NEXT UPDATE  Monday, Sept. 15 by 9 a.m. Pacific
why so long?

Links to commercial press stories are functional at the date of posting. In some cases, links "expire" when the source would like to begin charging you for old news. WSLC Reports Today  links to all stories of interest to organized labor; some positive, some negative. The intention is to inform.  The creation of a link does not constitute an endorsement of that story's content.
 

Reports for September 1-5, 2003

Previous weeks' news: Aug. 25-29 -- Aug. 18-22 -- Aug. 11-15

FRIDAY, Sept. 5 -- Initiative 841: Vote NO this November to protect safe jobs
— In today's Everett Herald -- Boeing tanker deal hits snag; key Senator seeks scaled-back deal
— In today's News Tribune -- None of the other 7E7 candidates bold or sure enough to brag
...plus -- Companies fail to tie CEO pay to corporate value, study says -- Learn more.
— In today's Seattle Times -- WestFarms/Darigold repeats its contract offer to locked-out workers
...plus -- Bon-Macy's workers to vote on contract offer on Sunday, Monday
...plus -- Resolution on Immigrant Workers Freedom Ride debated by City Council
...plus -- King County Labor Council, Sierra Club back city worker Rasmussen for City Council
...plus -- Amid Marysville teachers' strike, Tulalips offer to sponsor classes for all kids
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Central Valley teachers ratify new contract
— In yesterday's Columbian -- Nurses union (WSNA) files labor complaint against hospital
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Times may be forced to sell more assets, says dog-shooting publisher
At AFLCIO.org -- Seniors to Congress: Fix Medicare prescription drug bill!
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Drug industry "invested" in Bush to shape Medicare drug bill
...plus -- Verizon, unions agree on tentative five-year contract
— In today's S.F. Chronicle -- Strike, lockouts under way at 16 San Francisco hotels 

THURSDAY, Sept. 4 -- Safer workplaces will stop workers' comp rate increases -- WSLC President Bender predicts more rate hikes if Initiative 841, repealing ergonomic safety rule, passes.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- State wants to boost workers' comp premiums (AP)
— In today's Tri-City Herald -- Workers' comp increase proposed -- Business lobbyist Carolyn Logue says, "They need to be looking at every possible avenue to avoid increasing rates," including cutting costs (read: benefits) and possibly letting private insurers enter the state (like in California!)
...plus -- Locked-out Teamsters ask consumers to boycott Darigold products
— In yesterday's Yakima H-R -- Darigold-union (IBT 524) dispute in court -- Workers at Darigold's Sunnyside plant rejected the company's latest contract offer, but now management wants to extend existing contract because it says the union missed a paperwork deadline.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Locke: Washington state is a finalist for 7E7 -- Governor says Boeing's "very intense, very specific" inquiries are a good sign.
...plus -- Hoffa: It's hard to imagine endorsing George Bush (AP)
— In today's Oregonian -- Vancouver hospital accused of efforts to decertify nurses' union (WSNA)
— In today's Seattle Times -- Duties other than teaching central to Marysville strike
— In today's Everett Herald -- Marysville teacher strike injunction no slam-dunk
...plus teacher contract updates in Longview, Moses Lake, 
At AFLCIO.org -- Public opposes Bush efforts to gut overtime laws 3-to-1, survey shows
...plus -- AFL-CIO runs TV ads opposing Bush attempt to slash overtime pay
— In today's Washington Post -- U.S. probes actions of Boeing executive in tanker deal
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Sen. McCain ridicules Boeing tanker lease deal at hearing 
...plus -- Sen. Schumer acts to help workers form unions -- His bill would require companies to recognize unions once a majority of their workers signed pro-union cards in a process known as card check. Schumer noted that 32 percent of the work force was unionized in Canada, where labor law and many provincial statutes allow workers to engage in the card check process. 

