Associated Press
Teamsters union General President Jim Hoffa led a rally at the
Otay Mesa border crossing to protest a pilot program that
allows long-haul trucking across the U.S.-Mexico border.
Posted on 12/05/2007 2:02:04 PM PST by NormsRevenge
SAN DIEGO – Saying he was here to fight for the safety of America's roads, Teamsters union General President Jim Hoffa led a rally Wednesday morning at the Otay Mesa border crossing to protest a pilot program that allows long-haul trucking across the U.S.-Mexico border.
“The big money boys want to have trucks coming through here that are dangerous,” Hoffa said over cheers from dozens of Teamsters and the roar from Mexican trucks leaving the U.S. inspection station on Enrico Fermi Drive.
“Wake up America, fight back,” Hoffa told supporters.
The pilot project, which has been up and running since September, allows up to 100 pre-approved Mexican carriers to send trucks throughout the United States – beyond the border zone – for a year to test the safety of cross-border trucking.
U.S. carriers also can travel in Mexico for the first time as a step toward opening the border to commercial traffic as required in the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
The Bush Administration favors cross-border trucking and says the safety issues raised by opponents are unfounded.
The program has faced fierce opposition from unions and independent truckers, and a pending transportation bill would cut its funding. The conference bill that would kill the pilot program is expected to win passage in the House and Senate.
But it faces a veto threat from President Bush, who objects to the bill's cost. If the transportation bill were vetoed, Congress could either override the veto with a two-thirds majority vote or send the president another bill.
Teamsters and other opponents say Mexican trucks are older, more polluting and not subject to the same inspection rigors as U.S. carriers. They say Mexican drivers don't have the same licensing requirements and are not tested for drugs.
“The Mexican government has no database that keeps track of these drivers and no drug testing,” Hoffa said this morning.
U.S. Department of Transportation spokeswoman Melissa Mazzella-DeLaney, who was at the rally, said union protectionism is the real force behind opposition and that Hoffa does not have the facts to back up his claims of unsafe trucks and drivers.
“To say that these trucks are not inspected is absolutely false,” Mazzella-DeLaney said. “They have more requirements than U.S. trucks.”
Likewise, she said Mexican drivers are heavily regulated and must undergo regular drug testing.
She pointed to a recent study by the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration which found that fewer Mexican drivers fail U.S. inspections than their U.S. counterparts.
A group of Mexican carriers – allowed to drive throughout the U.S. under special permits – had 1.21 percent of their drivers removed from service after failing U.S.-administered roadside inspections between 2003-2006, compared to 7.06 percent of U.S. drivers, according to the study.
The Teamsters are on the right side of this one. Their reasons may be different than ours but right is right.
Strange bedfellows indeed. conservatives on the same side of an issue as ... the teamsters. End of the world as we knew it.
But in the end, the Teamsters will support whoever the Democrat nominee is, and thereby support open borders. So their protest rings hollow to me.
Maybe the union thugs might want to show up at Capitol Hill and protest at the offices of Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid. Let’s not be dishonest and pretend that these losers that the Teamsters elected aren’t the problem here.
The Democrat Party doesn’t want there to be a border PERIOD. They don’t care about trucks coming across. Or people. Or criminals. Or drug traffickers. Or terrorists (unless they could just stop the terrorists and ensure that everybody else got to come across unmolested). The Teamsters need to place their blame where it rightfully belongs.
Some years back, da Teamsters went Republican, as I recall...
Of course it does. Still, they are right in this instance.
This from a guy that loathes unions...
The Teamsters are for the Teamsters. They back and finance traitors in Congress with no regard for fairness or America. In this case, they coincidentally care for themselves and our safe highways.
Is Bush a Democrat? Yeah, I know he acts like one but I could have sworn that he says he’s a Republican.
Considering I have a brother that is a Teamster and is anything but a voter for the Dem cause,, I’d say that was a bit of a broad brush statement used by you and others..
There are a fair number of Teamsters who don’t walk the party line and would be only to glad to not have their dues support a leftist agenda at the top of their union.
but Such is life tho, a muddled affair at best, an incestuous mess at worst. I appreciate your passion, pardon me for tossing a little ice water to cool you down a bit. ;-)
I believe coal miners have often leaned republican as well. The simple fact is that union leadership often leans democrat but individual union members do whatever they please. When I was an AFL-CIO member I voted republican.
Republicans would be wise to stop bashing union members and start pulling them away from the democrats. After all, the biggest chunk of the Reagan democrats were union members.
What unions have done is to elevate the average working guy into the upper middle class. UAW members, Teamsters, etc now have summer cabins here at Lake of the Ozarks, nice pensions, vacation time. Who can blame them for not wanting to let it go ?
Ya got to be kidding me!
1,123 safety violations are "unfounded?" Get out!!
Of course, considering the forum, I’ve painted with a very broad brush and really referred to the Teamster leadership more than every single member. A good part of our countrys salvation is that we have more union members who think and vote for themselves rather than the party line. Otherwise we would have more traitors in Congress stealing our money.
Posted for FlAttorney by TAB
Sure, back when Jimmy Hoffa hated the Kennedy's.
But granted, except for recent years (i.e. Ron Carey), they have occasionally supported Republicans and were less left-wing than most unions. I think they even endorsed Reagan. But recent years, they've been just like any other union - a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democrat party.
ping
I thought Jimmy Hoffa was DEAD??
Oh No Wait, they said they found him...he was disguised as Tammy Baker.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.