[Buckeye McFrog]

when read carefully this story is even more surreal.

The contract spells out a 30 minute lunch break in BLACK AND WHITE

The union AGREED to 30 minutes in 1989!

Just because no one from the county ever cracked down on the hour lunch the arbitrator read in a provision that DOES NOT EXIST and awarded an hour lunch!

That is the sort of empathy for the individual that will earn this arbitrator an appointment to SCOTUS by Obama.

[Verginius Rufus]

Even if they had a 30-minute lunch break, they would be working only 32.5 hours a week--now they will be working 30 hours a week. Maybe "working" should be in quotation marks.

This shows what can happen when mediators get to make the call. That's part of the plan with the so-called Employee Free Choice Act--to have mediators step in and resolve disputes between labor unions and management.

[sniper63]

I have dealt with past practice issue when dealing with Unions, my argument has been and I have won my arguments with Unions, where in the contract is past practice mentioned. If past practice is not mentioned in the contract, past practice does not exist. Take the friggin’ Union to court for Breach of Contract and kick the Union out.