Thursday, October 3, 2013

3'RD CIRCUIT COURT OF APPEALS SAYS TRANSIT WORKERS HAVE RIGHT TO SUE

As you know, we have a very similar law suit in progress against Trimet for ripping us off for the time to get to and from road reliefs. This court decided that it IS NOT a matter for interpretation of collective bargaining agreements but rather a point of law!

Justia.com Opinion Summary: On behalf of themselves and former and current bus drivers and trolley operators (collectively, the Operators) employed by SEPTA, the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, the plaintiffs filed a purported class action under the Fair Labor Standards Act, 29 U.S.C. 201, to recover unpaid wages and overtime compensation for work performed during morning “pre-trip” inspections required before the start of each daily run. The district court dismissed on the ground that the FLSA claim required the interpretation of provisions of collective bargaining agreements between SEPTA and the unions representing the Operators and was, therefore, subject to those agreements’ grievance and arbitration provisions. The Third Circuit vacated, reasoning that the FLSA claim does not require the interpretation of the collective bargaining agreements; the Operators based their claims solely on their statutory, rather than their contractual, rights to recovery,

Full decision is HERE!

1 comment:

  1. Yet we get paid $19 for 45 minutes to fill out a 5 minute company report. But what takes 45 minutes to get to and relieve a bus on the road we get only $2.50. Once that uniform is on all my actions are then under the authority of Tri Met. I can't walk into a bar and order a drink after work with that uniform on because I am still undet their dictatorship.

    ReplyDelete