Thursday, January 25, 2007
Minimum Wage
Several bills have been filed to fix what sponsors say is a problem with Proposition B, a ballot measure 76 percent of Missouri voters approved in November to increase the state’s minimum wage to $6.50 an hour. Proponents of the fix say Prop B inadvertently deleted from state law a provision exempting police and firefighters from overtime requirements. Many firefighters work 24-hour shifts, while law enforcement officers often have 10- to 12-hour shifts that result in work weeks that exceed 40 hours. State law previously followed federal law, which allowed police to work up to 171 hours and firefighters 212 hours in a 28 day period without qualifying for overtime. Many fire districts and municipalities say the change could cost them millions of dollars in unexpected overtime pay. Eighteen local governments have gone to court asking to be exempt from following the new law, including the minimum wage provisions.
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2 comments:
So how would you vote on this issue? On one hand we have public servants that work too many hours and deserve to be paid, on the other, we have a system that calls for 24 hour days and such with budgets based on the Federal guidelines.
I'll be voting for the fix. I think the focus of Prop B was to get some more money to those individuals who were working for very low wages and litlle to no benefits. To date I have had no conversations with public servants who are asking us to oppose the "fix". I think they understand the circumstances surrounding the situation.
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