Union City Voice: Readers Write (5/6/08)
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
'38, Not '74 for FLSA: The Fair Labor Standards
Act was enacted in '38" (not 1974, as reported in the 5/1 UC), writes Ann
Hoffman. "There were Fair Labor Standards Amendments in 1974, the most prominent
of which covered state and local government employees - which actually didn't
take effect until 1985, because of court challenges and big problems writing
regs." We apologize for the error and award Hoffman a Labor Chorus CD for the
catch. Hoffman goes on to note that "The federal minimum takes its second
bump-up on the road to a still inadequate $ 7.25 an hour this coming July 24,
when it goes from 5.85 to 6.55. The first minimum wage hike in 10 years,
the longest stretch in history without an increase, came about when the
Democrats took control of Congress and attached the increase to an Iraq spending
bill that President Bush wanted to sign."