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SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- Allowing some Mexican trucking companies full access to U.S. roads threatens highway safety and U.S. jobs, protesting Teamsters said Tuesday.
Hundreds of teamsters rallied outside the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, where a three-judge panel heard a lawsuit challenging a program that gives Mexican trucks expanded access to U.S. highways under the terms of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement.
The union argues that trucks owned by the 100 Mexican companies participating in the program are not operated at the same standards of safety as U.S. trucks. The union also asserts Mexican truck drivers are subject to less stringent drug tests and background checks than drivers north of the border.
Congress passed a law last year aimed at blocking the pilot program, but the administration is going ahead with it by taking advantage of a loophole in the new law.
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KCBS's Bob Melrose reports
