Thread: NAFTA hwy, Teamsters Report

NAFTA superhighway to mean Mexican drivers, say Teamsters
Union warns of drug-taking truckers, unsafe rigs on planned trade routes

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Posted: August 28, 2006
1:00 a.m. Eastern



© 2006 WorldNetDaily.com





WASHINGTON – The NAFTA superhighway, a north-south interstate trade corridor linking Mexico, Canada and the U.S., would mean U.S. truckers replaced by Mexicans, more unsafe rigs on American roads and more drivers relying on drugs for their long hauls, charges the International Brotherhood of Teamsters – the latest group to weigh in against the Bush administration plan.

The August issue of Teamster magazine features a cover story on the plan for an enlarged I-35 that will reach north from the drug capital border town of Nuevo Laredo, Mexico, 1,600 miles to Canada through San Antonio, Austin, Dallas, Kansas City, Minneapolis and Duluth, while I-69 originating at the same crossing will shoot north to Michigan and across the Canadian border.

Public proposals for the superhighway calls for each corridor to be 1,200 feet wide with six lanes devoted to cars, four to trucks, with a rail line and utilities in the middle. Most of the goods will come from new Mexican ports being built on the Pacific Coast – ports being run by Chinese state-controlled shipping companies.


"Tens of thousands of unregulated, unsafe Mexican trucks will flow unchecked through out border – a very real threat to the safety of our highways, homeland security and good-paying American jobs," writes Teamster President Jim Hoffa. "The Bush administration hasn't given up on its ridiculous quest to open our border to unsafe Mexican trucking companies. In fact, Bush is quietly moving forward with plans to build the massive network of highways from the Mexican border north through Detroit into Canada that would make cross-border trucking effortless."

So incensed was the union over the plan for the NAFTA superhighway that it sent investigative reporter Charles Bowden to Mexico for its August magazine report on the problems affecting Mexican drivers – problems that could soon come home to Americans with the plans for the new intercontinental highways.

Drivers interviewed for the magazine report say they are exploited by companies that force them to drive 4,500 kilometers alone over the course of five or six nights without sleep. How do they stay awake on such long hauls?

One driver says, "professional secret." Another laughs, "magic dust." Others mention "special chemicals."

"And then they are off, a torrent of words and quips and smiles, and a knowing discussion of that jolt when a line of cocaine locks in," writes Bowden. "They are all family men who run the highways at least 25 days a month and they are adamant about two things – that nobody can run these long hauls without cocaine and crystal meth, and now and then some marijuana to level out the rush. And the biggest danger on their endless runs comes from addicted Mexican truck drivers, which means all truck drivers."

Mexican drivers, of course, earn considerably less than their U.S. counterparts – about $1,100 a month. Hoffa says the NAFTA superhighway plan would "allow global conglomerates to capitalize by exploiting cheap labor and non-existent work rules and avoiding potential security enhancements at U.S. ports."

The drivers interviewed for Teamster magazine say they are completely at the mercy of their employers, the Mexican government and police – who are the first to rob them. All of those interviewed said they have killed people with their trucks on the highways and fled the accident sites.

Hoffa calls NAFTA an "unqualified disaster" up to now – and wonders why the nation continues to pursue the "free trade" agenda. Instead of creating new jobs, he said, it has cost 3 million in manufacturing alone. Instead of creating trade surpluses, America's trade deficit is the worst ever, he says.

"If there's a positive side to the disastrous legacy of NAFTA, it's that it has made it a little harder for the free trade cabal to wrap their lies around subsequent job-killing deals," says Hoffa. "While the White House and Senate still have a majority who continue to support the free trade agenda, their ranks have shrunk over the years – sometimes due to members of Congress changing their minds and sometimes due to voters changing their member of Congress."

He adds: "If the Bush administration succeeds (with the NAFTA superhighway), American drivers and their families will be forced to share the roads with unsafe, uninsured trucks and millions of good-paying American jobs will be lost. And just one weapon of mass destruction in an unchecked container will be too many."



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http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/artic ... E_ID=51712


Can you imagine the accidents? A rail line in between the roads????

American truck driver's are subject to random drug testing and now they are going to let mexican truck drivers on our roads all drugged up without any drug testing. How many tons of drugs will come across the border then, like it isn't already too many now. Think of the lives that will be lost then.

American truck driver's are subject to random drug testing and now they are going to let mexican truck drivers on our roads all drugged up without any drug testing. How many tons of drugs will come across the border then, like it isn't already too many now. Think of the lives that will be lost then.

American truckers are closely scrutinized. Trucks are rountinely checked for safety, drivers are only allowed to drive so many hours before resting, log books are kept and audited, etc. Perhaps we have a trucker on ALIPAC that can fill us in on all the requirements for being an American trucker.

"If there's a positive side to the disastrous legacy of NAFTA, it's that it has made it a little harder for the free trade cabal to wrap their lies around subsequent job-killing deals," says Hoffa. "While the White House and Senate still have a majority who continue to support the free trade agenda, their ranks have shrunk over the years – sometimes due to members of Congress changing their minds and sometimes due to voters changing their member of Congress."

Whether or not their ranks have shrunk, they have not shown the character and backbone to resist the pressures of Bush and cronies who are systematically, step-by-step, inflicting their globalist agenda on this country. Read on regarding the arm-twisting and threats (according to Tancredo) that went on to get CAFTA passed.



http://www.augustreview.com/index.php?m ... d=6&pid=12

CAFTA: The Passion of George Bush
By: Patrick Wood on Jul 29, 2005

The White House pulled out all the stops to insure the passage of the globalistic Central American Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA).

Leading up to the vote was a secret and closed meeting of the House Republican Conference, ordered by House Speaker Dennis Hassert (R-Ill). President George W. Bush personally addressed the group to persuade doubters to vote for passage. It is a rare occurrence for a sitting president to use such a technique to influence legislation.

All the other "big hitters" came out as well: Vice President Dick Cheney, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, U.S. Trade Representative Rob Portman, Commerce Secretary Carlos Gutierrez, and others. Collectively, they hammered on holdouts until minds were changed.
The Wall Street Journal reported that Vice President Cheney even camped out in an office just off the House floor.

The persuasion had more do to with political deals than with with ideology however. The Journal further notes that "Highway projects were dangled before undecided lawmakers, as well as assignments on top-shelf committees."

"If they voted their conscience, Cafta would fail by 50 votes in the House," claimed Augustine Tantillo, lobbyist for American Manufacturing Trade Action Coalition, a Cafta foe. ( House Narrowly Approves CAFTA , Wall Street Journal, 7/28/2005, p. A2)

Collectively, a great majority of U.S. citizens oppose globalization, and this is generally reflected in the makeup of Congress.

Once again, the American people have been run over by global elitists who presume to know what is best for them. This time, the leader of the pack is clearly identified as President George W. Bush.

I'm not a truck driver but have friends that are and they are tested often for drug and alcohol use. It's my understanding that if you are ever caught driving while under the influence of either, on your own time and in your car, you loose your trucking license. They had to keep precise log books and weren't allowed to drive more than 8 hrs. without a stop. That's why some like to hire teams so the truck can stay on the road for 16 hrs. instead of 8. They had their trucks searched at weigh stops sometimes too. There seems to be no mention of any of those kinds of things on the "super highway".