House delays vote on bill eliminating overtime pay

The House of Representatives was scheduled to vote Wednesday on whether to adopt a Senate-passed ban on Bush?s plan. But Republican leaders postponed the vote for at least a day, if not longer, say Capitol Hill observers, to give the Bush administration additional time to twist more arms in an effort to defeat the measure.

If Bush and Republican House leaders fall short and the measure is approved, the House would then call on its members of a conference committee that is merging the Senate and House versions of the fiscal year 2004 Labor, Health and Human Services and Education Appropriations bills (H.R. 2660) to go along with a provision in the Senate bill that bans the overtime scheme.

The Senate voted on Sept. 10 to forbid the U.S. Department of Labor from implementing Bush?s attack on working families? paychecks as part of H.R. 2660. The House passed its version of the bill in July and it did not include the prohibition.

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Since March, when the Labor Department proposed eliminating overtime pay for millions of workers, working families have sent hundreds of thousands of e-mails and faxes opposing the plan, and there?s still time to contact members of Congress and urge them to protect workers? overtime pay protections.

Spokespersons for President Bush have vowed that Bush will veto the appropriations bill if it includes the Senate ban. If he does veto the bill, it will take a two-thirds majority of both houses to override the veto.

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?The Bush Administration has fought long and hard at corporation?s behest to strip workers and their families of their right to overtime pay,? says AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney. ?Bush?s proposal would also rob our economy of yet another incentive for employers to create jobs, as it encourages employers to work existing employees longer hours rather than hiring new workers.?

?This administration?s attempt to slash the wages of 8 million workers, including up to half a million of our nation?s heroic first-responders such as police, fire, EMTs and nurses who are directly engaged in homeland security efforts, is simply unforgivable,? said Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., ranking minority member on the House Education and Workforce Committee.

Three in four Americans oppose the Bush administration?s proposal to eliminate several million employees? right to overtime pay, and opposition is overwhelming regardless of political affiliation, race, income or geographic region, according to a new national survey conducted by the independent polling firm Peter D. Hart Research Associates. The survey was conducted among 862 adults from Aug. 26-31, 2003, and was commissioned by the AFL-CIO.

By 17 to one, the public believes that federal laws governing overtime should be changed to cover more employees (52 percent) rather than fewer employees (three percent), while 38 percent support current coverage.

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Although the Bush administration claims changes to the overtime rules would affect only 644,000 workers, the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found the number of workers who will lose overtime pay is closer to 8 million.

This article is reprinted from the national AFL-CIO website.

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