Clean and Safe Ports
In the U.S., some 110,000 short haul truck drivers transfer about 80 % of all goods from large seaports to massive warehouses complexes. This work is concentrated in a limited number of ports: five seaports handle over 60% of US imports. These drivers work long days, earning an average of $28,000 per year with no benefits since they are misclassified as independent contractors rather than employees. As a result, they are denied the right to organize a union, basic health and safety protections and are required to provide a truck and maintain it. Most end up with outmoded diesel trucks generating dangerous pollution and health problems for them and nearby communities. In some major ports drivers have organized with community, faith and environmental justice allies to secure basic workplace rights and solutions to environmental concerns. These organizing campaigns show promise partly because of the unique power Port Authorities have and the various ways in which they can be held accountable for their impact on workers and neighboring communities.
Organization Name |
Purpose of Grant | Amount | State | Year |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy | Clean and Safe Ports Campaign | $25,000 | California | 2009 |
| East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy | Clean and Safe Ports Campaign | $25,000 | California | 2010 |
| East Bay Alliance for a Sustainable Economy | Campaign for Clean and Safe Ports: supporting right of drivers to unionize | $32,500 | California | 2011 |
| Partnership for Working Families | Clean and Safe Ports Campaign | $30,000 | District of Columbia | 2009 |
| Partnership for Working Families | Clean and Safe Ports Campaign | $25,000 | District of Columbia | 2010 |
| Partnership for Working Families | National coordination for Clean and Safe Ports Campaign | $30,000 | District of Columbia | 2011 |
| Puget Sound Sage | Clean and Safe Ports Campaign | $32,500 | Washington | 2011 |