The Teamsters Union is launching a nationwide campaign this morning to fire Transportation Secretary Mary Peters for "unlawfully opening the border to unsafe trucks from Mexico."
"It's a disgrace that Mary Peters is still in office," said
Teamsters General President Jim Hoffa. "She has broken the law and defied the will of the American people by exposing them to dangerous trucks from Mexico."
Department of Transportation spokesman Brian Turmail responded to Hoffa's comments by phone late Wednesday, saying, "It's kind of the thing you do when the facts aren't on your side and you keep losing in the courts."
Hoffa said the Senate voted 75 to 23 and the House voted 411 to 3 to keep the border closed to Mexican trucks. The legislation became law on Dec. 26, 2007, as part of the omnibus budget bill. "Under Peter's direction, the Department of Transportation has refused to comply with the law," Hoffa said.
The campaign, which is to get under way this morning, includes a web site offering downloadable "Fire Mary Peters" windshield signs. In addition, posters and floor graphics were to be posted near the Department of Transportation in Washington, D.C.
An anonymous hotline has been set up for whistleblowers to report additional transgressions by Mary Peters, according to a press release from the Teamsters. And a leaflet campaign will take place at the Metro stop where DOT employees will be handed cards asking them to call the hotline to report other laws that Mary Peters has broken.
In addition, thousands of bumper stickers have been mailed to Teamsters and others, and radio commercials were to air on WTOP, in the Washington, D.C. area, and nationally on the Air America radio network.
The Teamsters Union will argue in court on Feb. 12 that Peters broke federal laws aimed at ensuring American motorists aren't endangered by allowing Mexican trucks on U.S. highways. The case will be heard in the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco.