How could we make America's highways safer? The Teamsters have one suggestion: Fire Mary Peters.
Peters is George Bush's Secretary of Transportation -- and she has overseen the introduction of unsafe Mexican trucks onto the nation's highways, despite protests from labor, environmental and consumer advocacy groups, all of which were united by their concerns over the lack of consistently enforced safety and environmental standards for Mexican trucks.
Secretary Peters thought the concerns weren't worth listening to. But Congress disagreed -- and on December 17, they passed an omnibus spending bill that explicitly specified that no funds were to be spent by her department to establish any program for allowing unsafe Mexican trucks onto the highways. The votes to shut down the program were overwhelming -- 74 to 24 in the Senate, and a whopping 411 to 3 (!) in the House.
You would think that would have been the end of the story. But Secretary Peters decided to ignore Congress and go ahead with the pilot program, arguing that since experiments in allowing Mexican trucks onto U.S. highways had begun in September, the DOT wasn't establishing anything. So Congress' ban on the program didn't matter.
Yes, you read that right.
Peters' decision prompted some tart words from Senator Byron Dorgan (D-ND), who had been a leader in getting the ban put in place:
"They know what the law says," retorted Sen. Byron Dorgan, who won a 74-24 vote to block the program. "And they're not above the law." Dorgan warned they better follow the law...
"When you open up U.S. highways to long-haul Mexican trucks without equivalent safety standards, it poses risks for American drivers," Dorgan said.
Secretary Peters may believe she is above the law -- but her boss, at least, should know better. There has been no reprimand from the President for her flagrant contempt of Congress, however.
So the Teamsters, along with CONATRAM (the national federation of Mexican truckers, who also oppose the program) are taking the issue to the people whose health and safety has been placed at risk by Secretary Peters' disregard for the law -- the American people. If you want to help fire Mary Peters, they have a range of things you can do to pitch in.
If you willfully broke the law on the job, you'd be fired -- and that should be just as true for a Cabinet secretary as it is for any other working man or woman. Join in and help make sure that it actually is.
Comments (4)
Comments posted to CtW Connect are the sole property of the individual posting them, and do not necessarily reflect the viewpoints of Change to Win, its affiliated unions, or its leadership.
The Mary Peters situation is simply an extension of "W" and his defiance of the rule of law, the three political entities that create the rule of law and the constitution.
Posted by Reese M. Matye on February 9, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Posted on February 9, 2008 at 4:47 PM
Are there some/many that can be held "accountable" in Kansas/Kansas city for the "super highway" pangs that these trucks and later trains will begin using shortly? But, yes, right now, I believe Peters should at least be voted out or investigated.
Posted by Eric Troje on February 11, 2008 at 1:48 PM
Posted on February 11, 2008 at 1:48 PM
PLEASE...fire marry peters..I dont think that big trucks should be aloud to be run on highways since our trucks in the u.s. cant be run across the border to mexico, then it's not right to break the law and let the mexicans run here in the u.s.
Posted by woody on February 28, 2008 at 8:30 PM
Posted on February 28, 2008 at 8:30 PM
WAKE UP AMERICA! I have been in the trucking business since 1972. Lets just blame Pres.Bush when indeed it has been the DFL party starting with Jimmy Carter to the Clinton. Thats the real reason the transportation world is screw up.
You talk like of bunch of snob nosed liberals.
Union Teamsters are only concerned about keeping their high price jobs not about SAFETY or the non union driver and owner-operators making a living! Like most liberals they are not worry anybody else but them selves. Just keep voting for the LIBERALS if you want to pay more Taxes and lose your FREEDOM.
Posted by RICK on February 29, 2008 at 12:00 PM
Posted on February 29, 2008 at 12:00 PM