ASHCROFT: FLEX TIME AIDS PARENTS; OPPONENTS WORRY LOW-PAID WORKERS MAY LOSE OVERTIME OPTION

Parents often get caught in a tug of war between financial and family demands.

U.S. Sen. John Ashcroft, R-Mo., thinks Congress can help by overhauling the nation's 1930s-era labor laws to allow flexible scheduling in the work place for the nation's 80 million, nonsupervisory workers.

Ashcroft has introduced a bill to that effect.

But President Clinton may side with big labor and veto such legislation should it pass Congress, Ashcroft said during a visit to Cape Girardeau Thursday.

In an interview with editorial staff at the Southeast Missourian, Ashcroft said there aren't enough votes in Congress to override a veto.

Union and Democratic leaders worry that employers would force low-paid workers to take comp time.

Ashcroft said that won't happen under his Family Friendly Workplace Act. Workers can choose overtime pay.

There would be added monetary penalties for employers who coerce workers or otherwise violate the law, he said.

But labor leaders like electrician Roy Gunter don't buy it. Gunter is president of the Central Trades and Labor Council in Cape Girardeau. The council is made up of AFL-CIO unions representing thousands of workers throughout much of Southeast Missouri.

Gunter said Ashcroft's bill is a way for companies to save money by not paying overtime.

Gunter said union members have less to fear from the bill than non-union workers because they can negotiate labor agreements.

He said labor unions would fight flex-time provisions at the bargaining table.

Ashcroft said the legislation applies to hourly workers. It also would apply to some salaried, non-supervisory workers, some Cape Girardeau businessmen said.

The bill would:

- Give workers paid flexible leave, with the agreement of their employer. Employees could bank up to 50 hours of flexible leave a year so if a family need arises, they can deal with it without a loss in pay.

- Employees and employers could set two-week schedules totaling 80 hours in any combination rather than be limited by the 40-hour work week. For example, a worker might want every other Friday off, compensating for the day off by working 80 hours over the course of nine days.

- Workers could take time off instead of overtime pay, up to 240 hours a year. The employer would have to approve the specific time off requested and could refuse if it would significantly disrupt the operation of the business. Employees could cash in the comp time.

Such options have been available to federal workers since 1978, Ashcroft said.

The senator said flexible scheduling has worked well. Private sector workers deserve that option too, he said.

It would make it easier for workers to make doctor's appointments and attend parent-teacher conferences, Ashcroft said.

A study found most federal employees like the option. Flexible scheduling boosts morale, said Ashcroft.

Ironically, government workers make up nearly half of the nation's union membership.

But overall, union workers are a decided minority. "Organized Labor is down to about one out of eight people in this country," Ashcroft said.

Cape Girardeau business leaders voiced general support for the measure.

Dave Blanchard, plant manager for Dana Corp., said the legislation could benefit workers in some businesses.

But he said it won't work on the assembly line. An employer can't run a 10-man assembly line with eight people one week and 12 the next.

Flex time sounds great, he said, but it won't benefit as many workers as political leaders suggest.

A Senate committee approved Ashcroft's bill last month. The Senate's Republican leaders favor the bill. The full Senate is expected to vote on it this spring.

President Clinton wants to expand leave without pay. Ashcroft thinks that's the wrong approach.

"My view is, you shouldn't have to take a pay cut to be a good mother or father," the senator said.

Ashcroft said the nation's labor laws are antiquated and reflect Big Labor's philosophy that management exists to abuse labor.

The nation's labor laws were written when 16 percent of mothers of school-aged children worked. Today, 75 percent do, Ashcroft said.

The senator said the laws of the 1930s are standing between modern American families and their ability to help themselves.