UE Political Action Updates

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Republicans Cancel Vote to Repeal Overtime Pay: For Now

June 6, 2003
Washington, DC

The big business attack on overtime pay has been temporarily put “on hold” as the efforts of hundreds of thousands of working people have stalled a final vote in the House of Representatives. The Republican House leadership withdrew the bill (HR.1119) from the Congressional calendar on June 4th, when it became obvious that the full-court lobbying push by union members and allies had prevented the possibility of passage of the legislation. While postponed, the legislation is not dead.

Bush Tax Cut: See What You're Not Getting

June 1, 2003
Washington, DC

President Bush signed his tax cut bill into law on May 28th, just hours after Congress passed the bill to reduce taxes by more than $350 billion dollars. The House of Representatives passed the legislation by a 231-200 vote, followed by a razor-thin 51-50 Senate margin. It even became necessary to bring Vice President Dick Cheney out of seclusion to provide the tie-breaking vote in the U.S. Senate. Despite record-breaking federal and state budget deficits the tax cut bill was passed on a party-line vote with only 9 Democrats supporting it and 4 Republicans opposing it.

Battle to Defend Overtime Pay Heats Up

May 6, 2003
Washington, DC

The Republican Congressional majority - along with the horde of Big Business lobbyists - are meeting fierce resistance in their attempts to repeal overtime pay. Working people from coast-to-coast have unleashed a barrage of phone calls, letters, and e-mails on lawmakers, demanding that they cease their attempts to gut the Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA) by passing the so-called “comp-time” bills.

Iraq War Hides Attack on Overtime Pay

April 9, 2003
Washington, DC

Very quietly, President Bush and Congressional Republicans have launched a renewed attack on overtime pay and paid time-off. Legislation is moving through the U.S. House of Representatives (HR.1119) and Senate (S.319) that would slash the wages and working conditions of tens of millions of working people. The legislation would end the current guarantee of time-and-a-half pay after 40 hours in one week, and provide employers with the ability to force workers to “earn” their vacation, sick, and personal time by working overtime and using the new “comp-time” leave.

Are Our Veterans Forgotten?

March 26, 2003
Washington, DC

As all eyes are focused on the unfolding war against Iraq, it is appropriate to pause and reflect on the past service and sacrifices of America’s veterans. But, sadly, recent Bush Administration attempts to deny Veteran’s Administration (VA) medical care to more than 160,000 aging veterans has gone largely unnoticed by veterans or the general public.

Peace Movement Grows World Wide

March 3, 2003
Washington, DC

As President Bush continues his single-minded push for war against Iraq, working people around the world have increasingly demonstrated their desire for a peaceful resolution to the Middle East crisis. The massive peace demonstrations that took place around the world over the weekend of February 15 and 16 were indications of the growing tide of public opinion against the Bush plan of attack. Literally millions of people declared their opposition to a military strike against Iraq; peace demonstrations were held in more than 600 cities around the world, including dozens in the United States.

U.S. Congress and State Legislatures Convene

January 7, 2003
Washington, DC

The United States Senate and House of Representatives have convened the 108th Congress in Washington D.C. One of the first orders of business will likely be the extension of unemployment benefits for hundreds of thousands of unemployed. The benefit cut-off was due to the refusal of the Republican House leadership to extend exhausted benefits last December. The political heat on Congress to right this wrong has been intense, and passage of an extension of benefits is predicted.

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