Truckers hope protest over unpaid hours and lack of restrooms will spark a Permian Basin labor movement
Truckers say they can wait up to 18 hours without pay to load or unload fracking sand. The drilling sites often lack restrooms. By Carlos Nogueras Ramos/Texas Tribune/July 2, 2024 MONAHANS — Low wages and working conditions that truck drivers describe as degrading have sparked an organized labor movement in the Permian Basin, a historic first for the nation’s busiest oil field. About a dozen truckers and local environmental activists descended Monday on three West Texas cities — Kermit, Mohanans and Odessa — and blocked entrances to sand mines with a row of cars to hand out fliers listing their demands to other truckers. Workers said the one-day demonstration, which slowed production in the nation’s largest oil supplier, was a sequel to a similar protest last year that was largely ignored and a warning of the steps they’ll take to be heard. The truckers are demanding to be paid for the long hours they spend waiting to load and unload frac sand — or sand used during fracking to separate the rock, prop it open and prevent it from closing — more restroom facilities near loading areas and the ability to negotiate pay rates based on driving times and cargo weight, said Billy Randel, a lifelong trucker and organizer with the Truckers Movement for Justice. “There are no bathrooms for the men and women to keep this economy running out here to use while sitting from two to four to 12 to 36 hours at the wellheads,” Randel said. “There's no facility to go to the bathroom. You know how dehumanizing that is for either a man or a woman to have to use a bucket? This is insanity.” Federal law mandates that drivers take a ten-hour break before beginning their shifts and may not drive for more than 14 hours straight afterward. After driving for eight uninterrupted hours, they must take a 30-minute break. And truckers may only drive for 70 hours within eight consecutive workdays, according <https://www.fmcsa.dot.gov/regulations/hours-service/summary-hours-service-regulations> to the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration. The law says nothing about access to amenities like restrooms. Full at: https://www.texastribune.org/2024/07/02/texas-permian-basin-truckers-protest-oil-gas/ -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Groups.io Links: You receive all messages sent to this group. View/Reply Online (#30971): https://groups.io/g/marxmail/message/30971 Mute This Topic: https://groups.io/mt/107012759/21656 -=-=- POSTING RULES & NOTES #1 YOU MUST clip all extraneous text when replying to a message. #2 This mail-list, like most, is publicly & permanently archived. #3 Subscribe and post under an alias if #2 is a concern. #4 Do not exceed five posts a day. -=-=- Group Owner: [email protected] Unsubscribe: https://groups.io/g/marxmail/leave/8674936/21656/1316126222/xyzzy [[email protected]] -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-
