Restore Overtime Protections for Millions of Workers

I’ve spent the last several months traveling across my home state, hearing from working families who feel like they’ve been left behind in this economic recovery. One of the most common stories I’ve heard — from young people, parents, and so many others — is that workers are putting in long hours, working hard, but still coming up short at the end of the month. And it’s not just workers in Washington state who are feeling like they are doing more and more for less and less pay — workers across the country are struggling.

President Obama’s actions to restore overtime protections for millions of workers and families were scheduled to go into effect today, December 1st. These protections are long overdue and they would have given millions of workers and their families some much-needed relief. But a Texas District Court Judge issued a nationwide injunction temporarily blocking the protections for workers across the country.

So, to the Republicans who stood with big business and fought this basic worker protection every step of the way — I’d like to share some of the many stories I’m hearing from workers suffering as a result of having no overtime protections.

I heard about Paul — a young father, who worked hard at a small discount retail store to provide for his family. On average, he worked 72 hours a week, and on one particular stretch, he even worked for 40 days in a row — without a single day off. Even then, his employer didn’t pay him one dime extra for the work he did beyond 40 hours a week.

I heard about Dawn — a salaried manager who often logs 12-hour days, six days a week. She performs extra tasks like unloading trucks, stocking shelves, and manning the cash register, just to help keep the store operating. But, because she was exempt from overtime protections, her “managers” pay broke down to less than $10 per hour.

And I heard about Caleb — someone who worked hard for two years before being promoted to his first salaried position, but then, with little notice, was told his company would be implementing a “no overtime” rule for hourly employees. His scheduled 45 hours quickly turned into 55, then even 70 hours a week — and Caleb didn’t get a dime of overtime for it. After dealing with unpredictable scheduling, work being shifted to other staff, and even needing to use SNAP assistance, Caleb was forced to leave.

These stories are fundamentally unfair. But they are not unique.

Consider this: today, just 7 percent of salaried workers have overtime protection. And big corporations are using these outdated overtime rules to their advantage, forcing their employees to work overtime, without paying them the fair time-and-a-half pay they have earned.

Republicans in Congress and big business have tried as hard as they can to block this rule every step of the way — and now, President-elect Trump has a decision to make. He made promise after promise on the campaign trail about helping workers, and he’s going to have to decide whether to he’s going to follow through. Will he stand with millions of working families — those who voted for him, and those who didn’t — and make sure they get the pay they’ve earned? Or, will he side with special interests and millionaires like himself, who put profits first every time.

When millions of families are looking for some much-needed economic security — that’s just unacceptable. That’s why today, I called on President-elect Trump to make the right choice for our workers and commit, right away, to making sure workers get the overtime pay they have earned.

I hope President-elect Trump makes the right choice for workers. But if he doesn’t, he should know that now, more than ever, Democrats are going to fight tooth and nail for the people and communities we represent. We’re going to stand up for our values and priorities and we’re going to show the American people a path to a government and a country that works for all families, not just the wealthiest few.

Democrats are going to fight tooth and nail for the people and communities we represent.

If President-elect Trump and Republicans want to stand with big business and take away this critical worker protection — they’ll have to answer to the millions of hardworking Americans putting in overtime without receiving a dime in extra pay.

And they can be sure that Democrats in the Senate will hold them accountable as well.