BY PHYLLIS JACOBS GRIEKSPOOR

The Wichita Eagle

Wed, May. 17, 2006

A Kansas City law firm has filed a suit on behalf of workers at Tyson Foods' beef packing plant in Holcomb, alleging that Tyson requires them to work "off the clock" and denies them overtime wages.

The suit alleges that workers did not receive wages and overtime pay as required by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act and by Kansas state law.

So far, 262 of the 2,500 employees at the plant have joined the lawsuit. Attorneys are seeking class action status for the suit to include all workers eligible for overtime. The vast majority of the workers at the Holcomb plant are immigrants, many from Latin America.

The suit follows a November 2005 Supreme Court ruling that said meat plant workers must be paid for the time required to put on and remove protective clothing and safety gear, and for the time required to walk to and from work stations.

Workers must change in and out of protective gear to begin and end the day as well as for breaks and lunch.

Employees at a Tyson plant in Pasco, Wash., began receiving checks last month from an $8.4 million settlement of their lawsuit over overtime.

Last week, a poultry processing plant in Cassville, Mo., agreed to pay more than $1.2 million in back wages to thousands of employees for time they spent putting on and removing protective clothing and walking to and from work stations.

Tyson spokesman Gary Mickelson said Tuesday the company had not seen the Kansas lawsuit.

"We can tell you we believe we take all necessary steps to pay our team members for all the time they work," Mickelson said.

Tyson is the world's largest chicken, beef and pork processor. It operates 21 plants in North America and employs nearly 41,000 people.

The case was filed by the firm of Stueve Siegel Hanson Woody of Kansas City, Mo.

Contributing: Associated Press

Reach P.J. Griekspoor at (316) 268-6660 or pgriekspoor@wichitaeagle.com.