Eighty years ago on June 25, an important bill was signed into law and changed the American workplace and the lives of working men and women (and children) in this country forever.
The bill may not be as well-known as one that created Social Security, but President Franklin D. Roosevelt characterized the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (FLSA), as “the most far-reaching, far-sighted program for the benefit of workers ever adopted in this or any other country."
The Wage and Hour Division of the Labor Department enforces the FLSA for workers in the private sector, state and local government employment, and federal employees of the Library of Congress, U.S. Postal Service, Postal Rate Commission, and the Tennessee Valley Authority.
For other federal employees, the FLSA is enforced by the Office of Personnel Management.
Labor unions played a major role in pushing for these changes and protections. Many people take for granted overtime pay, minimum wages, and a ban on child labor. But it's because of good labor laws like FLSA that protect us against unregulated capitalism. So, happy birthday FLSA!
An independent arbitrator has found management at the Bureau of Prisons Federal Correctional Center Yazoo City in Mississippi guilty of violating the civil rights of AFGE’s local president at the facility.
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This is the first segment of AFGE’s 4-part series: AFGE at 90: How AFGE members have beaten the odds for nearly a century.
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The VA has demanded that the AFGE National VA Council terminate all existing local supplemental agreements, which constitutes a waiver of the union’s bargaining rights. This prompted NVAC to file a second national grievance.
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