WEDNESDAY, Sept. 3 -- Area corporations promote making our state "right-to-work"
— In today's Seattle Times -- Boeing tanker critics, backers ready for showdown in U.S. Senate
...plus -- State dodges most of layoffs triggered by Airborne sale
— In today's Olympian -- Fire fighters, police give early endorsement to Gregoire
...plus -- House GOP leadership undergoes shuffle; McMorris out, DeBolt may be in as leader
— In today's Everett Herald -- Marysville School Board threatens to take striking teachers to court
...plus teacher contract updates in Kalama and Steilacoom
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Bake sales? A lousy tax alternative -- Editorial: The shift to private funding is part of a larger trend toward privatizing too much of what traditionally have been Americans' shared responsibilities. It's particularly worrisome when it results in damaging schools.
— In yesterday's Daily News -- Hope for Longview Aluminum smelter restart persists
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- AFL-CIO forms union for nonunion, jobless workers
At AFLCIO.org -- Work in Progress: 2,600 Calif. home care workers join AFSCME
— Today from Reuters -- Sen. Harkin thinks he has enough votes to stop Bush's overtime pay cuts
— In today's Washington Post -- Bush policy on jobs is a shift -- Concerned people inside and outside the administration now say that previous White House policy decisions have had only marginal impact, and that some may have done more harm than good.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Job czar for the jobless -- Editorial: Bush's announcement that he is creating a new undersecretary of commerce devoted to job creation is notable for its feebleness. The only detail yet clear is that the post is to be devoted to the "needs of manufacturers." That is hardly a confidence builder for the 9 million trying to find work plus the millions more who have given up.
...plus -- Verizon Wireless, workers (CWA) reach agreement; could set stage for broader pact
— In today's L.A. Times -- China also feeling labor pains -- Rural China is mired with 125 million unemployed. Meanwhile, employees at the overstaffed state enterprises now being privatized have their housing, children's educations and medical care tied directly to their jobs, a throwback to the "company store" arrangements that many Americans worked under in the 19th century. Attempts to change such arrangements in China have led to riots in many cities.

TUESDAY, Sept. 2 -- Call to Action (again): Block President Bush's cuts in OT pay
— In today's Bellingham Herald -- As many as 8 million could become "salaried" under Bush plan
— In today's Seattle Times -- Union workers note tough times, triumphs
— In today's Seattle P-I -- Lockout on Labor Day just a part of workers' struggles -- A possible boycott on milk and cheese and the plight of about 200 WestFarm workers locked out this weekend drew attention at the King County Labor Council's annual Labor Day picnic yesterday.
...plus -- Air traffic control isn't for sale (Op-ed by NATCA's David Brasko of Boeing Field)
— In yesterday's Vancouver Columbian -- Union leaders feel bruised this Labor Day
...plus -- Past union victories have made Labor Day less political, more about free time -- An editorial suggesting labor should celebrate decline in unionism because through "numerous laws, regulations and the birthing of government agencies," labor has removed the incentive for workers to unionize.  The Columbian then challenges labor to end "mandatory unionism" (support "Right-to-Work" for less).
— In today's Everett Herald -- Marysville teachers vote 581-9 to begin strike today
...plus teacher contract updates from Bellingham, Lake Stevens, 
— In today's News Tribune -- CEO compensation scrutinized (AP) -- In 2002, Plum Creek Timber cut dividends 39% and its stock fell 12%, but CEO Rick Holley's salary/bonus rose 15% to $1.5 million.
— In today's Salem (Ore.) S-J -- Contract firefighting industry sparks concern
— In today's Chicago Sun-Times -- Yale's union-bashing tactics mirror larger strategy -- Op-ed by the Rev. Jesse Jackson who was arrested on Labor Day at a protest in support of striking Yale workers.
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Experts point to strain on electricity grid's specialists -- Experts blame the growth of long-distance transmissions of electricity since power deregulation a decade ago.
...plus -- Another Friday outrage -- Krugman column: When the EPA makes our air dirtier or the Labor Department strips workers of some more rights, the announcement always comes late on Friday -- when the news is most likely to be ignored on TV and nearly ignored by major newspapers. Last Friday, FERC announced settlements with energy companies accused of manipulating markets during the California energy crisis. Why on Friday? Because the settlements were a joke.

