Biggs

Appellants brought this action under § 16(b) of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as amended, 29 U.S.C.A. § 216 (b), hereinafter referred to as the Act, to recover overtime compensation allegedly due from appellee under § 7(a) of the Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 207(a) Appellants were employed by appellee pursuant to the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement, the pertinent provisions of which appear in the footnote. The trial court found that during the period here involved appellants, in addition to working the hours specified by the contract, were required by appellee to work through their lunch periods of one-half hour each day. The parties stipulated, and the trial Court found, that appellee did not compensate appellants for lunch periods. Appellant Hector and other plaintiffs below, not parties to this appeal, were awarded overtime wages for each lunch period worked on the day shift. Appellants were denied recovery, however, for the lunch periods worked on the second, or swing, and third, or graveyard, shifts. The Court gave as its reason for denying recovery, the payment to appellants of a half-hour premium per day on the swing shift and a one-hour premium per day on the…