Hoffa Joins Coalition Of Clean & Safe Ports To Honor Mayor Villaraigosa
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa joined Sierra Club’s Carl Pope and supporters from Change to Win, the Blue Green Alliance, Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy and the Natural Resources Defense Council last night to honor Los Angeles Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa for his green jobs leadership in Washington, DC. Several Members of Congress and the chair of the Federal Maritime Commission Richard Lidinsky also attended the reception hosted by the Coalition for Clean & Safe Ports.
Villaraigosa has bee
n a staunch supporter of the Port of Los Angeles’ Clean Truck Program which has dramatically reduced diesel truck pollution. The program has come under fire by industry polluters, but leaders from around the country have lent have lent their powerful voices to help protect the solutions to address the impacts of local port trucking on working families, residents, businesses and communities.
Hoffa praised Villaraigosa for his efforts to ensure that the L.A. Clean Truck Program remains in place to provide protection to those who work in and live around port.
“Mayor Villaraigosa understands the connection between port pollution and the difficult economic situation and working conditions of thousands of port truck drivers in L.A.,” Hoffa said. “He took time to listen to the concerns and personal stories of port drivers and understood that if we wanted to improve the system of goods movement, we had to start at its core - with the drivers that actually deliver these goods that come into our ports.”