Millions set to lose right to overtime pay
Both houses of Congress voted overwhelmingly to protect the right of American workers to overtime pay last year, but votes don't seem to matter as much these days as they once did. So yesterday when the Senate approved the omnibus appropriations bill for fiscal 2004, it didn't include the amendments passed by both House and Senate to protect overtime pay. And Labor Secretary Elaine Chao told a Senate hearing earlier this week that revisions to the Fair Labor Standards Act, regulations that have served our nation well since the 1930s, will be changed as of March. Nobody voted for those changes, but that's not stopping the Bush administration. More than 300,000 workers have already signed a petition urging the administration to reconsider, and telling Mr. Bush he will be held accountable for those changes if they are implemented. The petitions are being faxed, as e-mail to the White House has been blocked.
Overtime work without overtime pay equals nothing less than a pay cut, something few workers can afford these days. Rememeber that pay cut when you go to the polls in November, and let's show the nation and the world that votes do still matter.
posted by Janet Dagley Dagley @5:08 PM
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23.1.04 |
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