Teamsters to try to block Mexican trucks
yahooonews (AP)
WASHINGTON
The Teamsters Union said Wednesday it will ask a federal appeals courts 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.
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.
A call to a spokeswoman at the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration was not immediately returned.
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 100 Mexican motor carriers full access to U.S. roads. 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.
Since 1982, Mexican trucks have had to stop within a buffer border zone and transfer their loads to U.S. trucks.
Wild Thing’s comment……..
“Sierra Club”
Will wonders never cease.
Because Bush is insisting on this happening, Rep. Duncan Hunter had a bill requiring all Mexican transport vehicles to adhere to the same rules and regulations as Domestic transport vehicles on American Highways. Does anyone know what happened to that bill?
It would have made our highways safer for American pedestrians and motorists. It would have curbed drug running. It would have greatly diminished illegal alien smuggling. I thought it should have had a clause calling for inspections at the border as well.
I wonder how many trucks will be half full of illegals stowed away behind a stack of cargo?
From Bush remarks from July 2001:
“It is wrong for the Congress to discriminate against Mexican trucks, and I urge the Senate to reject an amendment to the transportation bill that would clearly discriminate against Mexican truckers. Our Mexican counterparts and friends need to be treated just like the Canadians are treated. We ought to… We ought to, you know, accept the spirit of NAFTA. And so whether it be people or trucks or businesses, I solidly reject discrimination against people who are here of all origins, particularly Mexico.”
… our supposed superpower nation has $old our own American workers out by allowing Mexico to fuel the illegal immigration migration with unsafe transports. We purposely sabotaged our railway system by allowing it to deteriorate as well. Let’s hear it for Estados Unidos Presidente Jorge ‘Loco’ Bush 43! And I just $helled out $40 to DMV for my truck to PASS INSPECTION until 2009?
Teamsters To Try To Block Mexican Trucks
Bush. Whatever he’s done right, he’s done right by accident. The Donks are right about one thing. He can’t put one coherent thought behind another, but when called upon to corrupt the language, he’s pretty good. Notice the word “discriminate”. Propaganda Man. I’m thinking that John Conyers is right, and that’s not a happy thought.
PS:
I read over Bush’s comment. This fool only got elected because of the mush brain who ran against him. Another reason to loathe Kerry.
Wow. I agree with the Teamsters on this one.
We don’t know what’s in those trucks or if the drivers are carrying diseases or other parasites.
We can’t let it be free reign to drive all over America.
I don’t want that super highway going through my backyard.
We don’t have free reign down there, so they shouldn’t have free reign up here.
My question is where have the Teamsters been. This has been out there for a couple of years. Why are they so late to the party.
Just a year ago the Teamsters were out on the stump with Toad Kennedy supporting Illegal Immigration.
Where are the other Unions in protest of this scam. Do they think their jobs are that safe with Millions of Illegals streaming over the border un-checked ?
The Trade Unions had better be especially careful, Mexican Carpenters, Electricians and Plumbers all coming to the states. The Davis-Bacon Act isn’t going to bail their sorry ass out this time.
For example in Chicago a Journeyman Electrician makes about 30 dollars an hour plus benefits, which the employer has to pay. How much do these A**holes think a Mexican Electrician will demand ? They have always had a problem with non-Union shops … Ha wait,,, just wait until an influx of these trades hit the streets.
Also, there are two bills in congress right now, sponsored by Congressman Grijalva (D for dumbass)from the Southwest, to allow a corridor for Illegals to run into the country unabated No border patrol nothing just a free corridor, Not to be fenced, not to be guarded, just open space for Bushes Brown friends.
The Unions have supported the democrats all this time, especially for minimum wage increases and other intrusive government programs. They had better have a second think about supporting the democrats.
If this goes through, road signs will be required to be in English / Spanish. They can be confusing enough now without adding to it.
The Unions are all for illegal immigration until their members realize what all this cheep labor is going to do to their jobs. Why pay a Union construction worker $25 per hour when you can go to Lowes and hire an illegal for $8 per hour to do the same job.
We are doing with Mexico and Central America what Europe has done with North Africa and the Middle East. Welcoming their overpopulations. Bush is putting our soverienty into the toilet of globalism/socialism. Ah, but the big multi-national corporations will prosper. And their CEOs/BODs will reap unbelievable fortunes in executive bonus’s.
I am almost always against unions and for business. Thanks to Bush and his crowd I am now in the distastful position of doing a 180. What happens now to the independent American trucker, the owner-operator guy?
The Trans-Texas Corridor super mercantile highway being built from Texas to Canada will be foreign built, foreign operated and foreign owned. But the American privately owned land for it will be seized through emminent domain and the highway will be limited to commercial traffic mainly.
Hey, 1984 is here. Just a few decades late.
Maybe if you live long enough, you end up with your beliefs in tatters, and find yourself on the other side.
I’m siding with The Teamsters, here, and against the utopian Free Trade delusions.
Troubling…Bush compares Mexico to Canada, and as I said earlier, uses the word “discrimination”. This is Clintonian bullsh**. He knows (but maybe not), that the two countries are not analagous. He could probably find the direction of Mexico from Crawford with a compass, but would certainly have more trouble with Canada.
Without knowing for sure, I’d say Canadian standards and wages are nearer ours than Mexican standards, so the distinction is irrelevant…and the social problems connected to mass migration from South and Central American countries also does not apply.
