Civil and Human Rights Coalition Condemns Court Injunction Blocking Update to Overtime Rules for American Workers

WASHINGTON – Nancy Zirkin, executive vice president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, issued the following statement in response to yesterday’s decision by a U.S. District Court in Texas to issue a nationwide preliminary injunction that prevents the recently updated overtime rule by the U.S. Department of Labor from taking effect as scheduled on December 1:

“We strongly disagree with the Court’s decision and believe the Department of Labor’s overtime rule will ultimately be upheld to ensure that millions of Americans are paid more fairly for the hours that they work.

This rule will finally give a fair wage to more workers, including women, low-income people, and people of color who work above and beyond 40 hours a week without any additional pay.

The judicial branch shouldn’t play games with the paychecks of the 4 million Americans who would have received overtime pay for the additional hours worked.”

Nancy Zirkin is executive vice president of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, a coalition charged by its diverse membership of more than 200 national organizations to promote and protect the rights of all persons in the United States. The Leadership Conference works toward an America as good as its ideals. For more information on The Leadership Conference, visit www.civilrights.org.