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Washington, D.C. - Congressman Dale E. Kildee (D-MI) expressed his outrage with the Bush Administration’s new regulations on overtime pay, which will take effect today. The new regulations will cut the pay and lengthen the hours for workers making as little as $23,660, with the greatest impact of the regulations being felt by middle-income workers making between $23,660 and $100,000. According to a recent study by the Economic Policy Institute, the Bush Administration’s new overtime regulations will deny overtime rights to at least six million workers nationwide.
“These regulations will result in a pay cut for middle-income Americans. In 2000, overtime pay accounted for about a quarter of the income of employees who worked overtime. Now, in 2004, Republicans are telling workers: “No Pay for Extra Work,” said Kildee. “As a senior member of the Education and Workforce Committee, I fought and voted against these new regulations because they will hurt workers in the 5th Congressional District of Michigan.”
The new Bush regulations could have a devastating impact some salaried workers that make between $23,660 and $100,000 a year. Under the new regulations, these workers would be subjected to a “duties test” to determine whether or not they are classified as a “professional”, which would make them ineligible for overtime pay. Workers earning more than $100,000 would lose their overtime rights if they regularly assumed administrative or executive responsibilities.
Last spring, the Bush Administration came forward with their proposed regulations on overtime. After these dangerous regulations were finalized in April, House Democrats offered amendments and motions to allow the increase protection for low-wage to go into effect, while prohibiting President Bush from going ahead with overtime cuts for six million others. Unfortunately, the Republican Leadership in Congress has consistently blocked these measures.
“1.8 million private-sector jobs have been lost nationwide since Bush took office, including 185,000 manufacturing jobs here in Michigan,” said Kildee. “At a time when middle-income families are feeling the pinch of President Bush’s failed economic policies, it is unthinkable that the Administration is pursuing overtime regulations that cut the pay that families depend on.” |
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