Bush and Labor
Bush Celebrates Labor Day Jerry 8/22/04
It was seventy years ago that I got a check from National Biscuit Company in the amount of $643+ in payment of overtime pay. The manager of the Montgomery, Alabama branch disliked President Roosevelt and was determined that he should not dictate wages and hours to him. An employee was fired after an argument with the manager. He reported the manager’s violations to the Wage and Hours Administration which led to hearings with the manager and the employees. The manager confirmed his instructions to employees to enter 40 hours on time cards regardless of actual hours worked. He also confirmed his objection to the government’s interfere in the operation of free enterprise in this manner. The Home Office promptly issued checks to each of the employees and directed the manager to comply fully with the rules in the future.
Many employers have used a great variety of methods to express their disapproval of the New Deal’s Wage and Hours regulations. However, for a long time these laws have been effective in dealing fairly with a payment for hours worked beyond forty hours per week. Generally, business owners have agreed that employees should be paid for the time spent on the job, and that a premium amount should apply to hours worked beyond forty hours per week
It is not surprising that President Bush is having the Labor Department revise the Wage and Hours rules. It is another example of the strong influence of Big Business on the Administration. Also, it is a reminder of the long-standing Anti-Labor stance of the Republican Party. It is surprising, at least to this writer, that these changes would take place at this particular time, just a few days before Labor Day.
This holiday is set aside as a time to honor the working people of the nation; to acknowledge the contributions they have made to the increased efficiency and productivity of the American economy. But, Mr. Bush’s action will stir up anger in the hearts and minds of many of the workers as they celebrate the holiday.
Greater and more widespread anger will be felt by those workers who have become accustomed to working long hours and receiving the premium rate of pay for the time in excess of forty hours. It will represent a significant reduction in their take-home pay. Yet, in many cases there will not be a proportional reduction in hours spent on the job. Media reports tell us that rule changes will permit employers to simply give an employee a title such as “manager” or “shift boss” and yet require him to do the same work for sixty or more hours without any overtime pay.
Our work-force has lived through good administrations and bad administrations. Even during the “good” times Labor has seen changes in rules and a relaxed attitude toward enforcement of the laws. Actions by employers that clearly violated the laws have been punished by a ‘slap on the wrist’ or a ‘warning’. In the confusing and extended process the employer often achieves his purpose of thwarting employees' efforts to establish a union.
It may be that organized labor has been convinced that unions are no longer needed, or that all unions are led by crooks that don’t care a whit about the rights of working people. Whatever the situation, it is probable that this Labor Day will provoke more than usual discussions about the deterioration of working conditions after the implementation of the revised rules of the Labor Department.
It was seventy years ago that I got a check from National Biscuit Company in the amount of $643+ in payment of overtime pay. The manager of the Montgomery, Alabama branch disliked President Roosevelt and was determined that he should not dictate wages and hours to him. An employee was fired after an argument with the manager. He reported the manager’s violations to the Wage and Hours Administration which led to hearings with the manager and the employees. The manager confirmed his instructions to employees to enter 40 hours on time cards regardless of actual hours worked. He also confirmed his objection to the government’s interfere in the operation of free enterprise in this manner. The Home Office promptly issued checks to each of the employees and directed the manager to comply fully with the rules in the future.
Many employers have used a great variety of methods to express their disapproval of the New Deal’s Wage and Hours regulations. However, for a long time these laws have been effective in dealing fairly with a payment for hours worked beyond forty hours per week. Generally, business owners have agreed that employees should be paid for the time spent on the job, and that a premium amount should apply to hours worked beyond forty hours per week
It is not surprising that President Bush is having the Labor Department revise the Wage and Hours rules. It is another example of the strong influence of Big Business on the Administration. Also, it is a reminder of the long-standing Anti-Labor stance of the Republican Party. It is surprising, at least to this writer, that these changes would take place at this particular time, just a few days before Labor Day.
This holiday is set aside as a time to honor the working people of the nation; to acknowledge the contributions they have made to the increased efficiency and productivity of the American economy. But, Mr. Bush’s action will stir up anger in the hearts and minds of many of the workers as they celebrate the holiday.
Greater and more widespread anger will be felt by those workers who have become accustomed to working long hours and receiving the premium rate of pay for the time in excess of forty hours. It will represent a significant reduction in their take-home pay. Yet, in many cases there will not be a proportional reduction in hours spent on the job. Media reports tell us that rule changes will permit employers to simply give an employee a title such as “manager” or “shift boss” and yet require him to do the same work for sixty or more hours without any overtime pay.
Our work-force has lived through good administrations and bad administrations. Even during the “good” times Labor has seen changes in rules and a relaxed attitude toward enforcement of the laws. Actions by employers that clearly violated the laws have been punished by a ‘slap on the wrist’ or a ‘warning’. In the confusing and extended process the employer often achieves his purpose of thwarting employees' efforts to establish a union.
It may be that organized labor has been convinced that unions are no longer needed, or that all unions are led by crooks that don’t care a whit about the rights of working people. Whatever the situation, it is probable that this Labor Day will provoke more than usual discussions about the deterioration of working conditions after the implementation of the revised rules of the Labor Department.
posted by Jeremiah | 10:49 AM
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