(WASHINGTON) – The following is a statement from the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on the Department of Transportation’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) decision to grant petitions preempting the state of California’s meal and rest break rules. The announcement was made at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, December 21, 2018 in what was clearly an effort to avoid public scrutiny of the corporate giveaway at the expense of working men and women.

“FMCSA’s suggestion that California’s meal and rest break rules negatively impact highway safety is ludicrous. The idea that providing a 10-minute rest break after four hours and a 30-minute meal break after five hours somehow makes the roads less safe is beyond comprehension. This is simply a giveaway to the trucking industry at the expense of driver safety.

The FMCSA decision to bail out the trucking industry after it failed to achieve a legislative fix and numerous court rejections – and to do it late on a Friday before a holiday – smacks of political cronyism at its worst.

The Teamsters and our allies will continue the fight to ensure worker safety isn’t compromised so that the FMCSA’s corporate benefactors can grow their profits.”

Founded in 1903, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters represents 1.4 million hardworking men and women throughout the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. Visit www.teamster.org for more information. Follow us on Twitter @Teamsters and “like” us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/teamsters.

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