Bush Overtime Plan: A Slap in the Face to America’s Veterans
Vietnam-era veteran Randy Fleming says the Bush administration is breaking the deal Fleming and other military veterans made with the government when they enlisted.
“When I signed up in 1973, the Air Force and I made a deal that I thought was fair. They got a chunk of my time and I got training to help me build the rest of my life. There was no part of that deal that said I would have to give up my overtime pay.”
But Fleming and other veterans face the loss of overtime pay protections because of the Bush administration’s nearly yearlong battle to eliminate overtime pay guarantees in the Fair Labor Standards Act that could cost as many as 8 million workers their overtime pay.
Fleming, an engineering technician at the Boeing Co.’s metrology lab near Wichita, Kan., says the training he received during the five years he served his country qualified him “for a good civilian job. Now they are using this ‘military penalty’ to cancel that bargain.”
Bush and Republican Leaders Kill Effort to Save Overtime Pay Protections
On Jan. 22, Bush and Senate Republican leaders killed a filibuster against a massive spending bill. Backers of the filibuster had fought to include an amendment to block the overtime pay protection attack that previously had been approved by the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao says the U.S. Department of Labor plans to implement in March sweeping rules that could deny overtime pay protection to as many as 8 million workers, but AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the fight against the Bush overtime pay protection elimination is far from over. Several senators have vowed to keep up the legislative fight against the Bush proposal by seeking to add amendments to upcoming bills that would block the rules.
The military penalty aspect of Bush’s overtime assault received little press or congressional notice until AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka’s Senate testimony.
“Under the Bush proposal, if an employer determines that the training veterans have received in the military is equivalent to a four-year professional degree, that employer will now be allowed to deny those veterans overtime eligibility and refuse to pay them anything for overtime work,” says Trumka, who testified on the Bush overtime scheme before the Senate Appropriations Labor subcommittee Jan. 20. “This proposal is offensive.”
Chao also appeared at the hearing and, when subcommittee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) quizzed her about the overtime rule’s military penalty, didn’t address the issue of overtime for veterans. Instead, Chao told the panel soldiers on active duty don’t receive overtime pay.
“The Bush proposal could take away overtime for military veterans. It breaks the faith with these patriotic Americans who have served us so well,” says Sen. Edward Kennedy (D–Mass.).
Fleming said he had a proposal for lawmakers, Bush and “all those who want to let these military penalty rules go through. If you think it’s okay for the government to renege on deals, I think it should be your job to tell our military men and women in Iraq that when they come home, their service to their country could be used as a way to cut their overtime pay.”
Working Families Send 300,000 E-mails—White House Blocks Deliveries
Working families are continuing their fight to stop Bush’s attack on overtime. Since the Department of Labor announced the proposal last year, workers have sent more than 1.5 million e-mails, letters and faxes to the White House, the Labor Department and Congress protesting Bush’s attempt to take away overtime pay protections. In recent weeks, 300,000 workers signed online and hand-distributed petitions calling on Bush to withdraw his overtime take-away proposal, and since Jan. 16, more than 230,000 workers sent faxes to their senators urging them to support the filibuster and protect overtime. Those 230,000 messages were copied to the Bush White House.
The White House has apparently set up a blocking system as e-mails from union activist groups and other advocacy groups are not being delivered to the White House e-mail system. Those sending the e-mail messages are not being notified that their messages are not getting through. The White House has not responded to requests for information about the e-mail blocking.
Vietnam-era veteran Randy Fleming says the Bush administration is breaking the deal Fleming and other military veterans made with the government when they enlisted.
“When I signed up in 1973, the Air Force and I made a deal that I thought was fair. They got a chunk of my time and I got training to help me build the rest of my life. There was no part of that deal that said I would have to give up my overtime pay.”
But Fleming and other veterans face the loss of overtime pay protections because of the Bush administration’s nearly yearlong battle to eliminate overtime pay guarantees in the Fair Labor Standards Act that could cost as many as 8 million workers their overtime pay.
Fleming, an engineering technician at the Boeing Co.’s metrology lab near Wichita, Kan., says the training he received during the five years he served his country qualified him “for a good civilian job. Now they are using this ‘military penalty’ to cancel that bargain.”
Bush and Republican Leaders Kill Effort to Save Overtime Pay Protections
On Jan. 22, Bush and Senate Republican leaders killed a filibuster against a massive spending bill. Backers of the filibuster had fought to include an amendment to block the overtime pay protection attack that previously had been approved by the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives.
Labor Secretary Elaine Chao says the U.S. Department of Labor plans to implement in March sweeping rules that could deny overtime pay protection to as many as 8 million workers, but AFL-CIO President John Sweeney says the fight against the Bush overtime pay protection elimination is far from over. Several senators have vowed to keep up the legislative fight against the Bush proposal by seeking to add amendments to upcoming bills that would block the rules.
The military penalty aspect of Bush’s overtime assault received little press or congressional notice until AFL-CIO Secretary-Treasurer Richard Trumka’s Senate testimony.
“Under the Bush proposal, if an employer determines that the training veterans have received in the military is equivalent to a four-year professional degree, that employer will now be allowed to deny those veterans overtime eligibility and refuse to pay them anything for overtime work,” says Trumka, who testified on the Bush overtime scheme before the Senate Appropriations Labor subcommittee Jan. 20. “This proposal is offensive.”
Chao also appeared at the hearing and, when subcommittee Chairman Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) quizzed her about the overtime rule’s military penalty, didn’t address the issue of overtime for veterans. Instead, Chao told the panel soldiers on active duty don’t receive overtime pay.
“The Bush proposal could take away overtime for military veterans. It breaks the faith with these patriotic Americans who have served us so well,” says Sen. Edward Kennedy (D–Mass.).
Fleming said he had a proposal for lawmakers, Bush and “all those who want to let these military penalty rules go through. If you think it’s okay for the government to renege on deals, I think it should be your job to tell our military men and women in Iraq that when they come home, their service to their country could be used as a way to cut their overtime pay.”
Working Families Send 300,000 E-mails—White House Blocks Deliveries
Working families are continuing their fight to stop Bush’s attack on overtime. Since the Department of Labor announced the proposal last year, workers have sent more than 1.5 million e-mails, letters and faxes to the White House, the Labor Department and Congress protesting Bush’s attempt to take away overtime pay protections. In recent weeks, 300,000 workers signed online and hand-distributed petitions calling on Bush to withdraw his overtime take-away proposal, and since Jan. 16, more than 230,000 workers sent faxes to their senators urging them to support the filibuster and protect overtime. Those 230,000 messages were copied to the Bush White House.
The White House has apparently set up a blocking system as e-mails from union activist groups and other advocacy groups are not being delivered to the White House e-mail system. Those sending the e-mail messages are not being notified that their messages are not getting through. The White House has not responded to requests for information about the e-mail blocking.
