NEW YORK, United States (CMC) — New York Attorney General Letitia James and her Pennsylvania counterpart, Josh Shapiro, are leading a coalition of 18 attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to stop the Trump administration from eliminating key labour protections for Caribbean and other migrant workers.

The lawsuit challenges a US Department of Labour rule that seeks to unlawfully narrow the joint employment standard under the Fair Labour Standards Act (FLSA).

The FLSA is the US federal law establishing a baseline of critical workplace protections such as minimum wage and overtime for Caribbean and other workers across the United States.

James said the joint employment standard determines when more than one employer is responsible under FLSA, “because both exert sufficient influence over a worker’s employment”.

“This change would undermine critical workplace protections for the country’s low-and middle-income workers, and could lead to increased wage theft and other labour law violations.

“The new rule, which would result in lower wages and additional wage theft targeting lower-and middle-income workers, demonstrates that the Trump administration does not care about the hardworking individuals that help this country run,” James said.

The coalition asserts in the lawsuit that the rule directly undermines the US Congress’ intent for the FLSA, and that the labour department violated the rulemaking process requirements.

Further, they argue that the rule would impose significant regulatory burdens on states and harm states’ economies and residents.

The coalition is urging the court to declare the rule unlawful and to invalidate the rule.