In the face of fierce opposition, a Dubai firm on Mar. 9, backed off from a deal to operate several U.S. ports. Last month, thousands of Teamsters rallied at 20 American ports to protest the Bush Administration’s decision to sell access to P&O Ports’ U.S. terminal operations to Dubai Ports World. Even the Republican-led House Appropriations Committee defied President Bush, who promised to veto any measure blocking the ports deal, by voting 62-2 on March 8 to block the deal.

“We will not stand by and allow our homeland security to be compromised,” said James P. Hoffa, Teamsters General President. “This is a bad deal for workers and a bad deal for the security of America’s ports.”

Calling it a dangerous Bush-Cheney giveaway to Middle Eastern oil barons,” Hoffa sent letters to the Republican and Democratic members of Congress urging them to “ignore President Bush’s empty veto threats and press ahead with plans to block a state-owned Arab company from taking over operations of six major seaports in the United States.”

Hoffa said the $6.8 billion deal that would allow Dubai Ports World, a company owned by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), to run major U.S. ports, including those in New York and New Jersey, “is yet another example of President Bush’s corporate agenda gone wild. Just one month ago, the president nominated an executive at Dubai Ports World to run the Transportation Department’s Maritime Administration. Now, not only would the UAE have unfettered access to America’s ports, it would control the controller.”

Hoffa noted that the UAE is the “same nation that served as an operational and financial base for some of the September 11, 2001, hijackers.” In a subsequent letter to the members of Congress, Hoffa insisted, “The United States does not have to go down this dangerous path. There are three major, reputable U.S.-owned terminal operating companies that could bid on P&O’s U.S.-based assets if given the opportunity.”

Hoffa added, “The Teamsters Union is perplexed by the Bush administration’s willingness to ignore the obvious increased security threats of opening our nation’s ports to the UAE while invoking dubious concerns about supposed terrorist risks in depriving U.S. citizens employed by the Homeland Security Department of their right to form and join unions. Union members were both victims and heroes during the 9/11 tragedy. Treating union members as a security risk while, at the same time, turning over vital operations of the nation’s ports to companies based in countries known to harbor terrorists raises serious questions about the administration’s true agenda.”