Corporations Pushing Bill to Take Away Overtime from Computer and Web Workers
Apparently unsatisfied by the enormous profits they’ve made while average Americans suffer in a difficult economy, corporations are pushing Congress to enact a new law that would exempt a large class of workers from receiving overtime pay. And they’re receiving support from members of both parties on Capitol Hill.
Dubbed the Computer Professionals Update Act (CPU Act), Senate bill 1747 would change the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) to remove overtime protection and compensation from “almost everyone working primarily in information technology” who earns either a salary, or an hourly rate of $27.63, according to Paul E. Almeida, president of the AFL-CIO Department for Professional Employees (DPE).
Information technology companies are focused on cutting pay for the people who work for them. If their effort succeeds, however, it will suggest to every other industry that the time is now to gut FLSA for every covered private-sector worker.
Introduced in the U.S. Senate last month by Kay Hagan (D-N.C.), the CPU Act has found a Democratic co-sponsor in Sen. Michael Bennet (Colo.), who is joined by two Republican co-sponsors, Sens. Mike Enzi (Wy.) and Johnny Isakson (Ga.).
Rulings In Two Countries Affirm Immigrant Workers’ Rights
John See of AFT’s Public Affairs Department reports on two important rulings that protect the rights of immigrant workers.
Teachers across the globe are fighting back against abuse and exploitation. With the assistance of AFT and partner unions in the Philippines, the rights of teachers who came to the United States on temporary visas were affirmed recently in rulings in two countries.
The rulings involve more than 300 teachers who were recruited to come to Louisiana from the Philippines to teach in public schools. AFT began assisting the teachers last year and helped them file complaints with the U.S. Labor Department and Louisiana state labor officials. In the complaints the teachers said their passports were held by Universal Placement International (UPI), the recruiter that brought them to the United States, and they were threatened with deportation unless they paid thousands of dollars in excessive and illegal fees.
Bipartisan Bill Would Strengthen Guest Worker Rules
Under current law, unscrupulous employers are free to abuse guest worker programs by exploiting workers, driving down standards and, often, displacing U.S. workers. This hurts all workers and gives these employers an unfair competitive advantage over businesses that play by the rules.
Bipartisan legislation introduced yesterday would provide much-needed security and higher standards in two of the programs. The H-1B and L-1 Visa Reform Act, introduced by Sens. Richard Durbin (D-Ill.) and Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa), would enhance protections within these visa programs.
AFL-CIO President John Sweeney praised the legislation, saying it “makes progress in combating fraud and abuse within the H-1B and L-1 temporary worker programs.”
It’s time for our nation to put an end to employer abuse of these worker programs. Employers should neither be allowed to displace domestic workers nor intimidate guest workers and drive their working standards below those of the domestic labor market.
