Monthly Archives: August 2015

UFCW Local 400 member Yves Gomes made history on August 16 when he became the first undocumented and youngest person ever elected to the Asian Pacific American Labor Alliance (APALA) Executive Board. Gomes works at Safeway in Silver Spring, Md.

Founded in 1992, APALA is the national organization of Asian Pacific American (APA) union members. It has played a unique role in addressing the workplace issues of the 660,000 APA union members and serves as the bridge between the broader labor movement and the APA community.

The deadline for submitting comments to the Department of Labor (DOL) in support of the proposed overtime rule is September 2 and is fast approaching. Corporations have turned out in full force to drive comments to the DOL and we need to make sure our voices are heard.

Almost all UFCW members are guaranteed overtime pay when they work extra hours. Unfortunately, the outdated overtime rules are denying millions of Americans the same benefit.

Currently, a salaried employee making as little as $24,000 per year is exempt from earning overtime pay – 1.5 times their hourly wage – when they work more than 40 hours in a week.

This allows businesses to “promote” people into management positions, pay them a modest salary and then shift extra hours in the stores to them with no extra overtime pay.  A lot of workers would love the chance to work those extra hours, but our outdated overtime laws make it too easy for corporations to give those to their salaried employees.

The DOL has proposed raising the overtime eligibility threshold to $50,440 to help fix this problem.

Requiring employers to provide more salaried employees with overtime pay will encourage employers to hire more workers or schedule people for more hours – a win-win for hard-working men and women and their families.

Share the online petition link with your email lists, on your websites, and social media platforms this week.