Meat + Poultry - November 2005 - 8

Supreme Court rules in favor of workers
WASHINGTON - This past month,
the Supreme Court ruled that meat
processing companies must compensate hourly workers for time spent
donning and doffing safety gear and
then walking between locker rooms
and production areas. Previously, the
industry standard was to either pay
workers only when the production
line was running or have them clock
in and out on the production floor.
The court said in its decision that employers must pay wages for the donning of "integral" gear and the time it
takes workers to then walk to the production area.
The ruling upheld a decision of
the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in favor of workers at a meat
processing plant in Pasco, Wash.
Those workers typically put on sanitary outer garments, boots, hardhats,
goggles and gloves.
The underlying cases considered by
the court were IBP, inc., v. Alvarez and
Tum et. al v. Barber Foods, Inc. The
two similar cases were combined by
the Supreme Court.
In a lower court, the IBP plant, now
a part of Tyson Foods, Inc., was directed to compensate workers for time
spent donning and doffing safety gear
and for their time spent walking between dressing areas and the production floor. The 9th Circuit Court of
Appeals upheld that decision. When
IBP appealed to the Supreme Court, it
narrowed its request for consideration
to the time spent walking to the production floor after donning safety gear
and to the locker room from the production floor before doffing the gear.
Since 1998, the company has compensated affected workers for four minutes of donning time.
In the case of Tum et.al. v. Barber Foods, the 1st Circuit Court of
Appeals found that workers at Barber Foods' poultry processing plant
in Portland, Maine, were eligible for
compensation for time spent donning safety gear but also found the
time required was so small it was not
considered compensable. That court
also ruled that time spent walking
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MEAT&POULTRY

November 2005

between the locker room and production floor and waiting in line to receive safety gear before the beginning
of a shift were not compensable. The
workers appealed.
The companies in the combined case
pointed to the Portal-to-Portal Act of
1947, which amended the Fair Labor
Standards Act of 1938 and stated employers were not required to pay workers for "walking, riding or traveling to
and from the actual place of performance of the principal activity or activities which such employee is employed to perform."
But in 1955, in Steiner v. Mitchell, the Supreme Court ruled in favor
of workers at a battery plant that time
spent by workers to change into and
out of required safety clothing and then
showering after the end of their shifts
was compensable under the F.L.S.A.,
and not exempted under the Portalto-Portal Act, because of the health
hazards involved in the workers' jobs.
The court at that time determined that
principal activities for which a worker
was employed embraced activities that
were "integral and indispensable parts"
of those principal activities.
The court also ruled that time spent
waiting in line to receive safety gear
before entering locker rooms to don
that gear was not compensable, as the
donning of such gear under Steiner
marked the beginning of the continuous workday.
Thomas Goldstein, who represented
Barber Foods workers, said the court's
strong affirmation of the Steiner ruling
related to the donning and doffing of
required safety gear would have farreaching effects in the meat packing
industry. He said Barber Foods and
IBP workers affected by the ruling
could sue for two years back pay and
perhaps three.
A spokesperson for Tyson Foods
said, "We appreciate the court's clarification of the law. These rulings provide
additional direction for businesses like
ours about how people should be paid
for the time they work...We will now
analyze what impact, if any, these rulings will have on the company."
www.MEATPOULTRY.com

Tyson reports lower net
income in FY 2005
SPRINGDALE, Ark. - Tyson Foods,
Inc. posted net income of $353 million
in fiscal 2005, down from $403 million
in fiscal 2004. Net sales for the full year
were $26,014,000,000, compared with
$26,441,000,000 in the same period a
year ago.
Net income was $98 million for the
fourth quarter ended Oct. 1, which compared with $66 million for the same period this past fiscal year. Fourth quarter
sales were $6,495,000,000, compared
with $7,149,000,000.
The company's accounting cycle resulted in a 13-week fourth quarter and
52-week year in fiscal 2005, one week
less than the cycle in 2004.
Chicken segment sales decreased
10 percent and 1 percent in the fourth
quarter and 12 months of fiscal 2005,
respectively, compared with the same
periods last year.
Beef segment sales decreased 6 percent and 3 percent in the fourth quarter and 12 months of fiscal 2005, respectively, compared with the previous fiscal year.
Pork segment sales decreased 14 percent and increased 2 percent for the
fourth quarter and 12 months of fiscal
2005, respectively.

Pilgrim's Pride receives
Innovation Award
PITTSBURG, Texas-Pilgrim's Pride
Corp. has earned the Innovation Award
from Wendy's International, Inc. Wendy's presented the Innovation Award
to Pilgrim's Pride in recognition of its
longstanding customer support, introduction of innovative new products and
partnership in reducing cost.
Pilgrim's Pride earned Wendy's Quality Supplier of the Year Award in 2003,
the year the awards program first began.
Wendy's presents its Quality Supplier of
the Year Award and Innovation Award
every two years.
"We are honored to receive Wendy's 2005 Innovation Award, and we are
proud to have earned one of Wendy's
highest honors for the second time in a
row," said O.B. Goolsby, president and
C.E.O. of Pilgrim's Pride.

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Meat + Poultry - November 2005

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