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Hundreds Rally For Overtime

Chanting and cheering, hooting and hollering, hundreds of workers rallied June 30 at the U.S. Department of Labor in Washington, D.C. to protest the systematic unraveling of one of the most basic tenets of American workaday life: the 40-hour workweek.

The agency charged with upholding labor laws and defending workers is planning to change the rules on overtime eligibility, making it much harder for at least eight million workers to earn overtime pay. In the closing days of the three-month public comment period for the new rules, more than 50,000 people submitted comments.

The Labor Department auditorium, a public space available for reservation, was originally the venue for the rallyuntil officials there revoked permission to hold the event. So the protest moved outside the building, where busloads of union membersincluding a 15-member contingent from the IBEW International Officepicketed the agency.

"I guess they dont want us calling the publics attention to this Bush administration-sponsored pay cut," AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Rich Trumka said. "But their plan to silence you didnt work. We still have our right to free speech."

Labor advocates have been fighting assaults to overtime on several fronts for months. Congressional supporters defeated a legislative attempt to erode overtime rules in June. The Labor Department rules could be implemented as early as the end of the year.