- I know you won't believe this, but our President told
a whopper in New York...
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- An update of our report from last Labor Day.
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- Monday, September 6, 2004 - In celebration of the working
person's holiday, Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao has announced the Bush
Administration's plan to end the 60-year-old law which requires employers
to pay time-and-a-half for overtime.
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- I'm sure you already knew that -- if you happened to
have run across page 15,576 of last year's Federal Register.
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- According to the Register, where the Bush Administration
likes to place its little gifts to major campaign donors, 2.7 million workers
will lose their overtime pay for a "benefit" of $1.53 billion.
I put "benefit" in quotes because, in the official cost-benefit
analysis issued by Bush's Labor Department, the amount employers will now
be able to slice out of workers' pockets is tallied on the plus side of
the rules change.
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- President Bush announced in his convention acceptance
speech in New York this week that he was changing overtime rules to give
workers "comp time" off, instead of pay. He forgot to mention
that a couple of days before, on August 23, his Labor Department had already
put in half the plan -- eliminating overtime pay for millions -- while
failing to put into the regs one word about comp time. In the pre-September
11 days, we used to call what the President said, "lying."
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- Nevertheless, workers getting their pay snipped shouldn't
complain, because they will all be receiving promotions. These employees
will be re-classified as managers exempt from the law. The change is promoted
by the National Council of Chain Restaurants. You've met these 'managers'
- they're the ones in the beanies and aprons whose management decisions
are, "Hold the lettuce on that."
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- NO OVERTIME IN BAGHDAD
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- My favorite of Chao's little amendments would re-classify
as "exempt professionals" anyone who learned their skill in the
military. In other words, thousands of veterans will now lose overtime
pay. I just can't understand why Bush didn't announce that one when he
landed on the aircraft carrier.
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- Now I should say that, according to Chao's press office,
the changes will actually extend overtime benefits to 1.3 million burger
flippin' managers. How does that square with the billion dollar "benefit"
to business owners? Simple: The Chao hounds at the Labor Department suggest
that employers CUT WAGES so that, added to the new "overtime"
pay, the employees won't actually take home a dime more.
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- I can hear the moaners and bleeding hearts saying this
sounds like the Labor Department is telling Big Business how to evade the
law. Yep, that's what the Department is doing. Right there on page 15,576
of the Federal Register it says,
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- "Affected employers would have four choices concerning
potential payroll costs: ... (#4) converting salaried employees' basis
of pay to an hourly rate that result in virtually no changes to the total
compensation paid those workers."
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- And in case some employer is dense as a president and
doesn't get the hint, Comrade Chao repeats, "The fourth choice above
results in virtually no (or only a minimal) increase in labor costs."
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- For decades the courts have thrown the book at cheapskate
bosses who chisel workers out of legal overtime by cutting base pay this
way -- but now they'll have a new defense: Bush made me do it.
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- But then, there likely will not be any cases against
employers anyway since Chao herself is supposedly the labor cop whose job
it is to stop paycheck theft. She's well qualified for that job. Her resume
reads, "Married to Republican Senator Mitch McConnell of Kentucky."
I called her press office to ask if she qualifies for overtime, but they'd
left the office early.
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- And there is good news for our sporting President. Word
from the White House is he'll be golfing on the Labor Day weekend. Under
Chao's rules he need not worry if he wants to replay that hole. "Exempt
professionals" who cannot earn overtime - once defined as doctors,
lawyers and those with specialized college degrees - will now include anyone
who provides skilled advice ... like caddies ("You might try the other
end of the club, Mr. President").
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- *****
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- This month, Greg Palast, will release, "Bush Family
Fortunes," the 70-minute film on DVD taken from his investigative
reports for BBC television. View a 2-minute preview, or order it, at http://www.gregpalast.com/bff-dvd.htm
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