HEADLINE: Teamsters will ask court to block letting Mexican trucks into US

HEADLINE: Teamsters will ask court to block letting Mexican trucks into US

Posted on Aug 29, 2007 in NAFTA by PMC Comments Off

Editors Note: As I highlighted in bold, I wonder if they think they can go before the court, even one as liberal as the Ninth Circuit, with this obvious bald faced lie. Especially since this assertion has been disproved. I also would question the jurisdiction of the 9th in this matter. It appears these special interest groups are judge shopping.

WASHINGTON — The Teamsters Union said Wednesday it will ask a federal appeals court to block the Bush administration’s plan to begin allowing Mexican trucks to carry cargo anywhere in the United States.

The union said it has been told by officials in the Transportation Department’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration that the first Mexican trucks will be coming across the border on Saturday. The agency, however, neither confirmed nor denied such a timetable.

Teamsters leaders said they planned to seek an emergency injunction Wednesday from the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

 

“What a slap in the face to American workers, opening the highways to dangerous trucks on Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest driving weekends of the year,” said Teamsters President Jim Hoffa.

Joining the Teamsters in seeking the emergency stay were the Sierra Club and Public Citizen. “Before providing unconditional access throughout the country to tens of thousands of big rigs we know little to nothing about, we must insure they meet safety and environmental standards,” Sierra Club executive director Carl Pope said.

 

“What a slap in the face to American workers, opening the highways to dangerous trucks on Labor Day weekend, one of the busiest driving weekends of the year,” said Teamsters President Jim Hoffa.

Asked about the Teamster’s claim, a spokeswoman at the FMCSA provided The Trucker a brief statement from the agency.

“We are working closely with the Department’s Inspector General as his office completes an additional assessment of the program and we prepare a detailed response to that report,” the FMCSA statement said. “Congress has required that both of these steps be completed before the agency moves forward with the cross border trucking demonstration project.”

The Bush administration said last week it would start the cross-border program once the Transportation Department’s inspector general certifies safety and inspection plans.

Leslie Miller, a Teamsters spokeswoman, said attorneys for the federal truck safety agency advised the union’s lawyers that they expect to get that certification on Friday. She said the Teamsters also were told by the agency attorneys that limited authority for trucks to begin crossing the border will be approved Saturday.

Supporters of the plan say letting more Mexican trucks on U.S. highways will save American consumers hundreds of millions of dollars.

Labor and driver-owner groups have been fighting the measure — part of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement — since it was first proposed, saying the program will erode highway safety and eliminate U.S. jobs.

A one-year demonstration project would allow as many as100 Mexican motor carriers full access to U.S. roads. However, to date, only 37 carriers have been approved consisting on 145 trucks and 155 drivers. It can begin as soon as the inspector general certifies that safety and inspection plans and facilities are sufficient to ensure the Mexican trucks are as safe as U.S. trucks.