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Time Spent Commuting Across Picket Line to Get to Steel Mill Was NOT Compensable


Ralph Smith, et al. v. Allegheny Technologies, Inc., et al. - United States District Court, Western District of Pennsylvania


Facts:  During a strike and lockout at a steel plant, the employer used a strike staffing company to hire replacement steelworkers to work.  In order to access the plant, these replacement steelworkers had to spend time commuting across the picket line in vans provided by the strike staffing company.  These employees filed suit on the grounds that this time spent commuting across the picket line was compensable under the Portal to Portal Act and not being paid for this time spent commuting was in violation of the Fair Labor Standards Act ("FLSA") and state wage laws.  A Magistrate Judge issued a report and recommendation that these claims be allowed to proceed.  The matter was then brought before the District Court Judge to make a final ruling.

Holding:  In order to streamline the Court's analysis, I think it is wise to break the Court's ruling down between the FLSA and the state wage claim.

FLSA

As readers are likely aware, the FLSA requires employers to pay employees overtime compensation for each our worked over forty hours in a work week.   The Portal to Portal Act stipulates that employers are not required to pay employees for their commute to and from work unless that commute is either the "principal activity" for which the employee is employed or is "integral and indispensable" to such a principal activity.  An activity is "integral and indispensable" to the principal activities the employees is employed to perform "if it is an intrinsic element of those activities and one with which the employee cannot dispense if he is to perform his principal activities."

The Court was quick to point out that the replacement steelworkers' travel time across the picket line was noncompensable commuting time.  The commute, in and of itself, was not the "principal activity or activities which [the] employee is employed to perform."  In this case, the replacement steelworkers' job duties included "pressing buttons, operating a crane, lifting materials on to and off of machines, welding, and other repetitive and rote manual labor tasks.  The Court was unmoved by the argument that the replacement steelworkers were hired to serve as economic weapons to put pressure on the labor union.  While the replacement steelworkers might have weakened the union's collective bargaining power, it was because the replacement steelworkers kept the steelmaking business up and running, not simply because the replacement steelworkers crossed the picket line during their commute.

As for the argument that commuting across the picket line was "integral and indispensable" to the principal activity, the Court again was unswayed.  Although the commute was not "ordinary" in the sense that most employees typically do not need to travel across a picket line to get to work, that did not make the replacement steelworkers' commute any more integral to their work than a typical steelworker that does not cross a picket line to get to work.  In this instance, the replacement steelworkers, as noted above, were hired to work at the steel plant during the strike and keep the steel mill up and operating.

State Wage Claim

Under the Pennsylvania Minimum Wage Act of 1968, for travel time to be compensable, it must be "part of the duties of the employee."  The Court noted that similar to its holding as to the FLSA claim that it could not be established that commuting across the picket line was either a principal activity or integral and indispensable to a principal activity of their employment, it also could not be established that crossing the picket line was a "duty" of their employment.

Judgment:  The District Court Judge held that the FLSA and state wage claims brought by replacement steelworkers failed as it could not be established that their time spent commuting across a picket line to get to work was either a "principal activity" or "integral and indispensable" of their job.

The Takeaway:  Quite the interesting case, right?  I think the District Court Judge got it right here when applying the Supreme Court's 2014 Integrity Staffing Sols., Inc. v. Busk decision.  In reliance upon the Supreme Court's holding in that case, I think the District Court Judge was correct to find that the replacement steelworkers simply had not met their burden here.  When looking at the reason the replacement steelworkers were hired (to keep the steel plant up and running during the labor dispute), it was evident that commuting across the picket line to get to work was not a principal activity of their employment nor was it integral and indispensable to their job.  Without any other justification to rely upon, it became evident that the replacement steelworkers' FLSA and state wage claim had no ground to stand on and therefore was properly dismissed.

Majority Opinion Judge:  Judge Hornak

Date:  February 28, 2018

Opinion:  http://hr.cch.com/eld/SmithAllegheny022818.pdf

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