MINERS WIN SUIT AGAINST BORAX COMPANY MUST OFFER 2 LUNCH BREAKS.

Byline: EUGENE TONG Staff Writer

VALENCIA - U.S. Borax must provide two lunch breaks for miners working 12-hour shifts in the Boron pits, according to a recent ruling by a state appellate court.

The 2nd District Court of Appeal found the state Industrial Welfare Commission overstepped its authority in an order that could exempt unionized mine workers from getting two 30-minute lunch breaks as required by state law.

It's a victory for six miners who sued the Valencia-based company for withholding meal and rest periods. The company employs more than 800 at the open pit mine in Boron in Kern County, and is one of the world's leading supplier of borate ore, a salt found in detergent, water softeners and other products.

State law requires a 30-minute meal break every five hours of work, along with a 10-minute break during every four working hours. Only wholesale bakers and film and broadcasting employees are exempt.

"They were giving the workers one lunch break - 30 minutes unpaid - which they were required to do under the collective bargaining agreement, along with one 10-minute rest period," plaintiff's attorney Neil Herring said Tuesday.

The case was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in April 2004. Borax moved it to U.S. District Court, though the meal break litigation was sent back to the lower courts.

Borax argued the meal break schedule was negotiated in its contract with the International Longshore and Warehouse Union Local 30, and a section of the state commission's wage order said meal period requirements "shall not apply to any employee covered by a valid collective bargaining agreement."

"It's a very competitive marketplace," Borax spokeswoman Susan Keefe said Tuesday. "Every change in the work force and benefits affects our ability to compete. It's a give-and-take (between labor and management.)"

A Los Angeles judge in 2005 agreed, but that ruling was overturned in a decision published last week. The appellate court found the commission's powers "do not extend to the creation of additional exemptions from meal period requirement beyond those provided by the Legislature."

"The IWC lacks the authority to carve out additional exceptions to the meal period requirements within the statute the Legislature has carved," Herring said. "A regulatory agency doesn't have the authority to alter, diminish or augment a statute."

Keefe said the company agreed with the earlier ruling, and is considering its options, including an appeal to the state Supreme Court.

"We do believe it's a good place to work and our employees believe that," she said, citing average worker tenure at the mines of at least 15 years.

In the meantime, the U.S. District Court dismissed the case against Borax's rest break guidelines. The plaintiffs, who are still employed at the mines, have appealed, Herring said.

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