Drayage companies that service the Port of New York and New Jersey are once again squaring off with the Teamsters union in the divisive national debate over whether truck owner-operators are contractors or employees, this time over a bill in the New Jersey legislature, according to Journal Of Commerce.

The bill, which is intended to clarify the issue in New Jersey, got approval from a state assembly committee late last month, but has yet to move in the Senate. It comes as the Teamsters launch a concerted campaign to pressure trucking companies on the issue in California, where a week-long series of job actions involving drayage companies that serve the ports, intermodal rail yards and warehouses began Wednesday.

At issue is whether owner-operators are simply small businesses working by choice as contractors for trucking companies, or whether the drivers are “misclassified” as contractors and are actually employees because the drayage company that hires them controls their workflow and employment conditions to such a great extent.

Read more here.