Bradshaw

This case arises out of a bitter labor dispute between the National Broadcasting Company (“NBC”) and its employees’ union, the National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians Local 53, AFL-CIO (“NABET”). When their collective bargaining agreement expired in March of 1990, NBC and NABET bargained to impasse and eventually reached a new agreement almost a year later, in February of 1991. Under California law, employers in the broadcast industry must pay double time for all hours worked over twelve hours in a day, unless the employees are covered by the terms of a collective bargaining agreement providing specified minimum overtime benefits. Cal. Ind.Welf.Com.Wage Order No. 11-80, 8 Cal. Code Reg. § 11110(3)(A)(2) & (F) (1980) (“Wage Order 11-80”). The NBC/NABET successor agreement’s overtime provisions were not made retroactive to cover the period following the old agreement’s expiration. In December of 1990, NABET union members began filing claims with the California *70 Labor Commission for overtime worked after the expiration of the old collective bargaining agreement. When the new agreement became effective, the Labor Commission indicated it would honor the claims…