New overtime rules: favoring management?

At least 6 million American workers will lose their right to overtime pay starting Aug. 23.

At least that's what Ross Eisenbrey, an economist with the liberal Economic Policy Institute in Washington, charges.

"It's the worst rollback in employee rights in 57 years," he says, harking back to the passage of the Taft-Hartley Act in 1947, a bill that put some limitations on trade union activities.

A Department of Labor (DOL) spokeswoman, Pamela Groover, calls Mr. Eisenbrey's study and attacks by the AFL-CIO, the nation's trade union federation, "misinformation stuff" that "hurts workers."

The DOL states that its new "FairPay" rules "will strengthen overtime rights for 6.7 million American workers, including 1.3 million low-wage workers ... denied overtime under the old rules."

Who's closer to right - Eisenbrey or the DOL - may be suggested by the fact that almost every business association in the country is loudly cheering the new regulations published in April and taking effect in four weeks. The list includes the 600,000-member National Federation of Independent Business, the 14,000-member National Association of Manufacturers, and the 3 million-member United States Chamber of Commerce.

Business clearly expects to benefit from the new rules.

"This rule is an abomination," says Eisenbrey. Bosses, he adds, will be able to work more employees 50, even 80, hours in a week without paying time-and-a-half or anything extra for hours worked beyond 40.

Americans already work far longer hours than employees in most rich nations. The French workweek is by law 35 hours.

The rules may only be in effect for a short time. It depends on whether Congress tackles the overtime issue again when it reconvenes after Labor Day. Sen. Tom Harkin (D) of Iowa has an amendment already attached to a bill involving a tax break for exporters that the World Trade Organization says is illegal. The amendment would prevent the Bush administration from imposing any new regulation that strips workers of overtime rights. The measure also allows for expansion of overtime coverage or any other improvements, such as better job titles, that do not restrict overtime eligibility.

The amendment already passed the Senate 52 to 47 on May 4, attached to another bill that has so far gone nowhere. A few Republicans joined the Democrats. With an election coming up, some Republicans are concerned about appearing to clip overtime pay, which Senator Harkin notes accounts for 25 percent of the income of workers who work overtime.

The legislative dance is a bit complicated, involving a House-Senate legislative conference. But the Republic leadership is "doing somersaults," says Kelly Ross, an AFL-CIO official, to avoid having to vote on the overtime issue. The labor federation, Mr. Ross promises, will continue to fight the new DOL overtime rules in Congress.

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