Teamsters sue to stop Bush plan to bring in dangerous Mexican trucks

The Teamsters Union has filed a lawsuit challenging the Bush administration's illegal pilot program authorizing unsafe Mexican trucks to operate freely in the United States. "The Bush administration is ignoring the American people in its zeal to open our borders to unsafe Mexican trucks," said Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. "This reckless pilot program must be stopped and the driving public protected."

"The Bush administration is trying to circumvent safety requirements by repackaging this plan as an illegal pilot program," Hoffa said. "Inspectors can't enforce truck safety in the United States, let alone south of the border." Joining the Teamsters in the suit are Public Citizen, the Sierra Club, the Environmental Law Foundation and the Owner-Operator Independent Drivers Association.

Under a 2001 NAFTA order, the Bush administration is authorizing up to 100 Mexico-based trucking companies to operate beyond the narrow border zone.
Congress is considering a provision in an emergency spending bill that would block funding for the program until Mexican trucking companies meet congressionally mandated safety and security standards -- which they have been unable to do for years. It also would require that U.S. trucks have equal access to Mexican roads and mandate that the project comply with federal law governing pilot programs.