Write to your senators tonight to thwart W's war on overtime for workers.

[baby_bear]

http://www.alternet.org/story.html?StoryID=16718
<snip>
This Tuesday, September 9, 2003, the U.S. Senate will vote on whether to stop what could be the biggest pay cut in U.S. history. On March 31, 2003, the Bush Department of Labor (DOL) issued proposed regulations under the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA). The FLSA established the norm of a 40-hour work week. If you work more than 40 hours a week, you should receive pay at time-and-a-half for the extra hours.

Congress passed the FLSA to urge employers to spread work around and not to exploit the workers they have. But it did not extend the right to overtime pay to professionals, executives, and administrators, on the theory they can take care of themselves. The proposed DOL regulations would enlarge the exceptions to swallow the rule. According to an analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, if the regulations become final, they will end a right to overtime pay for more than 8 million American workers. ...

Senators Harkin and Kennedy want to stop the Bush DOL. The Harkin amendment would allow DOL to expand the universe of workers who are entitled to overtime pay, but not to exclude any worker who has overtime pay protection now.
</snip>

I wrote this very short e-mail message to my senators:

I urge you to vote yes on the Harkin amendment tomorrow, to thwart the Bush administration's attempt to deny legitimate overtime pay to millions of American workers. The Harkin amendment allows DOL to expand the number of workers eligible to receive overtime pay, based on pay rates, but does not allow it to devastate the FLSA, as the administration would like to do.

Of all times to do this; I just continue to be astonished at the arrogance of the W administration.

s_m

[patrice]

1. Already did it for Voice4Change -eom