{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-calls-on-trump-to-end-exploitation-of-truck-drivers", "Sanders Calls on Trump to End Exploitation of Truck Drivers", "2017-11-10", "2017", "2017-11", "Independent", "House", "VT", "Bernard Sanders", "S000033", "www.sanders.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Sanders Calls on Trump to End Exploitation of Truck Drivers\n\t\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\tFriday, November 10, 2017\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tBURLINGTON, Vt., Nov. 10 \u2013 U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called on President Donald Trump Friday to sign an executive order ending the exploitation and abuse of port truck drivers. Sanders\u2019 request comes after he met with Los Angeles port truckers to discuss the exploitative labor practices exposed by\u00a0USA Today.\r\n\u201cThe federal government should not be rewarding trucking companies that exploit and abuse their own workers,\u201d Sanders wrote in a letter to Trump. \u201cIf you are serious about your support for our nation\u2019s truck drivers, I would urge you to sign an executive order to deny government contracts and subcontracts for trucking companies that misclassify workers as independent contractors, force workers to lease the trucks they drive, and engage in other abusive labor practices.\u201d\r\n\u201cTruck drivers are the backbone of the American economy.\u00a0They deserve to be treated with respect and dignity, not like modern-day indentured servants,\u201d Sanders added.\r\nTrucking companies are misclassifying drivers as independent contractors, requiring them to lease their own trucks and trapping them in a viscous cycle of debt.\u00a0Companies are using this debt as leverage to force drivers into working long hours for starvation wages. At the end of the month, some workers end up owing more on the lease than their paycheck is worth forcing them to essentially work for free.\r\nSanders also called on Trump \u201cto direct the Labor Department to conduct an audit of all federal contracts and subcontracts awarded to port trucking companies to ensure sure that they are in compliance with the prevailing wage and labor requirements of the McNamara - O\u2019Hara Service Contract Act.\u00a0Those companies that are not in compliance with our nation\u2019s labor laws should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law and required to pay back wages to their workers so that they receive all of the benefits they are legally entitled to receive.\u00a0\r\nRead Sanders\u2019 letter here.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.sanders.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/sanders-calls-on-trump-to-end-exploitation-of-truck-drivers"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 1.5322300605475903, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}