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Showing posts with label Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta. Show all posts
Sunday, February 24, 2019
Tell Trump Secretary of Labor Alex Acosta: Resign
Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Tell Congress: Bring back overtime pay.
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Petition to Congress:
"Expand overtime pay and restore overtime protections to the millions of workers hurt by the Trump administration and conservative business lawsuits. Support the Restoring Overtime Pay Act."
Add your name:
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Donald Trump and his big business cronies have cost American workers more than $646 million in overtime pay.1
One of the biggest achievements of the Obama administration was new, modernized overtime rules that would have produced new eligibility for overtime or more take-home pay for 12.5 million Americans. But conservative business interests sued to stop the rule and the Trump administration has abandoned the fight – costing workers more than $3 million in wages each and every day since last summer.2
Progressive champion Rep. Mark Takano and Sens. Sherrod Brown and Patty Murray have introduced a bill that would give legislative force to the Obama administration rules.3 Every bit of support for this fix exposes Trump's hypocrisy and shines a spotlight on the way he is hurting working people.
Donald Trump's Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta made the Trump position very clear: he said paying people for their labor would “create a stress on the system.”4 No wonder the Trump administration quit when conservative business interests won a stay in the rule from a federal judge who is now considering proposing a far weaker version.
Between 1975 and today the number of salaried employees who received overtime pay for working 40+ hours a week dropped from 65 percent to 11 percent.5 If the threshold had risen with inflation it would be around $58,000 today, and a threshold that once more covered 65 percent of the workforce would have to be $69,000.6 The old overtime pay threshold, $23,660, in contrast, is below the poverty level for a family of four.7
On top of it all, businesses routinely use loopholes to deny employees pay: Some fast food companies call workers 'managers' to exempt them from overtime pay even while they work 60 or more hours a week and spend 95 percent of their time at the register or sweeping floors.8
The Restoring Overtime Pay Act would take the carefully constructed Obama overtime rule and make it law – closing loopholes and setting an overtime threshold of $47,476. It's such a measured step that opposing it openly exposes Trump and Republicans as the party of greedy executives. We need to make sure Congress knows how much Trump has already cost us.
Tell Congress: Trump is costing workers overtime pay. Pass legislation to expand overtime. Click below to sign the petition:
- Josh Nelson, CREDO Action
Add your name:
References:
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Wednesday, August 23, 2017
Dept. of Labor just took the first step toward stripping overtime pay (comments needed)
Trump’s Department of Labor has just taken the first step toward stripping overtime pay from millions of Americans.1
Tens of thousands of people fought for and won new, modernized overtime rules from the Obama administration. These rules will benefit 12.5 million Americans who will now be eligible for overtime or see an increase in their take-home pay – and could be one of the most impactful achievements of the Obama administration.2
But Donald Trump’s Secretary of Labor Alexander Acosta says paying people for their labor would “create a stress on the system.”3 The Trump administration has issued a “request for information” in an attempt to solicit business excuses to strip overtime from workers. We need to expose Trump’s phony populism and fight to save overtime by submitting as many comments as possible.
In 1975, 65 percent of salaried employees received overtime pay if they worked over 40 hours a week. Until the recent reforms, that number was less than 11 percent.4 Since 2004, salaried employees were only eligible for time-and-a-half overtime pay if they made less than $23,660, below the poverty level for a family of four. Under the new rules, the threshold is $47,476.5
The new rules also crack down on businesses that use massive loopholes to pay far less than the minimum wage. Today, some fast food companies pay employees the equivalent of a 40-hour-week at minimum wage – but force them to work 60 or more hours per week, spending 95 percent of their time at the cash register or sweeping floors, all while labeling them “managers” to deny time-and-a-half pay.6
It all adds up to a raise for nearly 12.5 million workers and an economic boost for all of us from putting more money in the pockets of everyday Americans. Donald Trump and his Republican partners in Congress are determined to make America a low-pay nation, and attacking overtime is part of the plan. We need to flood the Department of Labor with comments in support of the strong Obama-era overtime rules.
Amy Held, "Labor Department Rethinking Obama-Era Overtime Pay Rule,” NPR, June 27, 2017.- Dave Jamieson, “Obama Is Bringing Overtime Pay To Millions Of Workers,” Huff Post, May 17, 2016.
- Held, "Labor Department Rethinking Obama-Era Overtime Pay Rule.”
- Rep. Mark Takano, “Rep. Mark Takano and 31 House Democrats Call for Expanded Overtime Pay,” Jan. 19, 2015.
- Jamieson, “Obama Is Bringing Overtime Pay To Millions Of Workers.”
- Economic Policy Institute, “Why It’s Time to Update Overtime Pay Rules: Frequently Asked Questions,” Aug. 4, 2015.
- Ross Eisenbrey, “Where Should the Overtime Salary Threshold Be Set? A Comparison of Four Proposals to Increase Overtime Coverage,” Economic Policy Institute, December 23, 2014.
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