[LordOpie]

Your thoughts?


U.S. House Republican leaders have scheduled a vote for
__ Thursday on a bill to take away overtime pay for millions
__ of people. The bill, called H.R. 1119, would let employers
__ offer comp time instead of overtime pay--but bosses would
__ have complete control over when--or even if--a worker
__ could really take time off.

__ Please take one minute to do these two things to stop
__ this awful legislation. Even if you've acted before, WE
__ NEED YOU TO ACT AGAIN before Thursday.

__ First, click on the link below to fax your U.S. representative.
__ Tell him or her to oppose H.R. 1119.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/otvotejune5/i5i7iu2ajxw7

__ Then, click on the link below to ask your friends, family
__ and co-workers to send their fax to Congress. The more
__ people who take action, the better chance we have of winning.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/otvotejune5/forward/i5i7iu2ajxw7

__ This congressional attack on overtime is just one part
__ of a two-pronged assault on workers' paychecks. In addition
__ to this legislation, the Bush administration is pushing
__ for new rules to take away overtime pay that could go
__ into effect as soon as September of this year. The combination
__ of these changes with congressional legislation, discussed
__ above, would push overtime protections back 70 years and
__ turn them into meaningless "suggestions" instead of laws
__ employers must obey.

__ And, new analysis shows millions will lose overtime pay,
__ including firefighters, police officers, nurses, retail
__ clerks, certain medical technicians, military reservists,
__ tech workers and many, many more.

__ From now until June 30, the U.S. Department of Labor is
__ accepting public comments on the proposal to take away
__ overtime pay, reduce overtime protections and cut the
__ take-home pay of millions of America's workers. You can
__ easily submit your letter of opposition right now by clicking
__ on the link below. A copy also will be sent to President
__ Bush.
http://www.unionvoice.org/campaign/overtime4dol/i5i7iu2ajxw7

__ Overtime pay makes up about one-fourth of the average
__ weekly earnings of workers who receive it. That is an
__ average pay cut of $161 a week and can add up to thousands
__ of dollars a year. Can you imagine the government cutting
__ the pay of a firefighter by thousands of dollars per year?
__ How much would you lose? These overtime pay changes are
__ like a giant new tax on working families by a president
__ who, at the same time, works hard to give tax breaks to
__ millionaires.

 

[El Jefe]

I have absolutely no problem with the bill. Overtime is not a right.

 

[Spud]

I’m exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act so getting paid for anything over 40 hours is at the discretion of my employer. One of the benefits of being a degreed professional I suppose.

I suspect it could sneak through. But if it does, there will be political hell to pay. What politician can stand up to a room full of workers and explain why he was looking out for them by easing OT and comp-time rules? Many wager earners aren’t that politically active – but cut somebody’s paycheck by 15% and they will take notice.

 

[Silver]

Are they trying to make unions a relevant political force again with this bill?

 

[El Jefe]

Originally posted by Spud
I’m exempt from the Fair Labor Standards Act so getting paid for anything over 40 hours is at the discretion of my employer. One of the benefits of being a degreed professional I suppose.

I suspect it could sneak through. But if it does, there will be political hell to pay. What politician can stand up to a room full of workers and explain why he was looking out for them by easing OT and comp-time rules? Many wager earners aren’t that politically active – but cut somebody’s paycheck by 15% and they will take notice.

I'm exempt as well. It pisses me off when I see some of the overtime abuse that takes place in some of our non-exempt positions.

 

[ummbikes]

Here is an interesting article in support of the bill.

http://www.uschamber.com/press/testimony/030312_hr1119.htm


I personally think it will pass and a people who earn wages will get screwed...

Just like salaried people have for ever.

 

[Spud]

Originally posted by El Jefe
I'm exempt as well. It pisses me off when I see some of the overtime abuse that takes place in some of our non-exempt positions.

True 'dat. Companies milking their salaried employees also leaves me sour. Not convinced that taking OT wages away from laborers is the answer though.

My company has gone bankrupt twice in the last 7 years. Employee benefits have been slashed, the shareholders were left with zip (twice) and we still have the same upper management collecting retention bonuses to ensure continued high quality leadership.... I don't think union wages and overtime helped the situation, but they weren't the root cause.

 

[The Toninator]

That's just wrong. I can kind of understand it for people how make $20/$30 bucks an hour but seriously people who make minimum wage (and yes there is a TON) really depend on it. Not everyone can make $50,000 a year. Take OT pay away and i guarantee damn tee you public assistance requests will increase 10 FOLD and there for YOUR taxes will increase 10 FOLD.
I think it's a MUST.

 

[ohio]

Am I missing something or does the bill just give employees an option.

I don't see anything about loss of overtime wages, just that you can choose to use your overtime towards time off if you choose...

Fine with me as long as the employee makes the choice and not the employer.

 

[ummbikes]

It gives the employer the option of offering comp time or overtime. Nice for the employer I guess...

 

[CinderChk]

My old company never paid overtime to begin with, since we were hourly they only paid us regular wage for anything over 40. They did alot of illegal crap anyways. I think that as long as it's not much over 40, it won't make a big difference, but the employee should get a choice, since it is their time. I'd personally rather have the time off since most of the $ goes to the government anyways. That's just my 2 cents though.

 

[Spud]

Two things going on here.

1). The house vote on H.R. 1119 was delayed today as the Republicans didn’t have the votes. They suggest it will be back. http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/ssistory.mpl/business/1938465

2). The U.S. Department of Labor is reviewing rules on overtime as well. That comment period is through the end of June.

Both items are covered in L.O.’s original post.

Philly Inquirer has a pretty good story on it. http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/news/front/6020661.htm

 

[LordOpie]

Well, since I posted this, I probably should have an opinion, eh?

As been mentioned above, this will mostly fvck the low paid peeps like the french fry cooks. And that sucks beyond belief.

ECONOMIC DISASTER
The one thing this would do is make the cyclical nature of the economy more drastic.

In lean times, employers will cut back on OT pay causing employees to have less money causing them to cutback on buying goods and services causing the economy to sink faster and further into the sh!t

This will also cause an economic bubble in the good times as employees will be more apt to jump ship to companies who are willing to negotiate OT pay/comp to bring the new talent on board. Since it seems that an employee has a better chance of negotiating increases with a new employer than the current employer, well, there will likely be a lot more movement in the good times. This means that an increase in compensation -- and temporary decrease in productivity -- will lead to an increase in costs for that company who will in turn pass the costs on to their clients thereby increasing economic growth leading to higher and potentially unstanble inflation.

Ok, so we're hearing from Congress and Dept. of Labor... I'd like to hear from monetary peeps at Federal Reserve Board on what they think this will do to future economies.


Whatcha think?

 

[Archslater]

Originally posted by LordOpie


In lean times, employers will cut back on OT pay causing employees to have less money causing them to cutback on buying goods and services causing the economy to sink faster and further into the sh!t

Are you trying to say that if more currency is exchanged for goods and services, this helps the economy?

I thought Dubya invented this concept.