House Transportation Bill: Lobbying And Lawsuits Behind Move To Strip Worker Protections

WASHINGTON -- House Republicans are trying to pass a transportation bill that would strip certain workers of their minimum-wage and overtime protections. As it turns out, several of the companies that would benefit from the change have recently been sued by their employees for allegedly violating wage laws.

One of those companies, Evansville, Ind.-based Professional Transportation, Inc. (PTI), has lobbied lawmakers to have its workers exempted from the Fair Labor Standards Act, the 1938 federal law that guarantees basic labor rights. Ronald Romain, the president of PTI's parent company, and his wife, Connie Romain, donated more than $55,000 to GOP election efforts last year, including a combined $10,000 to Evansville-based Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), according to campaign contribution records from the Center for Responsive Politics.

Bucshon sits on both the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, which produced the transportation bill, and the House Education and the Workforce Committee, which oversees workplace laws and protections. Bucshon is running for re-election this year.

Bucshon's office did not return requests for comment made this week. Neither did Ronald Romain, nor a lobbyist with Steptoe & Johnson, the lobbying firm hired by PTI.

The change inserted into the House bill, listed under the heading "Technical Correction," would remove wage protections for several thousand "long-haul drivers" who transport railroad crews from worksite to worksite. Many of those drivers work for roughly the minimum wage and sometimes log 60 hours a week, often driving several hundred miles at a time across state lines. The drivers are currently entitled to overtime pay but would lose it under the House bill.

Some of the firms that could benefit from the GOP provision other than PTI include RailCrew Xpress, Renzenberger and Coach America, all of which have faced employee lawsuits over alleged wage violations.

Joseph Cassell, a Wichita, Kan.-based lawyer, has successfully sued PTI and other rail transport companies for violating wage laws. He says exempting the workers from minimum-wage and overtime protections would take money out of an already meager paycheck. Drivers are compensated on a per-mile basis and the pay sometimes doesn’t even work out to minimum wage, according to Cassell.

"These drivers work their butts off," Cassell says. "All you have to have is a clean driving record and pass a drug test. In some cases, they're not even high school graduates. They need work and unfortunately they're willing to work under tough conditions and long hours ... If anybody gets overtime, it should be these people."

"Look, these companies are making money, even if they have to pay overtime," Cassell adds. "They are not hurting."

Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.) has filed an amendment to the House bill that would maintain wage protections for the drivers. "It's outrageous that House Republicans are trying to take away overtime protections for a class of workers at the behest of a special interest," Miller said of the provision in an earlier statement to HuffPost. "These workers deserve the right to overtime pay. It's not only a matter of fairness, but also a matter of public safety."

The transportation bill will not come up for a vote until late February, and Republicans are still trying to rally support for it. The $260 billion, five-year bill has generated plenty of controversy, with Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, a former GOP congressman, calling it "the worst transportation bill I've ever seen during 35 years of public service" and "the most partisan transportation bill that I have ever seen."

Many elements of the House transportation bill are unlikely to be accepted by the Senate, where the committee has produced a bill with strong bi-partisan support. President Obama has threatened to veto the House bill if it doesn’t include significant changes.

Among other hotly contested measures, the bill would cut subsidies for Amtrak by 25 percent and slash funding for bicycle and pedestrian projects. In general, the bill calls for more highways and toll roads, to be funded by offshore drilling.

Comments

[planerguy]

01:13 AM on 10/15/2012

The real issue that isn't being mentioned is how the RR workers feel about a driver taking them on trips of more than several hundred miles, without sleep, without any real rest, and underpaid to the point they may not have even eaten that day... It seems the RR unions should get involved with this when it is a true safety issue for the Rail crews!

[popstheindependent]

06:59 PM on 02/22/2012

Everyone on here is talking about the money the repubs take and I agree it is way out of control, but why isn't anyone commenting on Obama raising 1BILLION for his reelection campaign. Why is that ok with all you so called enlightened people?

[Eugene Berkovich]

09:55 AM on 02/18/2012

This is exactly why we need UNIONS - to defend employees against the unsavory policies of their employers and the legislators they buy.

[Eugene Berkovich]

09:50 AM on 02/18/2012

There is no question that Republicans' sole mission in US Congress is taking money from the workers and giving it back to the employers. And then they turn around and scream they care about the middle class. We're not blind to their shenanigans.

