David Obey: “Mr. Speaker, only a few weeks after Congress eliminated the guarantee of health care under Medicare for every senior in…”

“Mr. Speaker, only a few weeks after Congress eliminated the guarantee of health care under Medicare for every senior in America, just in time for the holidays we are telling every working person in this country that another guarantee is also a thing of the past: overtime pay. The passage of the Fair Standards Labor Act nearly 70 years ago safeguarded workers' rights in this country. It promised workers time and a half for the time they worked beyond the 40-hour workweek: a little extra cash to put a roof over their families' heads, to buy groceries, and pay their medical bills. On average, these extra wages account for roughly 25 percent of their total earnings. This bill, in clear defiance of the will of both Chambers of Congress, breaks that promise. This bill allows the Department of Labor to gut the Fair Standards Labor Act, effectively repealing the 40-hour workweek and forcing 8 million Americans, including police officers, firefighters, construction workers, nurses, and EMTs, to take a second job to make up for those lost earnings; this at a time when we already have millions of people out of work, where income is declining, poverty is increasing, and health care costs are rising. This bill opens the door to mandatory overtime, allowing employers to force millions of workers to stay late with little notice and without adequately compensating them.”