Teamsters Sue to Stop Illegal, Unsafe Mexican Trucks From Crossing Into U.S.

WASHINGTON, Aug. 29 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Teamsters on Wednesday sought an emergency injunction to block the Bush administration from opening the U.S. border to unsafe Mexican trucks, three days before the pilot program is scheduled to begin.

The International Brotherhood of Teamsters was told by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) that it intends to grant authority on Sept. 1 for Mexican trucks to drive beyond the border zone and throughout the entire United States.

"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 General President Jim Hoffa.

The Teamsters, along with other highway safety and environmental groups, said the program breaks laws requiring the Department of Transportation to:

    -- create a program that yields statistically valid findings;
    -- show that U.S. trucks have the same right to travel in Mexico that
       Mexican-domiciled trucks have to travel here;
    -- reveal the inspection results for motor carriers allowed to drive
       beyond the border zone.

A memorandum accompanying the Teamsters motion stated that "In their rush to open the border, FMCSA and the Department of Transportation (DOT) are commencing a pilot program that does not comply with the congressional requirements that are statutory prerequisites for the program to begin."

The lawsuit was filed in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.

"Congress has repeatedly and overwhelmingly set stringent safety conditions for the cross-border trucking program to meet before our borders are thrown open," Hoffa said. "The Transportation Department inspector general's report released Aug. 21 made it clear that those conditions have not been met. The Bush administration's reckless endangerment of the American people is matched only by its brazen disregard for the law of the land."

    Among the conditions identified by the inspector general:

    -- Border states keep poor records of Mexican-domiciled truck drivers'
       traffic convictions;
    -- Checks of the validity of Mexican-domiciled commercial drivers'
       licenses against Mexico's database resulted in a failure rate of nearly
       20 percent;
    -- The government won't be able to inspect every truck every time it
       crosses the border;
    -- Drug testing continues to be questionable in Mexico.

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