Thread: Senate Votes Against Bush Plan To Eliminate Overtime

The Senate has voted to block an administration plan to change the rules governing overtime pay.

The vote was 54- 45 on a Democratic proposal to kill the new rules, which Democrats charged would end overtime for about 8 million white-collar American workers.

Senate Republicans argued the changes would affect no more than 800,000 workers.

The fate of the controversial new regulations is now uncertain.

The House narrowly approved the proposed rule earlier this summer. Congressional negotiators will have to untangle the disagreement.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist said presidential politics have mired the issue. And, he said, "we can't run the United States Senate that way." Frist refused to allow an afternoon vote Tuesday.

In March, the administration proposed to redefine which workers qualify for time-and-a-half pay after working a 40-hour week.

The Bush administration said overtime rules haven't been revamped since 1938. The new rules would take effect early next year unless a law is enacted to block them.


But the administration's plan to eliminate overtime pay could sustain a rejection from the Senate. The White House has threatened a veto.

The rules would not affect workers under union contracts

Why don't they pass a law requiring CEO who recieve $$$$$$ bonus must return the money if the company goes under in less than 12 months time ?

Some people work on an hourly wage and they do put in OT and should be compensated for it. There are those of us who are on call and are financially compensated for our time. If I'm a nurse on an hourly wage and someone asks me to work overtime, I should be compensated accordingly.

Jolie, that only works in Japan. Here the level of greed for CEO's is so high that they would see their companies go under and then go get another job somewhere else and watch that one go under too just to walk away with $$$.