(The International Brotherhood of Teamsters issued the following news release on May 12.)
WASHINGTON — The International Brotherhood of Teamsters took a stand for drivers’ rights at a hearing held by the U.S. House of Representatives Highways, Transit and Pipelines Subcommittee on May 11, to discuss the current process for hazardous material endorsement background checks.
“The Teamsters recognize that in the post-9/11 world, there is clearly a need to strengthen security in the nation’s transportation system,” said Scott Madar, Assistant Director of Safety and Health for the Teamsters Union. “However, we must make every effort to ensure that the system balances the needs for a safe and secure industry with the rights of drivers to hold good jobs.”
Madar testified with industry representatives, and officials from state and federal transportation agencies. The current procedure for driver background checks seeks to identify persons that may be considered a risk to national security. However, the broad qualifications the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has added to the background checks may make it difficult, if not impossible, to endorse enough drivers to satisfy the demand of the industry.
In addition to the unrealistic guidelines the TSA has implemented, higher costs to the driver for the endorsement put an unreasonable burden on a worker who may already be struggling to make ends meet.
Rep. James Oberstar, (D-WI) leveled direct questions on this issue to Tom Blank, Chief Support Systems Officer for TSA who was offered testimony on behalf of the federal agency.
“Why are the drivers being saddled with this cost?” Oberstar asked, referring to the $94 TSA processing fee for the hazmat endorsement background check. “In all my years working with transportation issues I have never seen such a lack of communication and coordination between agencies as I have with this program. It is unacceptable and must be fixed.”