Overtime reform progresses in House

as reported by AP in Findlaw,

the House voted 213-210 on Thursday to defeat a Democratic effort to derail proposed regulations reforming overtime exemption rules, clearing the way for changes as early as the end of this year.

Ironically, but predictably, Big Labor opposes the reforms. AFL-CIO President John Sweeney said in a written statement: “We call on the administration to stop its assault on working families.”

Why ironically? Because unions are free to negotiate whatever overtime provisions they can get on behalf of their members. If workers who are not supervisors as defined by the National Labor Relations Act are getting shafted by the new regs, they should be thrilled to vote for union representation to try to get a better deal through collective bargaining, no? The Fair Labor Standards Act, which provides for overtime, was the first time Big Labor deviated from seeking to improve the lot of workers through collective bargaining. As this pattern continued, with Labor pushing more and more pro-worker legislation through, workers’ need for collective bargaining diminished. So the unions have been killing themselves.