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dc_dux · 01-12-2007, 08:44 PM

The entire bill is 3 sections long:

Quote:

110th CONGRESS

1st Session

H. R. 2

AN ACT

To amend the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 to provide for an increase in the Federal minimum wage.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

This Act may be cited as the `Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007'.

SEC. 2. MINIMUM WAGE.

(a) In General- Section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) is amended to read as follows:

`(1) except as otherwise provided in this section, not less than--

`(A) $5.85 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after the date of enactment of the Fair Minimum Wage Act of 2007;

`(B) $6.55 an hour, beginning 12 months after that 60th day; and

`(C) $7.25 an hour, beginning 24 months after that 60th day;'.

(b) Effective Date- The amendment made by subsection (a) shall take effect 60 days after the date of enactment of this Act.

SEC. 3. APPLICABILITY OF MINIMUM WAGE TO THE COMMONWEALTH OF THE NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS.

(a) In General- Section 6 of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206) shall apply to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

(b) Transition- Notwithstanding subsection (a), the minimum wage applicable to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under section 6(a)(1) of the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 (29 U.S.C. 206(a)(1)) shall be--

(1) $3.55 an hour, beginning on the 60th day after the date of enactment of this Act; and

(2) increased by $0.50 an hour (or such lesser amount as may be necessary to equal the minimum wage under section 6(a)(1) of such Act), beginning 6 months after the date of enactment of this Act and every 6 months thereafter until the minimum wage applicable to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands under this subsection is equal to the minimum wage set forth in such section.

Passed the House of Representatives January 10, 2007.

Attest:

Clerk.

Perhaps the section that applies to the N. Marianas was included because it was the only US territory/commonwealth that did not have minimum wage standards under the existing FLSA. (and recently Jack Abramoff, the contract lobbyist for the Island businesses repeatedly blocked any minimum wage legislation for the Island workers). American Samoa has special minimum wage rates established by an industry committee appointed by the Dept of Labor (which I agree may not be in the best interest of the workers).

This is all much ado about nothing or more appropriately described as a shameful distortion of the facts.

A different perspective from The Hill - the nonpartisan paper that covers Capitol Hill extensively:

Quote:

Island rights and wage bill intertwined
By Susan Crabtree

House Democrats plan to bring the Northern Mariana Islands in line with U.S. minimum wage laws under legislation that comes to the floor today, thus ending a decade of policy favoring island businesses secured by lobbyist Jack Abramoff and former Rep. Tom DeLay (R-Texas).

Democrats, however, are finding it difficult to clean up the mess Abramoff and Co. left behind, especially when dealing with the only U.S. territory that lacks a delegate in Washington. The Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands’ (CNMI) government has a resident representative in Washington, a position that carries no congressional office or powers, even the right to make statements on the House floor.

For years, DeLay and Abramoff worked to block a delegate bill from coming to the floor. Legislation giving the islands a delegate has passed the House Resources Committee several times in the last few years, but former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) never placed the bill on the legislative calendar. The presence of a Mariana delegate in Congress would diminish significantly the islands’ need for a lobbyist to speak for them in Washington.

Incoming Democratic leadership said it has other reasons for opposing a CNMI delegate. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) was asked in December whether she planned to move the bill with majorities in both houses. She didn’t answer directly, and later, staffers amended the press conference transcript to indicate Pelosi’s opposition to the creation of a delegate.

“NOTE: Pelosi does not support a new delegate for the Mariana Islands until there are significant human rights and labor reforms there,” the released transcript reads.

Education and Labor Chairman George Miller (D-Calif.) also opposes the establishment of a congressional delegate. Following a trip to the islands in the late 1990s, Miller has been a champion for reforms there, arguing that forced abortions and prostitution, as well as other human rights abuses, are rampant in Mariana sweatshops. Garment factories, many of which employ immigrant laborers from China and the Philippines, have been a pillar of the local economy. In recent years, however, international labor laws have eliminated tariffs on Chinese textiles, so Chinese companies no longer have incentive to operate factories in the Marianas.

Miller’s support for a delegate has waxed and waned over the years. In 2005, he said he changed his mind on the delegate issue after the islands’ governor at the time worked to improve labor conditions.

That year, Miller assailed Abramoff and DeLay during a House Resources committee markup of the bill for continuing to block it from coming to the floor.

“As a result of recent revelations in the press, we now understand far better why those bipartisan reforms and — even this legislation to create a voting delegate — have been obstructed,” Miller said.

An aide for Miller says his boss no longer supports the delegate because Ben Fitial, a former garment industry executive who Abramoff and DeLay helped get elected Speaker of the CNMI House, is now governor and has vocally advocated against bringing the islands under U.S. labor and immigration standards.

A spokeswoman for CNMI Resident Representative Pete Tenorio argues that the government has spent millions of dollars to eliminate human rights abuses and ensure that labor standards and laws are enforced.

“This doesn’t seem right or very democratic to have the authority and the willingness to make widespread changes to a place and not even have its concerns listened to,” said CNMI spokeswoman Melinda Matson.

The islands’ failing economy also is creating headaches for Democrats intent on updating labor and immigration laws there. In the late 1990s, when DeLay and Abramoff first worked to block a minimum-wage increase, the islands’ garment factory industry was riding high. Now the increase would come as the region struggles to cope with a rapid decline in the industry as the result of international trade rules, and a decrease in tourism. As the garment business has suffered — 12 factories were shuttered in the last few years — the CNMI government has taken in fewer tax dollars and laid off thousands of workers.

The bill would increase the islands’ minimum wage to $7.25 over the next four years, compared to the two years and two months it gives other U.S. employers to phase in the increase. Matson said Tenorio is not opposed to an increase in the minimum wage, but objects to the amount.

“What business could handle the doubling of their minimum wage in just a few years’ time?” she asked.

Tenorio would like to modify that language to allow for just two 55-cent increases in the next year and a half. The CNMI government also wants to add a wage-review committee similar to the one that exists in American Samoa. The local government of that U.S. territory is concerned about the impact implementing the full minimum wage would have on its tuna-canning industry. Samoa’s wage-review committee consults with the U.S. Department of Interior on proposed wage increases’ impact, and has managed to keep minimum wages dollars below federal levels.

“We’re really concerned that we’re going to have businesses fail and the only safety net that we have is food stamps,” Matson said.

In terms of the House bill, however, the CNMI government’s pleas have fallen on deaf ears. Matson said staffers for Miller told her that modifications came too late and they plan to go forward with the straight minimum-wage increase. On the Senate side, however, informal talks are taking place at the staff level to evaluate whether any modifications could be made that would mitigate the hike’s impact on the islands’ already weak economy. Senators plan to attach the CNMI minimum wage hike to the broader Senate wage bill scheduled for floor action next week.

Miller did not respond to specific questions about the minimum wage bill’s impact on the island.

“Workers in the Northern Marianas have suffered for years without decent workplace standards, and that is finally about to change,” Miller spokesman Tom Kiley said in a written statement.

http://www.hillnews.com/thehill/expo...07/island.html