Republicans in Congress gunning for OT pay
Oregon Rep. Walden,
Washington Rep. Herrera
Buetler cosponsor bill to
replace overtime pay with
comp time
WASHINGTON, D.C. — House
Republicans have introduced a bill
(H.R. 1406) that would end the 40-
hour work week, dismantling an im-
portant component of the Fair Labor
Standards Act (FLSA) of 1938 and
hurting middle-class families across the
country.
Sponsored by Rep. Martha Roby
(Ala.), the dubiously-titled “Working
Families Flexibility Act” (H.R. 1406)
would remove the requirement that em-
ployers pay a cash premium for over-
time work and instead allow them to
offer employees compensatory time
off. The effect would be an FLSA that
is undermined of its only incentive
against excessive hours, and a cheaper
way for employers to demand manda-
tory overtime.
The House Education and the Work-
force Committee on April 17 passed
H.R. 1406 out of committee on a parti-
san vote.
Democrats offered several amend-
ments to give workers flexibility with-
out jeopardizing their overtime pay.
One, presented by Oregon Congress-
woman Suzanne Bonamici, would pro-
tect comp time wages by requiring that
unpaid overtime wages be deposited
into an interest-bearing account, pro-
tected from bankruptcy.
“H.R. 1406 is effectively an interest-
free loan made by a worker to his or her
employer,” Bonamici said. “While
holding these wages, employers can
use the dollars for any purpose they
choose. They can even deposit the
wages into an account and keep the in-
terest.”
Republicans on the committee voted
unanimously against each of the Dem-
ocratic amendments.
Rep. George Miller of California,
the senior Democrat on the committee,
said the bill will not provide greater
flexibility to working families.
“This bill is not about providing em-
ployees with greater flexibility. It’s
about providing employers with greater
flexibility,” he said.
H.R. 1406 could go to the House
floor at any time. The bill has 166
cosponsors — all Republicans — in-
cluding Oregon Congressman Greg
Walden and Washington Congress-
woman Jaime Herrera Beutler.
Young union members to discuss future May 23
Young union members will talk
about the future of organized labor and
then “Party Like It’s 1999” Thursday,
May 23, at the Vancouver Hilton and
Convention Center.
The event for young workers, put on
by young workers, is sponsored by the
American Federation of Government
Employees (AFGE) Y.O.U.N.G.
(Young Organizing Unionists of the
Next Generation). It is being held in
conjunction with AFGE District 11’s
annual training day.
A panel of young union members
will be featured at a “Solidarity Sympo-
sium” from 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. Follow-
ing the symposium, AFGE District 11
will hold a political action committee
benefit with music, dancing, light re-
freshments, and a silent auction.
“The theme — This is OUR Move-
ment — was determined based upon
the fact that it is we, the younger gener-
ation, that must step up and take re-
sponsibility, leadership roles, under-
stand different methods of organizing
and mobilizing which may resonate
more with a younger demographic,”
said Amanda Schroeder, national
women’s advisory coordinator for
AFGE District 11, and a member of the
AFL-CIO’s Oregon YELL (Young
Emerging Labor Leaders).
The event is free and open to all
young workers, laborers, student
groups, and constituency groups. RSVP
through Facebook at www.facebook.
com/events/150670848430397/ or
email Schroeder at amandaschroeder.
nwacd11@ yahoo.com. She also can be
reached by phone at 503-936-0253.
Machinists International Union
President Tom Buffenbarger wrote a
letter to Congress encouraging them to
vote against the bill.
“Employers can already work
within the existing laws to allow work-
ers adjusting work schedules around
family needs without changing the 40-
hour workweek,” Buffenbarger wrote.
“Comp time proposals let the employer
decide whether workers can use any ac-
crued compensatory time. Additionally,
nothing would prevent the employer
from forcing workers to take time off
individually or limiting whether work-
ers can use the compensatory time at
all if it is too burdensome to the work-
load.”
Eileen Appelbaum, a senior econo-
E
E
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Expires 05/31/2013
PAGE 10
NORTHWEST LABOR PRESS
mist with the Center for Economic Pol-
icy and Research, says the bill is not
just a problem for individual workers.
“The labor market remains a wild card
in an economy still struggling to solid-
ify a fragile recovery,” she said. “With
nearly 12 million people counted as un-
employed and another 7.6 million part-
time workers looking for full-time
hours, both Republicans and Democ-
rats in Congress have promised to fo-
cus on job creation. This comp time bill
does exactly the opposite. Instead of
encouraging employers to increase hir-
ing when business picks up and help
jump start a more robust recovery, it
gives them a strong incentive to in-
crease the overtime hours of current
employees instead.”
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