And the charge of Big Business selling us out? I used to argue that they wouldn’t. Now I think they are.
I heard today on Beck, a not so unique theory. They, the Government, are pushing the people to the breaking point, the point where people are thinking revolution. Then when it reaches that point declare Martial Law and suspend the Constitution. Then there would be no problem with any of this. The people would have no say in the matter.
2 1/2 years ago I wouldn’t have believed Bush would even suggest having the government bail out faulted Mortgages today he did just that. Bush has gone from a quasi conservative to a flaming liberal in just that amount of time. If Jobs are going over seas Bush ought to look in the mirror for someone to blame.
As far as siding with the Teamsters or any Union you guys go right ahead I have been battling those bastards for the last 25 years and fought the IBEW for at least that long.
As I said above where the hell have they been during all of this. Where the hell were the Unions when Clinton signed Nafta and Gatt, where the hell were the Unions. They mounted a nominal protest and that is what it amounted to. Can you buy anything from K-mart, Wal-mart or any other chain without seeing a Made in China label.
Where were/are the unions on the SSP and NAU you don’t hear a peep out of them, they want first dibs on over bidding the job of putting in the super-highway.
Square-D part of the Schneider group, use to be a great American Company. You can not buy a ‘Breaker’ made in the United States. It is either China or Mexico. … But they cost the same as they did when they were made here. If a breaker made in China fails there is no guarantee it will fail open, if it fails closed you get a fire.
Home Depot and Lowes used to have 3 or 4 Electrical Distributors…not any more they sell almost exclusively Square-D. Made in China or Mexico.
Copper is another commodity that has gone through the roof. 250 feet of 12/2 is now 87 dollars thats almost 35 cents a foot.
Where are the Unions to protect the little guy they are not there. This is all built around getting rid of the small businessman so the large corporations can excel.
There will be no competition in the labor place, it will all be the same price. Sounds like socialism or worse, to me.
Where were the Teamsters when NAFTA was imposed? They never complained but they were there to haul the bounty of freight that was coming across the borders, that same freight that has put many an independent farmer out of business. Now that the rooster has come home to roost and teamster jobs are threatened they are finally squalling, I agree with them in this issue but it’s a too late. The bottom line is Jorge is still pushing the NAU agenda, those socialists in the Unions are no better than Jorge, they both have let down the American citizen and American worker with their special interests where a few powerful at the top reap the benefits of all those below them. What Mark has outlined above is the gospel, I’ve been in both the Teamsters and the IBEW, they both collected dues from me, then when I needed their support it wasn’t there, I left the unions after 9 years of their BS and 7 months of picketing for their benefit.
Daimler-Chrysler just split, Daimler pulled out, it’s because of the unions and their rigid cradel to the grave welfare impositions on the industry and we the consumer. Did the Autoworkers union block the mergers? Did they stop the import industry from taking over the domestic market? Hell no they played both ends toward the middle. the result is an offshore control and ownership and job losses on the domestic scene. Buy American, it’s a sick joke, the American industry has gone Chinese and Mexican. The charismatic Fred Thompson announced he’ll throw his hat into the arena on Sept. 6, , ever wonder what his globalist credentials are since he was a signatory to NAFTA? So now defending our sovereignty and jobs are discriminatory!!!
I got off the phone today with an engine remanufacturer as to why it’s taking so long to get an engine from them. He told me the company is in kind of a disarray because they’re transferring all their remanufacturing facilities to Mexico. I canceled our order with him. How much you want to bet that once production starts in Mexico the prices of their engines will be the same or even higher?
Darth, your right, this is so totally stupid and the problems that this is going to bring are huge.
Rhod, your so right about everything you said about Bush, Kerry and also the Teamsters. I don’t blame the Teamsters one bit for not liking this.
It is another one of the stupid things we have to be exposed to and coming down to us all from the top, the President. That just turns my stomach.
I swear I would LOVE to make it where absolutely nothing can be done in this country without a vote from us, we the people. Not even an elected offical buying a freaking pencil without our approval.
They cannot be trusted to do what is best for this country and 90% of them have their own agenda that from what I see is not one I approve of at all.
Lynn I agree with you, this is so wrong on so many counts.
Mark, omg…. I have chills reading what you wrote…. I didn’t know all of that and also this…..
“Just a year ago the Teamsters were out on the stump with Toad Kennedy supporting Illegal Immigration.”…..
Good grief can’t they make up their minds or what. Being for the illegals is only inviting trouble and now they have it right in their own business.
I am glad they are taking a stand about it now, but it is too late and since it is coming down from Bush I doubt it can be stopped.
Socialism or worse you are so right Mark.
Bob I had not even thoguht of that but of course that could happen you right. GRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Road signs in both languages, man oh man this ticks me off so much.
Tom, your right and I have been reading a lot about that highway and it has absolutely nothing that should happen about it.
I feel so powerless, like our voice means so little anymore. OH we spoke up about the amnesty after tons of work to try and stop it, but they still have no intention of finishing the fence and really doing all the things to put a halt to the illegals.
Door is wide open and the flys are coming in.
Jack, this whole thing just makes me so sick.
And I understand completely how you felt about when you needed them they were not there for you.
Our America is disappearing so fast right before our eyes, like water running through open fingers on the hand.
Bob oh my gosh that is horrible, I would have done the same thing as you did.