Thread: Teamsters expand lawsuit against Mexican trucks

Teamsters expand lawsuit against Mexican trucks to add environmental claims

By Associated Press, Updated: Wednesday, November 23, 11:44 AM

WASHINGTON — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters has expanded its lawsuit against the government in a long-running battle that has stopped Mexican trucks from coming deep into the United States.

In papers filed in federal appeals court in Washington on Wednesday, the union says the government must first assess the environmental impact of a pilot project before letting it continue. The first Mexican truck in the pilot program crossed the border last month.

Teamsters President James P. Hoffa says opening the border to the trucks is an attack on the environment, on highway safety and on American truckers and warehouse workers.

Under the North American Free Trade Agreement signed nearly two decades ago, trucks from both countries were supposed to have unhindered access to highways on either side of the border.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/ ... story.html

Teamsters Sue To Close Border To Unsafe, Polluting Mexican Trucks

By International Brotherhood of Teamsters


Published: Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011 - 11:48 am

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2011 -- Hoffa: Pilot Program Is An Attack on American Truckers and Warehouse Workers

WASHINGTON, Nov. 23, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --The Teamsters on Wednesday sued to block the U.S. Department of Transportation from opening the U.S. border to dangerous Mexican trucks through an illegal pilot program.

"Opening the border to these dangerous, dirty trucks is an attack on highway safety, an attack on American truckers and warehouse workers, an attack on border security and an attack on our environment," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. "It's outrageous enough that we've outsourced millions of jobs to foreign countries, but now we're bringing foreign workers across the border into the United States to take our jobs. This is another pressure the American middle class doesn't need."

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Public Citizen and the Sierra Club challenged the program in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit. The suit claims the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration breaks the following laws:


â—¦It waives a law that trucks must display certain proof that they meet federal safety standards.
â—¦It breaks the law requiring the pilot program to achieve an equivalent level of safety because Mexican drivers don't have to meet the same physical requirements as U.S. drivers.
â—¦It breaks the law that Mexico must provide simultaneous and comparable access to U.S. trucks. Mexico cannot do so because of the limited availability of ultra-low sulfur diesel fuel in Mexico.
â—¦It breaks the law that the pilot program must include enough participants to be statistically valid. The FMCSA's proposal ensures that only the best Mexican trucks participate, which would allow it to justify letting any Mexican truck over the border in the future.
â—¦It doesn't comply with the environment requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act.


"Congress has repeatedly and overwhelmingly set tough safety conditions for any cross-border trucking program, and this one clearly doesn't meet those conditions," Hoffa said.

The pilot program got off to a rocky start when the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration approved trucking operator Grupo Behr from Tijuana, Mexico. The carrier owned one 20-year-old semi-tractor trailer with numerous safety issues. FMCSA had to disqualify it from the program after the Teamsters Union and others brought Grupo Behr's safety record to light. A second carrier, Transportes Olympic, of Monterrey, Mexico, started operating in the U.S. last month. Safety concerns have also been raised about Transportes Olympic.

Founded in 1903, the Teamsters Union represents more than 1.4 million hardworking men and women in the United States and Canada.

http://www.sacbee.com/2011/11/23/407634 ... order.html