“I.B.T.” International Brotherhood of Teamsters
IBT International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Dear Bill:
This week, the US House of Representatives
will consider legislation to reauthorize funding for the
Federal Aviation Administration (FAA).
The trucking industry is trying to hijack that bill. They
want to insert language which takes away almost any
protection truck drivers are granted under state law.
This includes destroying the right to paid sick leave,
paid vacations, FMLA, state guarantees of a lunch or
rest break during a shift, and worse. We need your
amendment ” when it comes up for a vote this week.
The House cannot include this anti-safety, anti-worker
provision in the FAA bill. This provision would
overturn any state’s law that goes above the bare
minimum federal rules for truck drivers. No state
could demand that drivers need to get paid for non-
driving time, or take action against companies who
misclassify their drivers as independent contractors.
Any state laws that raise wages or protect the working
conditions of drivers would immediately be
overturned. It refers to these state laws as “additional
burdens” being placed on motor carriers, and say that
they need to be done away with. States couldn’t even
give drivers time off to go vote! What’s worse, all
these changes are made retroactive to 1994. All of the
progress we’ve made over the past two decades would
Truck crashes are up 45% from 2009. Injuries are up
57%, and deaths from those crashes are also up 28%.
Now is not the time to push drivers even further by
taking away protections that make sure they are well-
rested and alert.
4\I.B.T. TEAMSTER HISTORY – The Great Minneapolis, Minn. Strike – Part 1
VIDEO
I.B.T. TEAMSTER HISTORY – The Great Minneapolis, Minn. Strike – Part 2
VIDEO