Political Quotes

“Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 30 seconds. I include in the Record letters from AFSCME and the National Education Association in opposition to the legislation. AFSCME, April 4, 2017. Subcommittee on Workforce Protections of the Committee on Education and the Workforce, House of Representatives, Washington, DC. Dear Representative: On behalf of the 1.6 million members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), I urge you to oppose H.R. 1180, the Working Families Flexibility Act of 2017. H.R. 1180 claims to help American workers better balance the needs of family and the workplace by allowing employers to offer private-sector employees the choice of paid time off in lieu of cash wages for overtime hours worked. But contrary to its stated purposes, the proposed law will result in more overtime hours for employees for less money and without any guarantee of compensatory time when needed. For over 80 years and counting, the Federal Labor Standards Act (FLSA) establishes the basic requirements for wage and hour protections including overtime compensation. Under FLSA, overtime compensation must be provided for covered employees working more than the maximum period of 40 hours per week. However, H.R. 1180 provides no guaranteed right for an employee to use banked compensatory time when needed, even in the case of a personal or family emergency.…”