[Beverly Kidwell]

11:43 PM on 02/18/2012

The Republicans are beginning to look Un American. They are greedy, they don't care about the middle class, the poor, the elderly, the sick, in fact they care about nothing but themselves. The candidates running are a joke, the ones in office are a bigger joke. God Help America.

[splashy]

02:46 AM on 02/18/2012

As usual, Republicans are driving toward the bottom, trying to lower wages and make slaves of us all.

[Computer Geek]

09:48 PM on 02/17/2012

Sign the petition asking Congress to vote no on this bill (and tell your friends):

http://www.change.org/petitions/congress-vote-no-to-the-dept-of-transportation-house-bill-under-consideration

[MamaRam93]

02:57 AM on 02/18/2012

Fanned and Faved
Also, signed and shared!

[Eugene Berkovich]

09:52 AM on 02/18/2012

F/F/S

[EJavaM07]

09:34 PM on 02/17/2012

"Ronald Romain, the president of PTI's parent company, and his wife, Connie Romain, donated more than $55,000 to GOP election efforts last year.""

And it comes down to this: a well-connected small business has the money to bribe their local GOP representative so they can screw their workers, and in general, everybody, cause that driver and their family are probably going to have to go on food stamps and have their medical care taken care of by the state thru Medicaid, paid for by the tax payers.

[1laingirl]

11:19 PM on 02/17/2012

The Romains have plenty of money to donate $55,000 to the GOP, which is not tax deductible, but they can't afford to pay decent wages to their workers, which wages are deductible as a business expense. The workers probably don't have any benefits either. Chances are the Romains claim to be good family values Christians as well.

[planerguy]

01:08 AM on 10/15/2012

The workers have a very poor healthcare that pays almost nothing, and they are forced to accept Payroll deductions for this terrible "benefit' even though they have have an opt out clause when they are hired. PTI ignores the opt out, and deducts it anyway.

[Radx28]

07:27 PM on 02/17/2012

How much would it cost me to have a law passed to give me overtime for the extra hours that I wait for my Social Security check, and which Congressmen would I need to pay off to make it happen?

[Eugene Berkovich]

09:53 AM on 02/18/2012

My father's SS check comes like clockwork on the same day every month. You're full of crap.

[Beverly Kidwell]

11:46 PM on 02/18/2012

Just hope it keeps coming.If the Republicans have their way there will be no SS No Medicare and no tax breaks for the middle class just the disgustingly wealthy who won't spend all there money in their lifetime.

[Seattle Guy]

07:24 PM on 02/17/2012

As yes, another example of the best Republican (and all too often Democratic) congressmen money can buy.

[scassidine72]

07:07 PM on 02/17/2012

That's the GOP for us! They say the companies would benefit from these changes, well the country would benefit if the GOP (as well as the whole House) all were striped if their benefits too! So be sure to include yourselves in this change too!

[AbstractImp]

06:52 PM on 02/17/2012

Look out -
this is the Last Election in America.

[AbstractImp]

06:52 PM on 02/17/2012

Who do you think is BUYING YOUR RIGHTS?

[bailey617]

06:37 PM on 02/17/2012

Republicans are trash....and so are the people who vote for them

[clark8642]

06:37 PM on 02/17/2012

We need public funding for all elections and strict limits on private contributions, as well as real time reporting of those contributions. We need real time reporting of all Congressional lobbying, both as to participants and topics. We need to remove the incentive for our representatives to pander to wealthy individuals and corporation to ensure their next election. If they don't have to spend their days panhandling maybe they will have time to represent us. BTW, this is a problem for all of us, left, right, and center.

[Beverly Kidwell]

11:48 PM on 02/18/2012

Won't happen until the middle class stand together and vote them out of office and let them know how they feel. They have been buying offices for years. Where have you been.?

[Edy Kel]

06:37 PM on 02/17/2012

"$55,000 to GOP election efforts last year, including a combined $10,000 to Evansville-based Rep. Larry Bucshon (R-Ind.), according to campaign contribution records from the Center for Responsive Politics."

If they paid that amount to their workers in the first place they wouldn't need to waste it on politicians that have no chance to pass this amendment.