MONDAY, Sept. 1 -- Happy Labor Day! Senate to celebrate by taking on Bush's OT pay cuts
— In today's Olympian -- A fight over making more workers exempt from overtime pay -- Vote in U.S. Senate on blocking Bush's proposed rule changes could come as soon as Wednesday or Thursday.
...plus -- Area workers object to overtime pay cuts, but employers not quite sure
— In today's Seattle Times -- Dairy workers (IBT 66) locked out after labor talks fail
...plus -- In Canada, fruits of labor come with bushel of benefits -- If workers could write the rules, American job benefits might look something like Canada's: Up to a year paid parental leave. A cap on the number of hours worked in a week. Guaranteed vacations. Guaranteed medical coverage.
— In today's Seattle P-I -- 194 union workers (IBT 66) at Darigold dairy replaced
...plus -- Boeing, Air Force worked together to sell tanker deal
...plus -- Time to restore workers' dreams (op-ed by IAM 1351 President Guy Sahlman)
— In today's News Tribune -- Celebrating a long history of solidarity (Q&A with ILWU's Vance Lelli)
...plus -- Today, we can take a break from our labors of love, as well as our jobs (column)
— In today's Spokesman-Review -- Bad times temper tribute to workers (editorial)
— In the P.S. Business Journal -- Can you compete with an $800-a-month engineer? (op-ed)
— In today's Everett Herald -- Those fat cat CEOs are worth every penny, right? (column)
— Today's updates on teacher contracts in Bellingham, Kalama, Marysville,
— In today's N.Y. Times -- Looks like a recovery, feels like a recession
— In today's L.A. Times -- Cautiously, Boeing mulls over making a new plane
...plus -- Union membership targeted: Labor argues jobs at stake in Davis recall
— In today's Washington Post -- Protect workers' rights -- Op-ed by UNITE President Bruce Raynor: The downward spiral of lower wages and worsening working conditions is fueling popular skepticism over globalization. A prosperous economy requires that workers be able to buy the products that they produce. That means we need rules for the global economy that protect workers' rights -- and not just in China -- we also need them in the United States.

Previous weeks' news: Aug. 25-29 -- Aug. 18-22 -- Aug. 11-15

FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 5
Initiative 841: Vote NO this November to protect safe jobs

Editors of union newsletters and publications are encouraged to include the following story (or a similar one tailored to your members) in the next edition of your publications:

Key Safety Rule Threatened:

We Must Vote NO to Protect Safe Jobs

 

Initiative 841 -- the only statewide initiative on the ballot in this year’s November election -- would REPEAL an important workplace safety rule that prevents painful, debilitating injuries. This initiative was bought and paid for by the bully-boy lobbying group, the Building Industry Association of Washington (BIAW).

 

The BIAW's goal is to repeal not only our state’s common sense ergonomic rule, but to use this same tactic to attack and repeal all of our state’s fundamental workplace rules.  If they get I-841 passed, you can expect to see them attack prevailing wage rules, overtime rules and every other basic workplace protection we have fought for over the last 100 years.  That’s one of the many good reasons to stop them NOW!

 

As the fall political season heats up, union members need to know the facts:

• Every year, 50,000 Washington workers suffer from work-related ergonomic injuries such as carpal tunnel syndrome, tendonitis and low-back strain.

• These injuries account for one-third of all workers’ compensation claims in our state, and also account for 46% of all workers’ compensation costs.

• These injuries are preventable, and the new ergonomics rule will help us prevent them.

• The rule targets an estimated 18% of jobs in this state that involve hazardous or potentially hazardous working conditions, and the standards are applied in a fair, reasonable manner. The rule does not require any action from the majority of employers that do not have any high-hazard jobs.

Our state’s ergonomics rule saves money and jobs by preventing costly injuries.  Healthy workers are more productive than injured workers.  That’s why many of Washington’s leading businesses have already implemented successful workplace ergonomics programs.  Their voluntary actions have helped, but so many injuries are still occurring that a hit-and-miss voluntary approach just isn’t good enough.

 

In fact, the rule has already prompted many businesses to implement ergonomic safety measures, and injury rates are now dropping.  If the rule goes away, the employers who refuse to address unsafe working conditions will continue to harm their employees and increase workers' compensation costs for all of us -- including the safe employers.

 

Painful, chronic, preventable injuries hurt thousands of working families every year in our state.  That’s why we need you to support Working Families for Safer Jobs, the campaign to say NO to Initiative 841.  You can find out more online at www.no841.org, or you can contact the Washington State Labor Council at 1-800-542-0904 or e-mail, dgroves@wslc.org.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
Safer workplaces will stop workers' comp rate increases
Look for more rate hikes if I-841 -- repealing ergonomic safety rule -- passes

The following Washington State Labor Council news release was distributed late Wednesday afternoon:

With today's announcement by the Department of Labor and Industries of a proposed 19.4% workers' compensation rate increase, the Washington State Labor Council urges the state agency to do more to promote safe workplaces, which will reduce work injuries and lower employer costs.

