AFL-CIO Leaders Offer Feeble Response As Bush Cuts Overtime Pay for Millions LaborTalk by Harry Kelber
If 100,000 or even 50,000, visibly angry union men and women had come to Washington to vent their fury, eye to eye, with every Senator and Representative, it conceivably might have changed the vote. At least, it would have shown that the labor movement still has a sense of moral indignation when workers are treated unjustly..
Now that the new rules are in effect, the AFL-CIO, through its new affiliate, Working America, urges workers to consult one of its online attorneys for answers about their rights. The implication is that unions will comply with the new rules until they are rescinded by new legislation.
One way of eliminating the new rules is to defy them. What if workers around the country decided they wouldn’t work beyond a 40-hour week unless they received premium pay? Is there a better way to make Congress sit up and pay attention?