Bush attacks overtime pay
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WASHINGTON (AP) — Retreating under pressure, the Bush administration is revising overtime regulations to preserve eligibility for white-collar workers making up to $100,000 a year as well as police, firefighters and other first responders, Republican officials said Monday.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said revisions in the proposed regulations also would guarantee overtime for lower-wage workers making less than $23,660 a year, higher than the $22,100 initially proposed.
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao is expected to preview the new proposals Tuesday, the sources said.
Chao issued a proposed regulation in March 2003, but it drew sustained criticism from organized labor, Democrats in Congress and some Republicans.
The Senate voted last year to stop the administration from issuing the regulation, but that provision was later dropped under White House pressure. Even so, Democrats signaled a fresh attempt this year — in the run-up to the November elections — at a time when jobs and pocketbook issues are a key issue in the campaign for the White House.
White House officials said that under the revisions, up to 107,000 workers could lose their overtime protection, but 6.7 million workers would be guaranteed overtime.
By contrast, under Chao's initial proposal, the Labor Department said 644,000 white-collar workers could have lost protection, and 1.3 million gained it.
Democrats challenged her initial estimates of who could potentially lose overtime eligibility, citing their own prediction of up to 8 million.
The proposed regulations do not apply to workers covered by labor contracts, although union officials said they feared their existence would strengthen the hand of compies in future bargaining.
Apart from the controversy surrounding overtime eligibility, the regulations were designed to meet the concerns of employers who argued that the half-century-old rules failed to address the modern workplace and opened the door to a welter of lawsuits on behalf of workers.
One of the principal goals of the new regulations is to remove much or all of the uncertainty, thereby freeing businesses from the threat of legal action.
Republican officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the proposed revisions would make it explicit that police, firefighters, emergency medical technicians and other "first responders" would be eligible for overtime. Administration allies had said that was clear from the initial proposal, but critics disputed them.
Licensed practical nurses and registered nurses also would be eligible, these officials said.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washing...time-pay_x.htm
Here's from the JohnKerry forums.
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April 20—The Bush administration’s yearlong drive to take away the overtime pay protections for millions of workers may become a new federal regulation after it is published in the Federal Register later this week. The Office of Management and Budget made the final version of the rule public today and employers can implement it after 120 days, approximately Aug. 20.
Bush used the federal regulatory process, which does not require congressional approval, to make it easier for employers to avoid paying overtime to their employees. Last year, the U.S. Senate voted to block any changes in the overtime eligibility regulations, and the White House move this week came as Democratic senators again prepared to vote to block Bush from taking away overtime pay. Republican leaders had rearranged the Senate schedule several times to avoid a vote on legislation to stop the overtime pay cuts.
Although the White House says the new overtime pay regulations will increase the number of workers eligible for overtime pay, pay cuts for America’s workers could be significant. Overtime pay accounts for up to one-quarter of the weekly earnings of workers eligible for overtime, an average $161 a week, according to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute.
"Over the past year, in promoting its plan to eliminate overtime rights for 8 million workers, the Bush Administration has left an appalling trail of misstatements, evasions, half-truths, and outright falsifications that destroy any credibility they might have as defenders of workers’ overtime pay," says AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney.
"The Bush Administration staunchly opposed legislation which would preserve overtime pay for all workers and instead pressed forward with eliminating overtime pay for a huge swath of middle-class workers—many who make as little as $23,600 a year."
While the final regulation must be analyzed carefully to determine the precise number of workers whose overtime rights are threatened, it is clear the Bush regulation will restrict eligibility for overtime pay to fewer workers.
“The Bush administration simply is not trustworthy on this issue, and I am beyond skeptical about these so-called revisions,” says Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa). “This president has gone out of his way time and again to undercut working families’ right to overtime pay for overtime work. The Senate will soon have the opportunity to stand up and be counted on this issue, and I look forward to the debate.”
Public Opposes Overtime Pay Grab
Since the overtime pay grab was announced in March 2003, more than 1.5 million workers have sent e-mails, letters and faxes calling on Bush to withdraw the overtime take-away.
Last year, the Senate and House backed an amendment by Harkin to block the part of Bush’s plan that takes away overtime pay from workers but would allow any expansion of overtime eligibility to workers not currently qualified. Republican congressional leaders, working closely with the Bush White House, stripped the Harkin amendment from the final version of appropriations bill to which it was attached.
Harkin and Democratic senators have fought to win a new vote on a similar amendment this year, but Senate Republican leaders blocked those attempts, even pulling bills off the floor and delaying votes to prevent a vote on the Harkin amendment.
Last week, Senate Democratic and Republican leaders reached an agreement to allow a vote on an amendment to the Foreign Sales Corporation tax (FSC) legislation (S. 1637) protecting workers’ overtime rights. But the bill may not come up for a vote until May or later. The amendment would apply retroactively, so it could still block the Bush overtime pay take-away.
If the vote wins Senate approval, it still faces formidable obstacles in a House and Senate conference to meld the two versions of the FSC tax legislation.
http://forum.johnkerry.com/index.php?showtopic=23256
