Monday, February 10, 1997
Gramm talks about Workplace Act in Abilene
By JERRY DANIEL REED / Senior Staff Writer
Workplaces should become a much warmer place for family breadwinners
by summer, U.S. Sen. Phil Gramm predicted here Sunday.
Gramm spoke to local reporters at Fred Hughes Motors, with
the support of dealership executives plus Robert Howden, Texas
state director of the National Federation of Independent Business.
The piece of legislation Gramm pushes would ease wage-and-hour
restrictions so that a worker, with the agreement of their employer,
could work 80 hours in a two-week span rather than precisely 40
hours each week. The Family Free Workplace Act would also let
a worker bank future comp time instead of extra pay at time and
a half, when an employer requires him to work overtime.
The Texas Republican said the change would enhance flexibility
for wage earners, letting them "earn a living and to enjoy
the fruits of their labor at the same time."
Many workers would appreciate the opportunity to take time
off to attend a child's ballgame or other important event, or
to take a parent to the doctor, and make up the time the next
week, he said.
His own experience as a very busy U.S. Senator and father of
a high school basketball player got him to thinking on the subject,
Gramm said. His younger son's senior year, the father's Senate
schedule allowed him to attend but two of 28 games, he said.
Gramm said organized labor is split on the proposal - government
employee unions who already enjoy the proposed benefits favor
it, but some private employee unions oppose it.
Their opposition stems from fear that some employers would
force employees to choose the comp time option, he said, though
the measure contains stiff penalties for any such coercion.
He predicted that President Clinton, who's already endorsed
the comp time provision, will sign the bill with both provisions.
Hillary Moore, executive manager of Fred Hughes Motors, said
the proposed labor law change would suit the dealership and its
employees just fine. Over a month's time, the company's workload
peaks and valleys could be smoothed by the proposed new law, he
said.
On a different topic, Gramm vowed to press ahead in support
of about 800 Air Force personnel stationed elsewhere but who claim
as home Val Verde County (Del Rio, home of Laughlin Air Force
Base), and voted there last year.
Those airmen's absentee votes, decisive in electing Republicans
to two local offices last fall, are the subject of a federal lawsuit.
Plaintiffs obtained a federal court injunction barring the absentee
votes on the grounds that the airmen's votes should not count
in local races, because they haven't lived in the county for years.
Gramm said that judges will ultimately decide what the law
is governing the airmen's right to have cast the disputed absentee
votes, but he plans to have his own say in what the law will be
in the future. He hopes to pass legislation allowing any service
member to declare any duty station, past or present, as his or
her official residence - and to vote a full ballot there.
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Copyright ©1997,
Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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