Firestone

This is a suit for overtime compensation under both federal and California fair labor provisions. The most significant issue on appeal is whether plaintiffs’ state law claim for time-and-a-half of their regular hourly rate for all hours worked beyond eight in a day and forty in a week is preempted by section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act (LMRA), 29 U.S.C. § 185 (a). On the merits, the employer argues that the claim is foreclosed by an exemption in the California overtime law for employees who are covered by a collective bargaining agreement that provides, in relevant part, for “premium wage rates” for overtime work. The district court held that plaintiffs’ claim was preempted by the LMRA because resolution of the essential dispute between the parties about the applicability of the California exemption required interpretation of the complex pay and overtime pay provisions in the collective bargaining agreement. The district court dismissed on the merits plaintiffs’ claim under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), 29 U.S.C. §§ 201 et seq. We affirm these rulings.

*1065 The Law of Preemption Under § 301

Section 301 of the LMRA provides in part:

29 U.S.C. § 185…