A group of truck drivers who own their rigs have sued one of the biggest trucking companies at the Port Newark/Elizabeth Marine Terminal, charging the company wrongly deducted thousands of dollars from their pay by improperly classifying them as independent contractors.  The company insisted that classifying owner-operators as contractors, and deducting workers compensation costs is an accepted and legal practice.  Under the suit, dated July 5 and filed in state Superior Court in Newark, the 35 driver-plaintiffs say they have been classified as independent contractors by Ironbound Express Inc., dating back at least six years.

The drivers also say that by classifying them as independent contractors, the companies prevent them from forming collective bargaining units to demand better pay and working conditions.  A similar suit is now pending against Ironbound in federal court.  New Jersey law forbids employers from deducting workers compensation costs from employee paychecks. But the lawyer for drivers, David Tykulsker, said his clients are, for all intents and purposes, employees of the company, which he said has misclassified them in order to skirt the law.  "You can all them independent contractors, you can call them blue cheese, but they are employees because if not for them the work doesn’t get done," said Tykulsker, who will announce the suit during a noon press conference Wednesday outside the Essex County Courthouse. (click on link to read full story)