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Fuzzy Math, Distortions Used to Justify Overtime Scheme
In spite of overwhelming evidence that at least 8 million Americans would lose their overtime rights under the Depart-ment of Labor's plan to erode the Fair Labor Standards Act, agency officials are refusing to back off their claims that only 644,000 workers would be affected.
Wage and Hour Administrator Tammy McCutchen stuck by the highly disputed figure during a brief Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing the day before senators left for their August recess.
But Ross Eisenbrey of the Economic Policy Institute told lawmakers that the agency's analysis is so flawed that "there is little, if any, credibility in its numbers. The paychecks of millions of workers are at stake in this rulemaking."
The Senate is expected to take action on the overtime issue after Labor Day, likely in the form of an amendment to an appropriations bill. In addition, Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) have introduced a bill (S.1485) to prevent the DOL from taking away any workers' overtime protection.
Among a long list of workers that employers could decide to exempt are first responders to emergencies, including police, firefighters, paramedics and nurses. Anyone with military experience could be excluded, too.
"What a shameful way for the Bush administration to thank the courageous Americans who risk their lives overseas and here at home to protect our country and keep our communities safe," CWA President Morton Bahr said.
Former military personnel would be affected because military training can be used to label someone a "professional" - a distinction that until now has applied only to people with advanced degrees in fields that demand them, such as lawyers, doctors and engineers.
Other affected employees include skilled technicians, media workers, most office workers, dental hygienists, medical technicians, lab workers and many sales people - even, for instance, truck drivers who take sales orders while making deliveries.
Eisenbrey said that among the many problems with the agency's math, it only took into account people who currently receive overtime pay - about 12 million Americans - as opposed to the 80 to 90 million Americans who are eligible.
"Because the overtime premium works as it was designed to, and discourages employers from assigning overtime to non-exempt workers, removing overtime protection will result in many employees working overtime who don't work overtime now," he said.
Eisenbrey and CWA attorney Mark Wilson, a specialist in the FLSA and overtime law, also spoke July 29 at a media briefing hosted by The Newspaper Guild-CWA at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Wilson said the DOL is not only hurting workers, it's breaking the law. In fact, the proposed regulations tell employers precisely how to get around the law by converting workers' salaries to a lower, hourly wage. When overtime hours are figured in at the lower rate, the workers' total compensation wouldn't change. The DOL even provides employers with a mathematical example.
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley urged workers to contact their senators and representatives, and talk to colleagues about the very real threat to their overtime rights.
The AFL-CIO Executive Council passed a resolution in August condeming the overtime proposal, calling it "just one more in a long string of attacks on workers' basic rights and protections." Labor leaders pledged to oppose any attempt to disqualify more workers from overtime protection."
Audio from the TNG-CWA press briefing on overtime is available on the Guild's website, www.newsguild.org, along with materials explaining the proposals in more detail. More information and workers' stories are available on the AFL-CIO site, www.aflcio.org, where you can use an e-mail link to write to members of Congress to urge them to put a stop to any efforts to take overtime away from workers.
Wage and Hour Administrator Tammy McCutchen stuck by the highly disputed figure during a brief Senate Appropriations subcommittee hearing the day before senators left for their August recess.
But Ross Eisenbrey of the Economic Policy Institute told lawmakers that the agency's analysis is so flawed that "there is little, if any, credibility in its numbers. The paychecks of millions of workers are at stake in this rulemaking."
The Senate is expected to take action on the overtime issue after Labor Day, likely in the form of an amendment to an appropriations bill. In addition, Sens. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) have introduced a bill (S.1485) to prevent the DOL from taking away any workers' overtime protection.
Among a long list of workers that employers could decide to exempt are first responders to emergencies, including police, firefighters, paramedics and nurses. Anyone with military experience could be excluded, too.
"What a shameful way for the Bush administration to thank the courageous Americans who risk their lives overseas and here at home to protect our country and keep our communities safe," CWA President Morton Bahr said.
Former military personnel would be affected because military training can be used to label someone a "professional" - a distinction that until now has applied only to people with advanced degrees in fields that demand them, such as lawyers, doctors and engineers.
Other affected employees include skilled technicians, media workers, most office workers, dental hygienists, medical technicians, lab workers and many sales people - even, for instance, truck drivers who take sales orders while making deliveries.
Eisenbrey said that among the many problems with the agency's math, it only took into account people who currently receive overtime pay - about 12 million Americans - as opposed to the 80 to 90 million Americans who are eligible.
"Because the overtime premium works as it was designed to, and discourages employers from assigning overtime to non-exempt workers, removing overtime protection will result in many employees working overtime who don't work overtime now," he said.
Eisenbrey and CWA attorney Mark Wilson, a specialist in the FLSA and overtime law, also spoke July 29 at a media briefing hosted by The Newspaper Guild-CWA at the National Press Club in Washington, D.C.
Wilson said the DOL is not only hurting workers, it's breaking the law. In fact, the proposed regulations tell employers precisely how to get around the law by converting workers' salaries to a lower, hourly wage. When overtime hours are figured in at the lower rate, the workers' total compensation wouldn't change. The DOL even provides employers with a mathematical example.
TNG-CWA President Linda Foley urged workers to contact their senators and representatives, and talk to colleagues about the very real threat to their overtime rights.
The AFL-CIO Executive Council passed a resolution in August condeming the overtime proposal, calling it "just one more in a long string of attacks on workers' basic rights and protections." Labor leaders pledged to oppose any attempt to disqualify more workers from overtime protection."
Audio from the TNG-CWA press briefing on overtime is available on the Guild's website, www.newsguild.org, along with materials explaining the proposals in more detail. More information and workers' stories are available on the AFL-CIO site, www.aflcio.org, where you can use an e-mail link to write to members of Congress to urge them to put a stop to any efforts to take overtime away from workers.