MIAMI - A federal judge ordered an end to a two-week strike by 700 independent truckers at the Port of Miami-Dade, which has cost the port and its customers millions of dollars.
U.S. District Judge Patricia A. Seitz issued a temporary restraining order Friday, saying the port, Miami-Dade County and a private terminal operator at the port would suffer "immediate and irreparable injury, loss or damage" unless the striking truck drivers were forced to stop the boycott.
The workers vowed to continue the strike.
"We are not going back to work until our demands are met," striking driver Eladio Marin said.
The truckers began their work stoppage June 28 as part of a nationwide strike. Since then, the Miami-Dade port said it has lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in fees and nine loaded vessels were diverted to other ports.
Universal Maritime Services, a private terminal operator, said it has lost 95 percent of its business, at a cost of about $700,000 because truckers weren't entering the port to pick up or deliver cargo.
The drivers are seeking higher wages, saying that long waits at the port make their $50 a load payment insufficient. They also say they should not be required to pay for liability insurance, which is deducted from their paychecks.
Seitz is scheduled to hear the motion for a preliminary injunction against the truck drivers on Thursday. The county, port and Universal Maritime argued that, as independent contractors and nonunion members, the truck drivers were violating antitrust law by conspiring to obstruct trade.
"We are not unsympathetic to the plight of the independent drivers, but we can't condone what counsel has advised us is illegal," Assistant Port Director Juan Kuryla said.