"Nobody wants to see significant increases in workers' compensation costs, employers can't afford them and working people can't afford them," said WSLC President Rick Bender. "These rising premiums are a national trend fueled by skyrocketing health care costs. The answer isn't to continue cutting injured workers' benefits. The best way to reduce workers' compensation costs is to make workplaces safer. It's a win-win solution."

Even with the proposed increase, more than two-thirds of states have higher average workers' compensation costs than Washington.  But certain business lobbying groups have chosen to attack the Department of L&I, decrying its efforts to reduce work injuries through the state ergonomic safety rule as burdensome regulation.

Some 50,000 Washington workers suffer ergonomic-related injuries every year, which accounts for one-third of all claims and almost one-half of all costs to the workers' compensation system.  Yet these injuries -- such as back strains, tendonitis and carpel tunnel -- are entirely preventable.

"Ergonomic-related injuries are absolutely driving the rising costs of the workers' compensation system," Bender said. "There is no reason why this should happen. These injuries are not accidents, they are totally preventable. Every employer in this state -- especially the safe ones with no injuries -- should be outraged that their workers' comp costs continue to rise because certain unsafe businesses refuse to address hazardous working conditions."

The state ergonomic rule requires employers to assess their workplaces to see if ergonomic hazards exist. If they do, the employers are then required to train workers to avoid injuries and to make "economically feasible" changes to mitigate the danger to workers.

But the Building Industry Association of Washington, a homebuilders' lobbying group, is financing Initiative 841 to repeal the ergonomic safety rule. At the same time, they are promoting dramatic reductions in benefits to injured workers. Not surprisingly, home construction has among the highest injury rates of any industry.

"If Initiative 841 passes, the handful of dangerous employers who are driving up workers' compensation costs for everybody will be let off the hook," Bender said. "The rest of Washington's employers will continue to have to subsidize the unsafe businesses that are causing all the workplace injuries."

For more information, contact WSLC spokesperson David Groves at (206) 281-8901.

THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 4
Locked-out Teamsters ask consumers to boycott Darigold

The following information is from a leaflet being distributed by Teamsters Local 66, which represents some 200 workers locked out of their jobs by Westfarm Foods, a cooperative of 722 dairy farmers that produces dairy products under the brand name Darigold.  The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO has not formally sanctioned this boycott by putting Darigold on the WSLC Do Not Patronize list. Teamsters Local 66 is not affiliated with the WSLC.

A MESSAGE TO DAIRY PRODUCT CONSUMERS

We ask for your support in our struggle against our employer, Darigold, Inc., the maker of all Darigold milk, cheese, butter and yogurt products.  We are your friends, neighbors and fellow community members.  We are union members represented by Teamsters Local No. 66, and their supporters.

Over Labor Day weekend, on August 30, 2003, Darigold unlawfully "locked out" 200 union dairy workers and fired another 60 drivers outright.  The company did this so that it could outsource our jobs to a non-Union warehouse contractor, and to try to force us to accept contract terms far below the industry standard.

We ask you to stand with us by not purchasing any Darigold products. Please continue to patronize your usual food stores, but do not buy any Darigold brand products.

We stand ready to negotiate a fair and equitable labor contract with Darigold.  In addition to a decent wage and benefit package, we are trying to reduce the amount of mandatory overtime we are required to perform.   (Some of us worked in excess of 3,000 hours last year!)  The company has not made any attempt to address that problem.   Instead, the company's response to our concerns has been: to lock us out!

Nor is this a company that is struggling for revenue.   According to its 2002-2003 Annual Report, Darigold achieved “double digit volume growth” in 2002-2003, and their net earnings increased by 109%.  Why can't they share some of the benefits of that growth  with their workers?

Most of us have worked for decades for this company.  We think it is unfair for the company to sacrifice the jobs of long term loyal employees just to try and squeeze out a few more dollars of profit.  We hope you will join us by sending a message the company cannot help but hear:   Boycott Darigold Until the Lockout Ends!

Thank you for your support.

WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 3
Area corporations promote making our state "right-to-work"

Protected by the anonymity of one of the many "think tanks" they fund, the Boeing Co., Microsoft, Weyerhaeuser, Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc. and many other Washington corporations are promoting the idea of making Washington a so-called "right-to-work" (for less) state.

