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Senate Again Rejects Bush Overtime Takeaway May 10, 2004 A majority of senators once again smacked down the relentless attempts by the Bush administration to deprive American workers from their right to earn overtime. Although this vote is another victory for workers, it is a long way from stopping the harmful overtime overhaul. The vote was an amendment on a bill that has not passed the Senate, and the House has not voted on it yet. As things stand now, the new rules will be implemented in August. The bipartisan vote on the amendment introduced by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) sought to block new overtime rules that would cause millions of workers to lose pay. It was only the most recent effort to stop the Labor Department from overhauling the Fair Labor Standards Act, which guarantees those working more than 40 hours a week to time-and-a-half pay. For labor advocates and reliable majorities in the House and Senate, clarifying and updating an old law is not objectionable; taking pay away from up to 4 million workers is, especially in the midst of a struggling economy. "Rather than simplifying the law, the ambiguous language in the Department of Labors overtime pay regulation will create a flood of lawsuits and deprive millions of workers of hard-earned overtime pay," said AFL-CIO President John Sweeney. "Many of these overtime changes appear to have no justification other than to satisfy the desires of business groups. The administrations final regulation is rife with special interest fixes for industries that have been unable to secure them from Congress." Congress has rejected new overtime rules repeatedly since they were introduced last year. Widely derided by union members and other workers, the rules were revised last month to allow more workers to become eligible for overtime. But they include confusing provisions that would still exempt workers classified as executive or professional. "I think it is a clear message to the administration," Harkin said after the vote, encouraging the Labor Department to come up with a fairer plan. One former investigator for the Labor Departments Wage and House Division testified recently that the new rules are fraught with loopholes that "artfully weaken" current laws in "very subtle but significant ways that will surprise employers and employees alike," said Karen Dulaney Smith.
Tom Toles, cartoonist for the Washington Post, cleverly illustrated the motivations of the Bush Administration behind both its overtime regulations and proposed changes in immigration policy. Click here. |
50 Creative Ways to Cheat Workers Out of Pay By the U.S. Labor DepartmentHouse Says No to Overtime Overhaul... October 6, 2003Senate Says No to Overtime Regs... September 17, 2003Bill Would Nix Overtime Rules... July 14, 2003Hundreds Rally For Overtime... July 1, 2003DOL Targets Overtime Pay... June 26, 2003Labor Prevails to Defeat Comp Time Legislation... June 11, 2003Overtime Rules Menace Workers Nationwide... May 30, 2003Bush Proposes Changing Federal Overtime Rules... April 2, 2003Overtime Pay... U.S. Department of LaborThe Dark Side of Wal-Mart... April 2003 Journal |
