Wisconsin Attorney General, 20 states joins force to end labor protecting ruling

State Attorney General Brad Schimel joined a coalition of 20 states Tuesday in an attempt to halt a new overtime protection rule by the U.S. Department of Labor.

Earlier this year, President Barack Obama called for revision of the Fair Labor Standards Act in order to protect lower and middle-class workers by doubling the salary threshold of households making $50,000 or less yearly.

With potential increased employment costs, the states will aim to stop the new rule’s implementation before it takes into effect Dec. 1.

President of the Wisconsin AFL-CIO Phil Neuenfeldt criticized the move, saying it harmed more than 80,000 Wisconsin workers.

"The recent updates in overtime protections are long overdue and will bring a much-deserved boost to the paychecks of tens of thousands of hardworking Wisconsinites who are putting in long hours," Neuenfeldt said in a statement. “Entitling employees under the salary cap to overtime and adding an automatic three-year salary level increase, the jeopardized bill is highly influential in the lives of Wisconsin workers.”

However, the state DOJ argued the potential benefits would consume business and government resources, increase employee and service costs and force layoffs.

“[This] is not a Republican vs. Democrat issue, which is demonstrated by the bipartisan coalition of states fighting this rule,” Schimel said in a statement. “Wisconsin and every other state, must be able to set their own priorities and policies, and not be forced to take directive from an unchecked Washington D.C. bureaucracy attempting to establish unprecedented power.”

Labor unions say, however, the costs of the change would be worth it.

"By suing to stop the new overtime regulations from protecting workers, AG Schimel is putting himself squarely on the side of corporate CEOs who want to continue to deny the overtime pay working men and women deserve," state AFL-CIO Treasurer Stephanie Bloomingdale said in the release.