Hoffa Offers 500,000 Truckers as 'Eyes and Ears'

June 21, 2002
By Steve Holland

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Teamsters President James Hoffa said on Friday he would ask the 500,000 truck operators covered by his union to take part in a grass-roots homeland security effort looking for suspicious activity on the roads.

Talking to reporters on the White House driveway, Hoffa said he had pitched the idea to President Bush's director of homeland security, Tom Ridge.

His comments came shortly before an FBI warning that terrorists may use fuel tanker trucks for attacks in the United States -- possibly on fuel depots, Jewish schools or synagogues -- or on U.S. interests overseas.

Hoffa was among a group of union leaders briefed by Ridge on the president's plan for a Department of Homeland Security, a proposal now being debated in Congress.

All came away from the meeting saying they were supportive of the new Cabinet agency.

"The gentlemen who are with me today represent some of the best and finest workers and patriots in America, and we've had the opportunity to spend some time today talking with these leaders of organized labor about the president's new Department of Homeland Security," Ridge said after the meeting.

The Bush administration has been courting the support of traditionally Democratic unions and has won Hoffa's endorsement for oil drilling in Alaska's Arctic National Wildlife Reserve because of the jobs it would create.

Hoffa said: "I offered the fact that we have 500,000 truck drivers on the road at any one time, and these people can be the eyes and ears of the homeland security office."

He said they communicate by citizens' band radio and could be an important part of a "basic domestic intelligence service where we can see things that are suspicious and make sure they're reported."

Ridge spokesman Gordon Johndroe said there has been an effort to involve the transportation industry, including truckers who might notice things out of the ordinary.

"They know when things are out of place or different from the norm in their daily routines and their jobs, and that can be very beneficial to the war on terrorism," Johndroe said.

Hoffa said the Teamsters would get together with various trucking associations to work out a strategy.

"It's amazing what different type of intelligence they might pick up. And I think it's important that we make sure this information is reported to the appropriate authorities if there's anything suspicious or of danger to our nation," he said.

Michael Sacco, president of the Seafarers International Union, made a similar offer for watching America's seas and ports.

"We want to put an intelligent network around this country and around the world to protect the citizens of the United States, and funnel whatever information we can to whatever agencies, after this department is put in place we have to funnel it to," he said.

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