July, 25 2017, 10:45am EDT
The Trump Administration is Trying to Take Away the Rights of Millions of Americans to Get Paid for Their Overtime
This morning, the Trump administration filed a "Request for Information" in an effort to weaken or kill the badly-needed update to the overtime pay rule.
WASHINGTON
This morning, the Trump administration filed a "Request for Information" in an effort to weaken or kill the badly-needed update to the overtime pay rule.
Back in 1975, President Gerald Ford's Labor Department set the level at which workers could be exempt from overtime to the equivalent of about $58,000 in today's dollars, high enough to cover more than 50 percent of full-time salaried workers. However, by 2016, far too many salaried workers were not covered by overtime protections because the salary threshold had not kept up with wage growth or inflation. The Obama-era rule set it at $47,476--high enough to cover about 34 percent of full-time salaried employees, but lower than the level that it was in the 1970s.
The Trump administration has refused to fully implement and enforce the updated rule--first by not challenging a lawsuit and now by opening up a wasteful request for information. By opening up this request for information, the Trump administration is trying to take away the ability of millions of hard working Americans to get overtime pay or more time with their families. The Labor Department does not need more information about overtime pay--they need to support middle-class workers who badly need a raise.
Notably, the RFI asks for input on whether multiple standards would be acceptable. The whole point of having national standards is to ensure decent basic standards for all workers. The updated overtime standard is already linked to the lowest-wage Census region. Workers' should not be undercut even further by weakening the salary threshold.
President Trump likes to put workers in photo ops, but instead of sticking up for the middle class, he sides with the CEOs and top executives who want to keep pay low and force workers to work unpaid overtime. The updated overtime rule is exactly what we need for workers to get a fair return on their hard work. It's time to fully implement and enforce the updated overtime rule.
EPI is an independent, nonprofit think tank that researches the impact of economic trends and policies on working people in the United States. EPI's research helps policymakers, opinion leaders, advocates, journalists, and the public understand the bread-and-butter issues affecting ordinary Americans.
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Israeli Settlers, Soldiers 'Wiping Palestinian Communities Off the Map' in the West Bank
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Israeli soldiers have either passively watched or participated in the uprooting of at least seven communities in the West Bank since October of last year, Human Rights Watch said Wednesday in a new report documenting surging settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territory.
The rights group interviewed dozens of eyewitnesses and examined video footage showing harassment and other abuse of Palestinians in the West Bank "by men in Israeli military uniforms carrying M16 assault rifles."
Following the Hamas-led October 7 attack on southern Israel, the Israeli military drafted more than 5,000 settlers into "regional defense" units in the West Bank, Haaretzreported earlier this year. The Israeli newspaper noted that "alongside this large-scale mobilization, the [Israel Defense Forces] has distributed some 7,000 weapons to the battalions as well as to settlers who were not recruited into the army but received them as civilians whom the army considers eligible to carry military arms."
HRW's investigation found that "armed settlers, with the active participation of army units, repeatedly cut off road access and raided Palestinian communities, detained, assaulted, and tortured residents, chased them out of their homes and off their lands at gunpoint or coerced them to leave with death threats, and blocked them from taking their belongings."
"Israeli settlers and soldiers are literally wiping Palestinian communities off the map," said Omar Shakir, HRW's Israel and Palestine director.
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Since October 7, according to the United Nations, Israeli settlers have launched more than 720 attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, displacing at least 206 households comprised of 1,244 people—including 603 children. Israeli soldiers in uniform have been present at many of the attacks.
"Settlers and soldiers have displaced entire Palestinian communities, destroying every home, with the apparent backing of higher Israeli authorities," Bill Van Esveld, associate children's rights director at HRW, said in a statement Wednesday. "While the attention of the world is focused on Gaza, abuses in the West Bank, fueled by decades of impunity and complacency among Israel's allies, are soaring."
HRW's new report examines five West Bank communities that have come under attack by Israeli settlers, including one in which uniformed Israeli men armed with assault rifles entered tents and destroyed or stole people's belongings, abused residents, and threatened to kill them if they didn't leave the area.
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Despite its grave implications for civil liberties, the bill has drawn relatively little vocal opposition in the Senate. A final vote could come as soon as Thursday.
Titled Reforming Intelligence and Securing America Act (RISAA), the legislation passed the Republican-controlled House last week after lawmakers voted down an amendment that would have added a search warrant requirement to Section 702.
The authority allows U.S. agencies to spy on non-citizens located outside of the country, but it has been abused extensively by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and National Security Agency to collect the communications of American lawmakers, activists, journalists, and others without a warrant.
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