Obama uses ‘green’ emissions standards to push truckers into Teamsters union

President Barack Obama’s administration is using new “environmental standards” to force independent owner-operator truckers into becoming part of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, a union that gave more than $2 million to Democrats in the last two election cycles.

By increasing the number of “green” requirements truckers have to comply with in order to get into some major United States ports — like Los Angeles, Long Beach and Oakland — the Obama administration and the Environmental Protection Agency are helping push previously independent truckers into companies, which then makes them vulnerable to unionization or, in many cases, forced to join a union. As these aren’t administrative laws from the EPA per se, trucks that don’t fit this new “green” standard, which is meeting at least 2007 EPA emissions levels, are still allowed to operate throughout the country. But each of the major port authorities won’t let them in if they don’t fit the new environmental regulations, which would force many independent truckers out of business if they resist since many truckers depend on business from the ports to survive.

Alex Cherin, an attorney who represents a trucker advocacy group opposed to these forced unionization attempts, told The Daily Caller the Teamsters have been trying to get independent truckers classified as employees of a company for years because “under federal labor law, they cannot unionize independent contractors.”

“They see this as their window of opportunity,” Cherin said in a phone interview. “They know that most drivers want to stay independent contractors to keep their freedom, but that many can’t afford these new ‘green trucks.’ They want to piggyback their agenda onto an environmental initiative.”

Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2011/01/26/obama-uses-green-emissions-standards-to-push-truckers-into-teamsters-union/#ixzz1CANQxYzl


So, this libel is considered mainstream journalism now?

My right-wing cousin always likes to e-mail me articles like the above which "prove" that Obama is trying to impose forced unionization upon all employees. :eyes:

As the fundies continue with their lying and union-bashing it seems even more reasonable to implement a Fairness Doctrine for the Internet.

Does anyone else agree?

from endlessly regurgitating it.

thread title a declarative sentence? The Daily Caller is mainstream?

and I'm a bit tired so I thought that nonsense of the title and the article pretty much speak for itself.

It's also being posted at Yahoo News and I've also seen this stuff on other common websites.

That said, there are truckers who don't want to be in the union, and this will piss them off.

Why are you posting shit-droppings from Tucker Carlson's right wing ass?

Sid

I've already contacted the writer and dared him to prove his evidence.

If we can't counter this trash then the haters could win the PR war.

If anyone wants to e-mail him and confront him that would be helpful as well:

mailto:Matthew@dailycaller.com

The second biggest union-bust in history, after the air traffic controller firings Reagan did, is the shutdown of Consolidated Freightways on Labor Day 2002.

http://socialistworker.org/2002-2/421/421_12_CF.shtml

Brief summary: Consolidated Freightways was a HUGE unionized trucking firm that belonged to the CNF conglomerate. (Fun fact: Consolidated, at one time, made its own trucks. They called them "Freightliners." The Freightliner branch has changed hands several times and now belongs to Daimler Group.) CNF decided they didn't like the Teamsters, so they started another company called Con-Way, moved all the good freight lanes into it, then on Labor Day 2002 fired all the Consolidated Freightways drivers via conference call.