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Hundreds Decry Bush Assault on Overtime
As Bush administration rules rolling back overtime rights for millions of workers took effect Aug. 23, CWA members and hundreds of other unionists protested in front of the U.S. Department of Labor - a building one activist denounced as "the scene of the crime."
Speakers blasting the new regulations included Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a steady champion of workers' rights among the Capitol's dwindling number of GOP moderates.
"The fight is not over," Specter told the cheering, sign-waving crowd. "The band of Senate moderates may be small, but it can be decisive and determinative. Your voice today will be heard."
By giving employers the right to reclassify many workers as administrators, executives or "learned professionals," economists project the new rules could cost at least 6 million people their right to overtime pay. The rules are the most sweeping changes ever to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, which established the 40-hour workweek and required employers to pay time and a half for extra hours.
On average, workers who get overtime earn an extra $161 a week, money that workers who spoke at Monday's rally said helped them pay bills and put children through college. Now they could be forced to work the extra hours but wouldn't be paid for them.
Specter and Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who sponsored legislation to try to stop the rules before they became effective, pledged to pursue legislation now to overturn the rules.
"Today is a national day of shame for the Bush administration," Harkin said. "This is their 'anti-Labor Day.' The stealth attack on the 40-hour workweek has begun in earnest."
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, with CWA President Morton Bahr at his side, said, "Today is a day that will make the history books. Today, American workers suffered the single biggest pay cut ever since the founding of our country."
About 500 union members and other workers' advocates turned out for Monday's rally, from the Boilermakers union to the National Organization of Women. Signs took aim at Bush's anti-worker policies and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, billed on one sign as "the unemployment czar." Workers also rallied in Ohio, Missouri and Florida.
In Washington, NOW President Kim Gandy said the rule change will hit women especially hard because it affects many female-dominated professions. "The Bush administration is sacrificing working families on the altar of corporate greed," she said. "We are witnessing a concerted and interconnected campaign to undermine 65 years of fair labor law and worker protections."
Speakers blasting the new regulations included Republican Senator Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania, a steady champion of workers' rights among the Capitol's dwindling number of GOP moderates.
"The fight is not over," Specter told the cheering, sign-waving crowd. "The band of Senate moderates may be small, but it can be decisive and determinative. Your voice today will be heard."
By giving employers the right to reclassify many workers as administrators, executives or "learned professionals," economists project the new rules could cost at least 6 million people their right to overtime pay. The rules are the most sweeping changes ever to the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act, which established the 40-hour workweek and required employers to pay time and a half for extra hours.
On average, workers who get overtime earn an extra $161 a week, money that workers who spoke at Monday's rally said helped them pay bills and put children through college. Now they could be forced to work the extra hours but wouldn't be paid for them.
Specter and Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa, who sponsored legislation to try to stop the rules before they became effective, pledged to pursue legislation now to overturn the rules.
"Today is a national day of shame for the Bush administration," Harkin said. "This is their 'anti-Labor Day.' The stealth attack on the 40-hour workweek has begun in earnest."
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney, with CWA President Morton Bahr at his side, said, "Today is a day that will make the history books. Today, American workers suffered the single biggest pay cut ever since the founding of our country."
About 500 union members and other workers' advocates turned out for Monday's rally, from the Boilermakers union to the National Organization of Women. Signs took aim at Bush's anti-worker policies and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, billed on one sign as "the unemployment czar." Workers also rallied in Ohio, Missouri and Florida.
In Washington, NOW President Kim Gandy said the rule change will hit women especially hard because it affects many female-dominated professions. "The Bush administration is sacrificing working families on the altar of corporate greed," she said. "We are witnessing a concerted and interconnected campaign to undermine 65 years of fair labor law and worker protections."