Daily Overtime To Be Slashed
Wilson Appointees Propose the End of Daily Overtime
by Jeff Burman
Daily overtime in jeopardyOn September 8, 1995 Governor Pete Wilson issued an executive order instructing the state Industrial Welfare Commission (IWC) to begin writing rules to end the daily overtime provisions of the California Labor Code.
On January 24, 1997, the IWC adopted a plan that would eliminate mandatory overtime payments for hourly employees who work more than eight hours a day. If approved, the proposal would force California's standards to drop to the level of federal standards which require overtime be paid only after forty hours are worked in a given week.
The prospect of being forced to work shifts that may run twelve or more hours without any premium pay is hardly family-friendly public policy. The ruling could affect as many as eight million Californian hourly employees.
Daily overtime in California dates back to 1918, when the same Industrial Welfare Commission required fruit and vegetable canning companies to pay time and a half to women and children when they worked more than eight hours a day. Their intention was to protect these workers from hazardous conditions that had a tendency to worsen with overwork. Some fifty years later, these protections were extended to men as well. Currently, double-time is required after twelve hours.
Will this affect us ?
No. Not directly, but there is danger on the periphery.
Daily overtime is determined by the IWC in fifteen separate industry "wage orders." Each wage order includes a collective bargaining exception, allowing union contracts to supersede any tinkering by the commission. Since the specific wage order for the Motion Picture Industry is not included in the proposed changes, non-union work in our industry still qualifies for daily overtime. Providing, of course, one's employer follows the fine shadings of the law. And providing this compliance occurs beyond the reach and protection of our union local.
Will we be forever excluded from these roll-backs? That depends on us. A year ago, when our industry wage order still could have been included in the roll-back proposal, the IA made its presence felt. At the urging of Barbara Jerome of IA local 706, Los Angeles City Councilman Richard Alarcon pushed a resolution through the Los Angeles City Council opposing the repeal of daily overtime. The resolution was adopted on April 10, 1996. Soon after this campaign, and other bits of public muscle-flexing, the IWC withdrew our wage order from the current proposal. The IA Legislative Committee is co-chaired by Steve Flint of Local 600 and our own Cathy Repola.
Where is the danger now?
Daily overtime rules are designed to create a downward pressure on the number of hours worked each day by increasing labor costs as the number of hours worked increases. Without the inhibiting effect of daily overtime rules, professions that routinely work shifts longer than eight hours are likely to require more and longer shifts.
Imagine the potential for harm or injury faced by members of these professions when they are forced to work beyond a prudent number of hours. Imagine nurses dispensing medication or making life-and-death decisions twelve or more hours into their shifts. Imagine the risks to public safety posed by long-haul truckers or construction workers working well beyond reasonable time constraints. Where will these families find daycare for such hours? When will they be able to be together as families? And most importantly, imagine this happening to us.
What is being done?
Four strategies are emerging.
The first strategy is a legal challenge to the authority of the IWC, spearheaded by State Senator Hilda Solis (D-El Monte), Chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Industrial Relations.
The state legislature's legal counsel's opposition to the roll-back was made public on February 18th.
State Senator Hilda Solis
Chairwoman of the Senate
Industrial Relations CommitteeA second strategy, credited to State Senator Bill Lockyer (D-Hayward), calls for denying Senate confirmation of Governor Wilson's appointees on the IWC. This would not reverse the commission's decision, but would block further damage.
A third strategy, endorsed by Assembly Speaker Cruz Bustamante (D-Fresno), takes the form of legislation that would override the IWC's ruling. State Assemblyman Wally Knox (D-Los Angeles) and State Senator Solis
have introduced separate bills that would do just that. Both bills provide for a measure of flexibility, allowing workers to vote on switching to a ten-hour, four-day workweek. Senator Solis' bill allows a worker to take up to four hours a week off for personal business, such as a doctor's appointment, and make it up the same week without overtime pay. Features like these allow for some likelihood of success should an override of Governor Wilson's veto be necessary, as many believe will be the case.
Los Angeles Democratic State
Assemblyman Wally KnoxThe fourth strategy is the classic grassroots, in-your-face, speak-your-mind strategy. Challenge the proposed changes at the public hearing nearest you. There will be five "investigative public hearings for public comment" state-wide. The hearing in Los Angeles was on Friday, April 4th. After the public hearings, the IWC will adopt, revise or reject the proposed changes.
Is there hope?
In 1996, a Republican-controlled state legislature defeated AB 398, which also called for the elimination of the eight hour day.
Stand up for your "writes"
Write to your state representatives. Particularly, write to Assemblyman Dick Floyd, Chairman of the Assembly Labor Committee at the State Capitol, Sacramento, California 95814. Write to Assemblyman Wally Knox and to State Senator Hilda Solis, Chairwoman of the Senate Industrial Relations Committee, at the same address. Write to Robyn Black, Chairwoman of the Industrial Welfare Commission at PO Box 420603, San Francisco, CA 94142-0603.
Don't take this sitting down. Speak your mind. Spill some ink. Democracy is a contentious process. Get out and contend.
