Steel Products
Supreme Court to Decide – U.S. Steel Workers to be Paid for Changing Clothes?
Written by Sandy Williams
February 22, 2013
Written by: Sandy Williams
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to consider whether U.S. Steel union workers can be compensated for time spent changing clothes for their jobs.
Currently the collective bargaining agreement does not require compensation but workers claim the law provides for the payment even if the bargaining agreement does not. The court will decide what constitutes “changing clothes” under the Fair Labor Standards Act.
What may appear a minor issue to some, will, in fact, set a precedent for workers in a variety of industries who are required to wear safety clothes, including, for example, workers in the food industry.
Lawyers for U.S. Steel claim the changing of clothes is specifically exempted from compensation under the Fair Labors Standards Act. The federal appeals courts reached different conclusions creating legal uncertainty about the issue, prompting the request for intervention by the Supreme Court. The case can be found under Sandifer v. U.S. Corp, U.S. Supreme Court, No. 12-417 and will be decided in the court’s next term (Oct-June 2014). (Source: Reuters)

Sandy Williams
Read more from Sandy WilliamsLatest in Steel Products

Asian HR remains much cheaper than US, EU product
Domestic hot-rolled (HR) coil prices were flat this week after declining seven of the last nine weeks. Offshore prices have also eroded in recent weeks, though not nearly as significantly as in the US.

Galv buyers less optimistic about short-term market
“It was a little more of a seller's market as contractors seemed to be protecting themselves against a potential run up in prices," one buyer said.

SMU flat-rolled market survey results now available
SMU’s latest steel buyers market survey results are now available on our website to all premium members. After logging in at steelmarketupdate.com, visit the pricing and analysis tab and look under the “survey results” section for “latest survey results.” Past survey results are also available under that selection. If you need help accessing the survey results, or if […]

US, offshore CRC prices continue to fall
US cold-rolled (CR) coil prices were down again this week, slipping six weeks in a row and seeing the sharpest drop-off since last July.

Asian HR remains much cheaper than US, EU product
Domestic hot-rolled (HR) coil prices fell this week, now down seven of the last eight weeks.