Frequent White House visitor AFL-CIO boss Richard Trumka is urging President Obama tp bypass Congress and change how the Fair Labor Standards Act is applied.
That the union chief would urge unilateral action is not unique, but the background as to why he wants the action taken is (via The Hill):
AFL-CIO president Richard Trumka said in an interview published Friday that he believed President Obama should take an executive action ensuring overtime pay for workers with an annual salary under $51,168.
That would represent more than doubling the current threshold, which provides time-and-a-half pay for workers making $23,660 per year or less.
“The spotlight is now on raising wages,” Trumka told The Washington Post. “Raising wages is the key unifying progressive value that ties all the pieces of economic and social justice together. We think the president has a great opportunity to show that he is behind that agenda by increasing the overtime regulations to a minimum threshold of $51,168. That’s the marker.”
Once might wonder what the term “economic and social justice” means.
Here is good explanation:
