Help Overtime Make It Past the Finish Line for 13.5 Million Workers
Congressional Republicans are looking to use an obscure tactic to deny 13.5 million American workers the right to receive overtime pay.
If the White House doesn’t act quickly, Republicans might actually pull it off.
This summer, the U.S. Department of Labor is expected to implement a new overtime rule, which would raise the overtime salary threshold from $23,660 to $50,440—strengthening the right of 13.5 million additional workers, 2.1 million of whom are Latino, to receive overtime pay and the right to earn a fair living.
Unfortunately, certain members of Congress are eager to steal this victory from workers by running out the clock on President Obama. The Congressional Review Act dictates that all major rules are delayed for 60 legislative days after they are submitted to Congress and are subject to a fast track process for repeal. That process has to end before President Obama leaves office to guarantee a veto of any congressional resolution of disapproval.
If the Labor Department does not act soon, Congress will reverse this critical protection for millions of workers, including 34.4 percent of all salaried Latino workers.
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