PROTECTING THE RIGHT OF OVERTIME PAY

Whereas, the Fair Labor Standards Act mandates that employers pay overtime to hourly employees working more than 40 hours per week, so as to discourage employers from unduly increasing employees' workloads without fair compensation; and

Whereas, the Bush administration has proposed and will soon implement changes to the Fair Labor Standards Act that will remove an estimated 8 million employees from the protections of the act and will enable employers to require them to work an unlimited number of hours per week with no additional overtime pay; and

Whereas, this initiative will lead to lower pay, longer hours and unpredictable schedules for white-collar, technical and professional employees in many occupations; and

Whereas, this proposal is part of a concerted effort by the Bush administration to destroy worker protections the labor movement fought decades to achieve.

RESOLVED, that the AFT will fight to overturn this Bush administration initiative by educating our members on the potential threat to their livelihood and well-being, and by working to advance legislation and other efforts that would restore the rights of workers who are affected by these changes.

[AFT Executive Council, February 2004]