Union City Voice: Readers Write (5/6/08)

(Metropolitan Washington Council, AFL-CIO)
'38, Not '74 for FLSA: The Fair Labor Standards Act was enacted in '38" (not 1974, as reported in the 5/1 UC), writes Ann Hoffman. "There were Fair Labor Standards Amendments in 1974, the most prominent of which covered state and local government employees - which actually didn't take effect until 1985, because of court challenges and big problems writing regs." We apologize for the error and award Hoffman a Labor Chorus CD for the catch. Hoffman goes on to note that "The federal minimum takes its second bump-up on the road to a still inadequate $ 7.25 an hour this coming July 24, when it goes from 5.85 to 6.55.  The first minimum wage hike in 10 years, the longest stretch in history without an increase, came about when the Democrats took control of Congress and attached the increase to an Iraq spending bill that President Bush wanted to sign."