Today's edition of The (Tacoma) News Tribune includes an opinion column by Richard Davis, president of the Washington Research Council (WRC), that notes the declining rate of union membership in the private sector and suggests Washington should become a "right-to-work" state so the "shadow of compulsory unionism will continue to shrink." (For an explanation of why this is a singularly bad idea for the people of this state -- union and non-union -- click here.)

The WRC is a three-person outfit supported and funded by a who's who of Corporate Washington: Boeing, Microsoft, Safeco, AT&T Wireless, Weyerhaeuser, Longview Fibre, Puget Sound Energy, Kaiser Aluminum, Frank Russell Co., Georgia-Pacific and Paul Allen's Vulcan Inc., among others.

As Rick Bender, president of the Washington State Labor Council, pointed out in a recent column, the WRC is one of many think tanks in Washington state that allow business interests to promote politically unpopular anti-worker, anti-union ideas, and retain their anonymity:

"In our state, the governing boards of the Washington Research Council, the Washington Policy Center and the Washington Roundtable are almost exclusively corporate executives. In a circular morass of anti-tax and pro-privatization ideology, they refer to each other’s studies to support their arguments, and then spawn even more groups (comprised by each other!) with new names like the Washington Alliance for a Competitive Economy.

"Thus they create an illusion of consensus around their proposals which, with few exceptions, have these common denominators: reduced business taxes and regulation, lower wages, fewer benefits, more privatization and, of course, weaker unions."

Similarly, Washington's biggest corporations band together to fund anonymous political groups that churn out last-minute campaign mail attacking Democratic candidates across the state -- all in coordination with the State Republican Party.  Hiding behind phony political organizations with names like “People for Good Government” or “Citizens for Family Wage Jobs,” these groups are often set up to send a single piece of negative campaign mail and are never heard from again.

That way, these corporations can target Democratic incumbents with scurrilous political attacks, and then turn around and send their lobbyists to the same lawmakers expecting their assistance and advocacy. (See the WSLC report on corporate-funded "hit pieces" in last fall's election.)

The Washington State Labor Council, AFL-CIO -- which is proud to put its own name on all the political and legislative advocacy literature it distributes -- therefore asks the simple question: "When will Washington's biggest corporations be held accountable for the anti-government, anti-public education and anti-union ideology they promote?" (Discuss.)

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 2
Call to Action (again): Block President Bush's cuts in OT pay

Abandoning for the first time the hollow reassurances that his tax cuts will solve the nation's unemployment problem, your president spent Labor Day assuring union workers in Ohio that he's getting serious about addressing the jobs issue, so he's creating a new assistant to the Commerce Secretary to "focus on the needs of manufacturers." (There! That ought to fix it.)

What President Bush didn't mention yesterday is that the first item on the U.S. Senate's agenda this week is his plan to cut overtime pay for millions of workers fortunate enough to still have jobs.  Debate could begin today on whether the Senate should block Bush's overtime rule changes allowing employers to reclassify up to 8 million American workers as salaried and denied them time-and-a-half pay.  A vote could happen any day this week. This represents the best and most important chance yet to block the overtime pay cuts before they go into effect.

CALL TO ACTION:  We know you may have acted before, but PLEASE ACT AGAIN TODAY by clicking here and sending a message to your U.S. Senators asking them to support the Harkin Amendment blocking the Bush overtime pay cuts. It will only take a minute and will make a big difference. (www.unionvoice.org/campaign/septovertime/)

You may have heard that the changes won't affect workers here in Washington state because we are protected by state laws mirroring current federal standards.  That may or may not be true.  According to a Monday report in The Olympian, even state regulators aren't sure. What is certain is that, should Bush succeed in cutting OT pay, removing those state laws will become a major priority for the powerful Olympia business lobby.

Association of Washington Business lobbyist Tom Dooley says our state overtime protections already make Washington less "competitive," even before Bush's cuts have been enacted!  "We're out of whack with the rest of the country," Dooley says.

In fact, in an astonishing display of precognition, before President Bush had even announced his overtime pay proposal to the rest of us, Washington's business community sought passage this session of SB 5462 and HB 1690.  These innocuous-sounding bills sought conformity between state and federal wage-and-hour laws and were presented as harmless rule clarification.  They would actually have removed Washington workers' yet-untested protections against Bush's proposed overtime pay cuts.

