Major Victory for AFSCME Council 13: PA High Court Rules Budget Impasse Cannot Stop State Paychecks

January 06, 2010

Acting on a lawsuit brought by AFSCME Council 13 and other unions, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court has ruled that state employees must be paid in a timely manner even if the state legislature fails to pass a budget.

“It's been a frustrating and arduous fight,” says Council 13 Exec. Dir. David R. Fillman, also an AFSCME International vice president. “This is a very sweet victory indeed.”

The ruling means that Gov. Ed Rendell (D) cannot use a budget impasse as an excuse to prevent the state from issuing paychecks to thousands of nonexempt commonwealth employees, as defined by the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA).

The Rendell administration had argued that the state constitution prevents the commonwealth from paying those employees during such a budget crisis. The unions argued that the FLSA trumped such language. The state Supreme Court agreed.

Last year, a 101-day budget impasse led to some layoffs and 75,000 employees worked up to 22 days without compensation after the fiscal year ended in June.

In reaction, more than 2,000 employees (most of them members of Council 13) rallied at the Capitol in Harrisburg against “payless paydays.” The next day, the governor announced he would seek a “bridge budget” to allow payrolls to continue. In August, he signed such a measure.

Meanwhile, Council 13, joined by two other unions pursued their appeal of a 2008 lower court ruling over the issue. On Dec. 28, a majority of the state Supreme Court ruled in the unions’ favor. The court ruled that the FLSA requires the state to keep paying its covered workers on a timely basis, regardless of whether the state has adopted a budget.

Read the court ruling here (PDF), and learn more about the case in this Associated Press story.