In 2001 The "Overtime Bill" was passed with bi-partisan support, and was aimed at preventing hospitals from forcing nurses to work overtime. The current legislation, hidden in the omnibus funding bill and fought over along party and economic class lines, is another in a long line of Bush Administration "Bully Tactical Measures" to reward Big Business at the expense of working people.
If you and those you love own a small business, work for a living, and are not a principal of a Fortune 500 company, and you still want to vote for Christian/Republican Fundamentalists/Neocoms in '04, then IMHO, you should request a refund on any money you paid for your education.
Bush said to prevail on overtime
Congressional aides say Pa.'s Specter lifts objections to rule changes.
November 22, 2003: 11:59 PM EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Bush administration has won a Capitol Hill battle over proposed changes to U.S. overtime work rules that are supported by business and opposed by labor, congressional aides said. They said Sen. Arlen Specter, a Pennsylvania Republican, had lifted his objections, clearing the way for passage of a huge year-end spending bill without a provision that would have blocked the new regulations.
Specter, who could have kept the bill bottled up in committee by one vote, made the about-face a day after he floated a possible compromise that was shot down, and hours after he told a news conference he was still seeking a deal. He conceded he had been "boxed in" with no certain way out. The administration, which has refused to back down from its proposal despite majority votes against it in both the House and the Senate, contends the regulations would clarify and update often confusing and antiquated work rules.
It also says the changes in the rules would guarantee overtime protection for an estimated 1.3 million more low-income, white-collar workers. But foes warn that the regulations, which the administration intends to put into effect in a few months, could cost more than 8 million Americans their overtime pay and result in companies forcing employees to work longer hours without compensation.
Specter and other lawmakers have vowed to challenge the proposed work rules next year under an act that allows congressional review of new regulations, and labor groups promise to test them in court. Sen. Tom Harkin, an Iowa Democrat who had teamed up with Specter to try to block the regulations, issued a statement expressing his regrets.
"I understand that the Republican leadership, at the behest of the White House, has killed the overtime pay protections in the omnibus appropriations bill," Harkin said. "This is hugely disappointing to me, and a real blow to the working men and women of this country who depend on overtime pay." William Samuel, legislative director for the 13-million member AFL-CIO, the nation's largest labor group, said: "We know Specter was under enormous pressure and that the White House was willing to provoke a fiscal crisis to gets its way."
"We will make sure that the American people know the length that this administration went to cut overtime for 8 million Americans," Samuel said. A majority of the Republican-led Senate and House had defied a White House veto threat by voting in favor of a Harkin provision that would have blocked a proposed expansion of overtime exemptions for white-collar workers under the 1938 Fair Labor Standards Act.
Specter sought to keep the provision in a massive catch-all spending bill for a number of federal agencies, but the White House got him to back down and allow the measure to move without it, aides said. Specter's sudden reversal seemed to catch even some members of his own staff by surprise. "This is news to me," said a spokesman for the senator, adding Specter had left town.
Specter recommended Thursday that a commission be created to review the proposed work rules and that Congress then vote on them. But the recommendation, like a similar suggestion Specter offered earlier, was turned down.
posted by Richard at
Sunday, November 23, 2003
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
Links to this post:
function BlogThis() { Q=''; x=document; y=window; if(x.selection) { Q=x.selection.createRange().text; } else if (y.getSelection) { Q=y.getSelection(); } else if (x.getSelection) { Q=x.getSelection(); } popw = y.open('http://www.blogger.com/blog-this.g?t=' + escape(Q) + '&u=' + escape(location.href) + '&n=' + escape(document.title),'bloggerForm', 'scrollbars=no,width=475,height=300,top=175,left=75,status=yes,resizable=yes'); void(0); } Create a Link
<< Home