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DOL Targets Overtime Pay

June 26, 2003

Paychecks of more than 8 million workers in the United States may be at risk by summers end if the Department of Labor imposes new rules on how employers may compensate those who tally more than a 40-hour work week.

The DOL rules, which the IBEW and the AFL-CIO have been fighting for months, place the 40-hour week in jeopardy generations after it was enshrined in the Fair Labor Standards Act. The hostile action comes at an especially difficult time for Americas workers, who could lose billions of dollars to employers who are already benefiting from an administration skewed against working people.

"Plainly, President Bush is offering tax cuts for the rich and pay cuts for hourly workers," said IBEW International President Edwin D. Hill. "He may sound like a friend to workers but his true motives are exposed in actions like these."

The DOL rules dovetailed with similar legislation introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives last spring. But after a vigorous grassroots effort by labor activists, House leaders pulled the bill from consideration when it became clear they would be on the losing side. But that action does not affect the DOLs administrative change, which alters the rules governing eligibility for overtime pay. Today, employers are required to pay time-and-a-half to workers, and it comprises a quarter of the average weekly earning of those who receive it. If implemented, the rule change could result in millions of workers ceasing to be paid for the same hours on the joball at a time when many Americans are struggling to make ends meet.

"The house you buy, whether your wife has to work, whether you can send your kids to Texas A&M or community collegefor many of us, it is determined by overtime, and now they want to change the rules in the middle of the game," said David Taylor, a refinery worker from Houston.

From now until June 30, the Labor Department is accepting public comments on the proposal to cut overtime pay, reduce overtime protections and cut the take-home pay for million of workers across the country. Submit a letter of opposition by clicking here.

The new regulations could take effect in September.

Labor Prevails to Defeat Comp Time Legislation... June 11, 2003

Overtime Rules Menace Workers Nationwide ... May 30, 2003

Bush Proposes Changing Federal Overtime Rules...April 2, 2003

Overtime Pay...U.S. Department of Labor

The Dark Side of Wal-Mart...April 2003 Journal