S.O.S.D.D.

Same old shit, different day.

In D.C., House Republicans have offered the "Working Families Flexibility Act of 2013."  I heard some GOP spin-meister refer to it as "a liberal approach to conservative principles."  Hmm.  The bill proposes that hourly workers be allowed to convert overtime pay into time off/comp time.  The R's say this will help regular folks balance work/family responsibilities.

In reality, this will motivate employers, especially non-union employers, to intimidate workers into giving up overtime pay today in exchange for working fewer hours tomorrow.  Because employers, not workers, will decide when workers can use the time off.  That's not exactly "flexible", is it?  "Darlin', times are tough and we're super-busy right now, so we're gonna need you to squeeze out that baby real quick and be back here Monday mornin'."

The GOP has tried this shit before in 1997 and again in 2003.  Both went nowhere.  If the current bill passes Boehner's House of Horrors, the same fate awaits.

Here in Ohio, a couple state reps, Kristina Roegner (R-Hudson) and Ron Maag (R-Lebanon) introduced their "Workplace Freedom" bill.  It's a so-called "right-to-work" law.  You'd be free to work for less and free to give up your rights.  The law would prohibit fair-share payments (union dues equivalents) from non-union employees at unionized shops.  It would let non-union workers enjoy the wages and benefits negotiated by the union, without paying anything for them. 

Right-to-work laws are designed to financially strangle unions, and render them less effective and less popular with employees.  It's just poorly disguised union-busting.

We've seen this movie before, and less than two years ago.  SB 5/Issue 2.  We repealed that turd, remember?  Guv Kay-Suck sure as hell remembers and he's hoping the rest of us have forgotten already.  But dumbass Tea Baggers like Roegner and Maag are determined to keep reminding us.

For now, "Workplace Freedom" lacks support.  But the R's will bring it back.  Like zombies, they always come back.  They don't know what else to do.