(The Washington State Labor Council opposed these bills. SB 5462 passed the Senate 25-24 -- see Vote #8 in the WSLC's 2003 Senate Voting Record -- but died along with HB 1690 in the House.)

Bush's overtime pay cuts could take away overtime pay from 8 million workers, according to an Economic Policy Institute study.  For example, Bush's proposed changes could make the large numbers of workers who have job-related training ineligible for overtime. Health care, technical, computer, law enforcement, firefighting and skilled trades training could cost workers their right to overtime pay. This is completely outrageous and must be stopped.

Overtime pay protections are the heart of the 40-hour workweek -- and even the weekend. Without them, employers would have no reason to treat workers fairly -- they could require longer and longer days without paying workers extra for their overtime hours. 

Again, please go to www.unionvoice.org/campaign/septovertime/ and send your U.S. Senators a fax urging their support of the Harkin Amendment to stop Bush's overtime pay cuts. Then send your friends and family an e-mail urging them to do the same. Thank you.

Meanwhile, unless Bush's new "manufacturing czar" appointee has the power to stop his boss at today's signing of new NAFTA-like free-trade pacts with Singapore and Chile, don't hold your breath waiting for U.S. manufacturing jobs to reappear.  (Once again, those pacts discourage basic protections for workers and the environment, thus further promoting the "race to the bottom" and accelerating the outsourcing of family-wage U.S. jobs to two more nations.)

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 1
Happy Labor Day! Senate to celebrate by taking on OT pay cuts

Proposals by President George W. Bush that could end overtime protections for 8 million U.S. workers will top the U.S. Senate’s agenda when lawmakers return to Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

Before Congress adjourned in August, Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) and Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) introduced legislation (S. 1485) that would block the Bush-backed Labor Department proposal to gut the Fair Labor Standards Act’s overtime pay protections. The Harkin-Kennedy bill will be offered as an amendment to the fiscal year 2004 Labor, Health, Human Services and Education appropriations bill (H.R. 2660).

“Employers are hiring fewer workers here in the U.S. and working them longer -- and now the Bush administration is trying to make it cheaper for them to work employees even longer with its proposed changes to overtime rules,” AFL-CIO President John J. Sweeney said during a Labor Day press conference Aug. 28.

Although the Bush administration claims changes to the overtime rules would affect only 644,000 workers, the nonprofit Economic Policy Institute (EPI) found the number of workers who will lose overtime pay is closer to 8 million.

“The DOL recognizes that this conversion from hourly to salaried will occur, but it woefully underestimates how significant the change in the workforce will likely be,” according to the EPI report. Those who could lose overtime pay involve a wide range of workers, including nurses, firefighters, retail clerks and engineering technicians.

8 Million Workers Could Lose Overtime Pay

Under, the Bush proposal, workers who lose their overtime rights also could face unpredictable work schedules and reduced pay because of an increased demand for extra hours—time for which employers would not have to compensate workers, according to EPI.

Workers making more than $22,100 a year could be denied overtime pay under the proposed changes if they are reclassified as professional, administrative or executive employees exempt from federal overtime rules.

In July, Bush threatened to veto the appropriations bill if it included an amendment that would prevent the attack on workers’ overtime, but House Republicans narrowly defeated (213-210) the amendment.

After the Labor Department announced its plan to take away overtime pay in March, it received more than 80,000 comments by the close of the public comment period June 30—and acknowledges most are against the proposal.

During the August congressional recess, activists from local unions, central labor councils and state federations distributed worksite fliers about the overtime attack, encouraged workers to contact their lawmakers and made lobbying visits to congressional district offices. That mobilization will intensify when the Senate resumes work.

Get more information on Bush's proposed OT pay cuts, and then TAKE ACTION:

• Tell your senators to protect your right to overtime pay.

• Send an e-mail to President Bush telling him to stop attacking overtime pay. 

• Learn more about the Bush administration’s proposed changes to overtime pay regulations and other measures attacking the 40-hour workweek and hear what workers have to say. 

• Read the EPI report on 8 million workers losing their right to overtime pay. 

• Get the details on Bush’s overtime proposal. 

• Find out about current overtime rules and what you can do if denied overtime pay. 

• Visit the Communications Workers of America website and read CWA President Morton Bahr’s statement on the attacks on overtime, details on the Labor Department rules and more.

• Listen to The Newspaper Guild/CWA press conference about the attack on overtime.

• Get perspectives on overtime from the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers and the Fire Fighters.