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October 4, 2000 10:10 AM, EDT

California port truckers last week staged work stoppages and rallies in Oakland and Long Beach with the help of the Teamsters Union to protest long working hours, poor wages and high fuel costs.

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The protests were a prelude to an international demonstration planned for Oct. 4 by trucker unions in 65 countries. The Teamsters Union hopes to take part in that demonstration, which will focus on driver fatigue.

The U.S. port protests also followed a month of unrest by truckers in Europe weary of paying record-high prices for diesel fuel. Protests ebbed in most of Europe but truckers’ tempers continued to flare in Germany, Spain, Greece and Australia.

The most militant sector of the trucking industry in the United States has been the drivers hauling containers from the ports. They have complained not just about high fuel prices, but unsafe work conditions, low pay, poor benefits and long work hours.

For the full story, see the Oct. 2 print edition of Transport Topics. .