Slaughterhouse 'gang time' challenged in court [View all]

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.laborradio.org/Channels/Story.aspx?ID=1708818

Slaughterhouse “gang time” is being challenged in court. Jesse Russell reports:

National Beef Packing Company is facing a federal lawsuit filed by workers at a Liberal, Kansas slaughterhouse. The workers allege the company owes unpaid wages and overtime. The suit is seeking class-action status and was filed on behalf of the nearly 2,000 employees at the plant. It challenges a meat-processing payment system that only compensates workers while the line is running. It echoes lawsuits filed last year against Creekstone Farms in Kansas and Farmland Foods in Illinois. The suit alleges that workers aren’t compensated for time spent waiting in line for equipment, the time it takes to put on and remove gear, and the time it takes to walk to and from the production line. Employees may need to remove and put on gear numerous times during the shift if they take breaks for meals. The payment system is known as “gang time” and is used throughout the meat packing industry.