a petition with 5,000 signatures calling on Rio Tinto to uphold its Supplier Code of Conduct. Then, just to make sure they got the message, a striking driver traveled to London to meet with Rio Tinto’s global executives.

Drivers are still on strike, and they need your support!

STAND WITH STRIKING PORT DRIVERS and call on Rio Tinto to DROP CAL CARTAGE/NFI INDUSTRIES AS A SUPPLIER.

CLICK HERE TO CALL

In Solidarity,

Jessica Durrum
Project Director
Our People Our Port Campaign

LAANE is a leading advocacy organization dedicated to building a new economy for all. Combining dynamic research, innovative public policy and the organizing of broad alliances, LAANE promotes a new economic approach based on good jobs, thriving communities, and a healthy environment.

Copyright © 2019, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy.

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