In class the past two days we have
learned about and seen the tumultuous first term of Obama. The
president's second term hasn't relieved any of this pressure off of
his shoulders. Along with his health care initiative and foreign
issues, part of his main agenda right now is focusing on fairer payment of
workers. We have already seen the conflict with raising minimum wage;
this article specifically deals with Obama's push on stricter rules
for overtime pay. And just like the minimum wage, the arguments on
both sides make it look like there is no easy way out. Hopefully you all have responses more definitive than my own opinions on this topic...
Tuesday, March 11, 2014
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
There is no doubt in my mind that something must be done about the distribution of wealth in this country, but with many rich people holding power, there isn't a good chance of anything getting done. Not to mention all the ways employers can get out of paying their workers for overtime. Employers will always find an excuse they find reasonable enough to not pay their workers what they deserve.
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately I think that there will be a lot of opposition to Obama's attempts at overtime reform just as many of his other programs have had. It is obvious that change needs to be made so that hard working people are rewarded for the extra time they spend working. And as was mentioned in the article, the overtime threshold levels have not been adjusted for many years even for inflation which makes them outdated and obsolete. There is no reason employers should be allowed to cheat their workers out of fair pay.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Evan that something needs to happen to close the wealth gap. But as I have said in previous posts, I don't know that a raise in minimum wage is the way to get there. I think that if there are stricter regulations on overtime pay, that this will just result in less people getting overtime hours. It would make more time to have more people work no more than 40 hours than to have less people work more than that for more pay.
ReplyDeleteI think that President Obama's push for more overtime pay will help not only salaries but as well with unemployment. Like the article said, if the overtime pay requirements were lessened and there was more opportunity for overtime pay, companies would probably hire more workers. So either way, the money that was originally going into the companies pockets, will be going to employees of the companies, through overtime pay or new jobs.
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with what Obama describes as a crisis economic inequality in the country. Improvement needs to be made with overtime pay and other parts of the middle class economy. I don't know how far this plan will go, however, because there will be public comment made first and I'm sure there will be a lot of opposition, which is why these levels have not been changed in many years.
ReplyDeleteWhile this idea isn't necessarily a bad idea, and that being paid for overtime could greatly benefit my family (my dad used to be paid for his overtime hours, but rarely anymore), but at the same time, I'm not sure that it is a great idea right now. Like what Mr. Mitchell said, "..something will happen to adjust." If you allow people to be paid for overtime, is it worth the risk? Similarly to the idea of raising the minimum wage, if people are being paid more money, the only way to compensate for this and (if needed) cut costs is to let go of other employees. Then again, I'm not really sure if the effect of paying people for overtime is better or worse than raising the minimum wage, but if something really does happen to adjust, is it really worth the risk?
ReplyDeleteAs a part-time employee myself, I would very much like to see a raise in minimum wage. However, I do think that the businesses themselves aren't being focussed on enough. It seems to me that all of the articles on this topic that I have come across infer that all businesses are corporate giants that have expenditures such as executive bonuses instead of paying their ground-level employees more. What about the mom and pop shops that have been struggling to get by for years? What will a wage hike do to them? I believe that the discussion of income equality is greatly needed, but I also believe that it should be kept in mind that each business's financial situation is different and that a move such as this could be fatal to it.
ReplyDeleteSomething definitely needs to be done about the wealth gap like many of my classmates have said. The presidents idea to push for more overtime pay is a good idea. I feel this will help many of the lower class families raise more money for their families. But I do not feel raising the minimum wage is the way to go as I have said before.
ReplyDeleteI find the wealth gap to be one of America's biggest issues. I would love to see an increase in minimum wage to help decrease this gap, but it's clearly not as easy as it may seem. The idea of overtime pay seems like a great idea to me, but sadly, I think we will see the repeated pattern of Obama struggling to get anything passed. The moral of the story is that workers deserve to be fairly paid. Corporations and businesses do not have the right to rob employees of their overtime work. This issue is difficult and controversial, but we must remember how much it will benefit those who need it.
ReplyDeleteAlthough there are so many differing opinions on these economic policies, I think it all comes down to the fact that there are so many million/billion dollar corporations who are cheating thousands of workers, and making them dependent on government aid. While there are pros and cons to the idea of both minimum wage increases and increased overtime pay are things we need to do to address the the extreme economic disparity of so many people in this country.
ReplyDeleteThis minimum wage increase would help many people in the lower class who have a difficult time making ends meet in order to keep their families living as comfortably as is possible with such little income coming from jobs that require lots of hard work. This plan may help with better wages but this sudden increase would mean that many companies will cut back on other benefits for workers and the possibility that many jobs will be cut from the workplace. The gap between the rich and the poor has become so great that the dispersion of wealth is very skewed and unfair. If this decision is made it would eventually help the "disparity" that has formed between the economic classes.
ReplyDeleteI think that Annamarie brings up a good point, there is a huge wage disparity between the corporations paying minimum wage workers and the workers themselves. I think it's difficult to understand how it feels to live off of minimum wage if you've never had to. Like the show Undercover Bosses, I think if the owners of these companies lived like their workers, there would be more support for an increase in minimum wage.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I agree with Obama's goal to expand overtime pay, I don't think using his executive authority is the best way to deal with his opponents in congress. By using executive authority to get around congressional opinions, Obama will make congress feel inferior which will ultimately lead to even more push back. I think Obama should instead focus on a way to compromise with congress to fix the underlying issue: the wealth gap among upperclass and lower class Americans.
ReplyDelete