Appeals court rejects Teamsters
case vs Mexican trucks in U.S.
WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI) —
The Teamsters is considering its next
move in the union’s long battle to keep
unsafe Mexican trucks off U.S. roads,
after the U.S. Court of Appeals for
Washington, D.C., on July 26 dis-
missed their case against the vehicles.
On a 3-0 vote, the court rejected the
union’s’ six complaints against the fed-
eral pilot program allowing Mexican
trucks to travel all U.S. roads.
“The Teamsters will consider their
legal options and continue to monitor
the progress of the cross-border truck-
ing program,” the union said after the
judges ruled.
The Federal Motor Carrier Safety
Administration runs the program, set
up to see whether Mexican trucks
could meet U.S. requirements and thus
roam nationwide, as mandated by the
North American Free Trade Agreement
between the United States, Mexico,
and Canada.
“The Teamsters question whether
there are enough carriers in the pilot
program to reach a reliable conclusion
about the likely impact of Mexican
trucks on U.S. highway safety. FM-
CSA estimated it needed at least 46
carriers to be inspected 4,100 times
within three years to provide a statisti-
AUGUST 16, 2013
cally valid analysis. ... With a little over
a year to go, the three-year pilot pro-
gram now has only 12 carriers with 44
trucks,” and there have been only 52 in-
spections, the union said.
Thirteen trucking firms have been
thrown out of the program.
“This argument fails because an un-
limited number of trucking companies
may participate,” the judges replied.
“Whether Mexico-domiciled trucking
companies ultimately avail themselves
of the opportunity is outside the
agency’s control. The agency has,
therefore, met its obligation to include
a sufficient number of participants to
yield valid results.”
Workers hurt on the job
have a right to pursue a
“third party case” in court
against a responsible party
other than their employer,
for damages not available
in workers’ compensation.
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
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