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Here is the actual Associated Press Article on the Wal Mart bill: <br /> <br />LC <br /> <br />Wal-Mart Wants Truckers to Have 16-Hour Workdays <br />By LESLIE MILLER, AP <br /> <br /> <br />WASHINGTON (March 9) - Wal-Mart and other retailers are lobbying Congress to <br />extend the workday for truckers to 16 hours, something labor unions and <br />safety advocates say would make roadways more dangerous for all drivers. <br /> <br />Rep. John Boozman, an Arkansas Republican whose district includes Wal-Mart <br />Stores Inc.'s headquarters in Bentonville, is sponsoring a bill that would <br />allow a 16-hour workday as long as the trucker took an unpaid two-hour <br />break. The proposal is expected to be offered as an amendment during debate <br />over the highway spending bill on Wednesday. <br /> <br />"Truckers are pushing harder than ever to make their runs within the <br />mandated timeframe,'' Boozman said. "Optional rest breaks will reduce driver <br />layovers and improve both safety and efficiency.'' <br /> <br />Current rules limit drivers' workdays to 14 hours, with only 11 consecutive <br />hours of driving allowed, union leaders and safety advocates say. That gives <br />truckers three hours to eat, rest or load and unload their trucks. <br /> <br />Critics of the proposal accuse Wal-Mart, the world's largest retailer, of <br />trying to fatten its profits by forcing truckers to spend more time waiting <br />at the loading dock without getting paid. <br /> <br />The International Brotherhood of Teamsters "hasn't gotten one complaint from <br />drivers saying they don't have time for a break or a meal,'' the union's <br />vice president, John Murphy, said at a news conference Tuesday. <br /> <br />Joan Claybrook, president of the safety advocacy group Public Citizen, said <br />drivers could end up starting their workday at 8 a.m. and quitting at <br />midnight. <br /> <br />"This is a sweatshop-on-wheels amendment,'' Claybrook said. "The last thing <br />we need is for tired truckers to become even more fatigued and threaten the <br />safety of those around them on the roads.'' <br /> <br />The current rule had been struck down in federal court because it didn't <br />take into account truck drivers' health. In October, Congress reinstated the <br />rule for one year. If the Boozman proposal is adopted, it would retain the <br />16-hour workday regardless of any new rule. <br /> <br />Nearly 5,000 people were killed in large truck crashes in 2003, and those <br />vehicles were three times more likely to be involved in fatal crashes than <br />passenger cars, according to the National Highway Transportation Safety <br />Administration. <br /> <br />Wal-Mart spokesman Erik Winborn said the proposal has broad support among <br />the trucking industry and other retailers. <br /> <br />"We support it because we feel it would actually enhance safety rather than <br />hurt safety,'' said Winborn, whose company employs about 7,000 truck <br />drivers. <br /> <br />Wal-Mart employees were Boozman's top contributors in 2003-04, giving him <br />$48,152 for his re-election campaign, according to the Center for Responsive <br />Politics. Wal-Mart and its employees gave $44,500 to Boozman for his first <br />successful bid for Congress in 2001-02, the last year corporations could <br />give to congressional candidates. <br /> <br />
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