Sid Shniad wrote:
Subject: Microsoft trickery
Computer underground DigestSun Dec 21, 1997 Volume 9 : Issue
92
ISSN 1004-042X
[...]
Cu Digest Homepage: http://www.soci.niu.edu/~cudigest
[...]
Date: Fri, 19 Dec 1997 21:05:37 -0800 (PST)
From: "T.L. Kelly" [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: File 2--Urgent Action: WA state HOUSE BILL 2209
The WSDMA, a "labor" organization, has quietly asked the Washington
Dept. of Labor and Industry to strip computer professionals making
over $27.63 an hour of their overtime.
Furthermore, the proposed law is written in such a way as to exempt
"Any employee who is a computer system analyst, computer programmer,
software engineer, software developer, or other similarly skilled
worker" even from the minimum wage provisions of Washington state
law.
If approved, the law will be adopted Dec. 31, 1997, and become
effective Feb. 1, 1998.
The WSDMA's largest member is Microsoft, the largest employer of
computer contractors in the region with an estimated 3-5,000 such
employees. The company recently lost a labor case brought by a group
of contract workers. It is the company's acknowledged policy to
employ
contract workers to avoid the cost of benefits, vacation, etc.
Recent applicants have confirmed to me that Microsoft explicitly
*requires* all contract workers to work "a minimum of 50-55 hours a
week".
The Boeing Company is also a member of the WSDMA.
The WSDMA's legal move was kept secret. The "request" was not
reported
in the local press until the day AFTER the public comment period had
ended. The author of that story has acknowledged he learned of the
proposal in October, but did not cover it because he "didn't
appreciate the significance." One wonders how he manages to cross
the
street successfully.
The "public" hearing was scheduled for the Tuesday before
Thanksgiving
from 10 am to noon--in Tumwater, WA, several miles south of Olympia.
The vast majority of the state's contract workers live in Seattle
and
neighboring communities far to the north.
The WSDMA's own street-level membership was not informed of the
move,
let alone invited to comment.
It should be noted that computer professionals are already barred
from
labor organizing by a Cold War-era federal law. It seems the time
has
come to work to get that law overturned on Constitutional grounds.
But
first...
THE PERIOD FOR PUBLIC COMMENT ON THE OVERTIME LAW HAS BEEN EXTENDED
UNTIL DEC. 19--NEXT FRIDAY.
Management and owners have had nearly two months to comment, we have
less than a week. Please make it count.
Comments can be sent to Linda Merz of the Washington State Dept. of
Labor and Industry at (360) 902-5403 or [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Please be clear, relatively brief, and most importantly courteous
(even if firm).
Comments of up to 10 pages may be faxed to (360) 902-5300 or snail
mailed to:
Greg Mowat, Program Manager
Employment Standards
Department of Labor and Industries
P.O. Box 4-4510
Olympia, WA 98504-4510
Below is an excerpt from the proposed law, HOUSE BILL 2209. As you
can see, it applies to just about anyone working in the computer and
web industries.
(source: http://www.wa.gov/lni/pa/w128-535.htm )
(1) Any employee who is a computer system analyst, computer
programmer, software engineer, software developer, or other
similarly
skilled worker will be considered a "professional employee" and will
be exempt from the minimum wage and overtime provisions of the
Washington Minimum Wage Act if:
(i) Applying systems analysis techniques and procedures to determine
hardware, software, or system functional specifications for any user
of such services; or
(ii) Following user or system design specifications to design,
develop, document, analyze, create, test, or modify any computer
system, application, or program, including prototypes; or
(iii) Designing, documenting, testing, creating, or modifying
computer
systems, applications, or programs for machine operation systems; or
(iv) Any combination of the above primary duties whose performance
requires the same skill level [...]
RESOURCES ONLINE
News Stories (both of 'em -- literally)
Temporary software workers to lose OT
http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/temp_120597.html
Software temps gain time to fight OT changes
http://www.seattletimes.com/extra/browse/html97/temp_121097.html
Info from WA State Dept of LI
http://www.wa.gov/lni/pa/over.htm
http://www.wa.gov/lni/pa/w128-535.htm
HOUSE BILL 2209 as posted on the WA Legislature Site
http://leginfo.leg.wa.gov/pub/billinfo/house/2200-2224/2209_022697
WA Legislature Site
http://leginfo.leg.wa.gov/
WSDMA
http://www.wsdma.org
[...]
--
Martin Watts
Department of Economics
University of Newcastle
New
