DEMOCRATS SEEK RETURN OF 8-HOUR WORKDAY.

Byline: Dorothy Korber Sacramento Bureau

Just a year after the eight-hour day was repealed in California, Democrats in the Legislature are poised to return daily overtime for 8 million workers across the state.

The change hinges on a bill introduced Monday by Assemblyman Wally Knox, D-Los Angeles.

Knox's measure, AB 60, would reinstate California's requirement that overtime begins after eight hours for most workers.

The bill would reverse a controversial 1997 decision by the state Industrial Welfare Commission. That action, which took effect last Jan. 1, requires employers to pay overtime only for time worked after 40 hours in a single week, already the rule in 47 other states.

Not everyone is affected. Union members, professionals and supervisors are exempt from state overtime regulations. But the change marked a historic shift in working conditions for millions of wage earners in the manufacturing, transportation, health care, retail and technical trades.

The elimination of daily overtime was energetically pushed by Gov. Pete Wilson, who appointed the commissioners. Wilson vetoed a similar bill by Knox earlier this year.

Proponents of weekly overtime argue that it helps business and labor by increasing workplace flexibility. The change is necessary, they contend, for California to thrive in the world marketplace.

But Knox says the main result is a drop in overtime wages for the lowest-paid workers who need the extra dollars most.

Largest pay cut

``The loss of overtime pay was the largest single pay cut ever foisted on California workers,'' Knox said. ``People have been working for less since Governor Wilson took away their daily overtime. It's time to bring back the eight-hour day before the crisis deepens.

``We've heard a stream of horror stories from across the state. People who've been ordered to work 14-hour days with no extra compensation. People who've been dropped from full time to part time so they never hit the 40 hours. Obviously, if you're a part-time worker, you never see overtime at all.''

Women, in particular, need the eight-hour day, according to state Sen. Betty Karnette, D-Long Beach, an outspoken opponent of the new regulation.

``Women take the brunt of it,'' said Karnette, a member last session of the Senate Industrial Relations Committee. ``They're the ones that have to pay for additional child care for working a long day.

``No one should have to work more than eight hours unless they agree to it. Theoretically, under this rule, you could work people 24 hours a day.''

Although Knox said the actual dollar loss in wages is unknown, he cited a study that found the new rule resulted in 10 percent fewer overtime hours for California manufacturing workers.

But critics of the eight-hour day - primarily business interests such as the California Chamber of Commerce and the California Manufacturers Association - contend that the shift to weekly overtime has been a benefit to workers as well as their bosses.

High wages

``First of all, Wally Knox is way off base,'' said Julianne Broyles of the state Chamber of Commerce. ``Payroll statewide is higher than ever: $474 billion in 1997 compared to an estimated $512 billion in 1998. It's gone up, not down. Employer data shows they're paying nearly as much OT as they paid before.

``But the most persuasive argument for the end of daily overtime is flexible scheduling. People wanted to be able to work a flex-time schedule of more than eight hours, but employers were reluctant because of the overtime costs. People are delighted with the change.''

Knox's bill does provide a mechanism for such flex-time scheduling - but only if employees vote in a secret ballot to accept the longer days.

``There are legitimate reasons for some flexible scheduling, but employees shouldn't be coerced into it,'' Knox said.

There will never be such agreement, countered Broyles.

``Those elections just won't take place,'' she said.

With new Democratic strength in the Legislature and Gov.-elect Gray Davis on his side, Knox figures AB 60 or some version of it will become law Jan. 1, 2000.

Meanwhile, Davis' new Industrial Welfare Commission appointees may act on their own to reinstate daily overtime.

Even so, Knox said, he wants passage of AB 60, moving the eight-hour day from the realm of regulation into solid, codified law.