Activists Protest Changes to Overtime Policy
Feature Story by civilrights.org staff - 7/9/2003
Opponents of a proposal to overhaul eligibility for overtime pay protested in front of the Labor Department June 30 at a rally organized by the AFL-CIO. The union had originally rented a room from the department to discuss the issue, but changed strategies when they were later denied access to the room.Members of the American Federation of Teachers, United Food and Commercial Workers, and the Communications Workers of America were among the large crowd that gathered.
At issue is a rule being considered that would reform the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). According to the FLSA, non-managerial workers receive time and a half pay for work over the standard 40-hour workweek.
The overtime changes being considered would broaden the definition of employees exempt from overtime pay. Any worker in a "position of responsibility" would be ineligible.
While Labor Secretary Elaine Chao contends that overtime requirements need updating, Judy Conti, co-founder of the D.C. Employment Justice Center, counters, "all workers have positions of responsibility."
A study by the Economic Policy Institute estimates 2.5 million salaried workers and 5.5 million hourly employees could lose entitlement to overtime pay under the new rule. This is dramatically different from the Labor Department's own estimate that only 640,000 workers' pay would be in jeopardy.
Workers fear that the loss of overtime eligibility will lead to longer hours as businesses find they can get more work from their employees without the burden of overtime pay.
AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka declared, "Just because it's the new century, just because we have new high-tech jobs, just because more people are working in an office ? doesn't mean we should become a nation of workers who never see their families and spend 50 to 60 hours a week at the office."
The proposed regulations could also hurt the economy. Trumka warns that the power to work employees long hours without time and a half pay would encourage employers to lay off other workers. Moreover, employees will have less money in their pockets that would otherwise be put into the economy.
The Labor Department will decide on the rule before the end of the year.
