NASHVILLE, Tenn., Nov 19 (Reuters) - The United Auto Workers on Tuesday said it filed a lawsuit against truck maker PACCAR Inc. seeking a total of $3.5 million in back pay for laid-off workers at its Peterbilt plant in Tennessee.
In the suit, filed in federal district court in Nashville, the union accused PACCAR of cheating about 500 workers out of seven weeks' worth of wages and other compensation when the company locked them out on Sept. 3.
The UAW said about 500 workers received layoff notices on Aug. 26 and are entitled to 60 days' pay under federal law. Another 250 workers who did not receive layoff notices were also locked out of the plant, which builds heavy-duty trucks.
A spokesman for the company was not immediately available to comment on the lawsuit.
PACCAR, like other truck manufacturers, is facing a drop-off in demand for heavy trucks after new federal guidelines for emissions standards went into effect in October. Orders had surged ahead of the federal deadline as freight haulers hurried to buy trucks with the old-model diesel engines.
Bellevue, Washington-based PACCAR locked out the 750 UAW workers at its Peterbilt truck factory in Madison, Tennessee, after negotiations with the union for a new labor contract stalled. The previous 44-month contract expired Sept. 1.
The union voted to return to work without a contract but the workers were locked out instead.
PACCAR and union members last met on Sept. 20, when the union presented a counterproposal to the company's demands.
According to the union, PACCAR is seeking cuts in company contributions to health benefits and wage increases averaging less than 1-1/2 percent annually.
The company has said it wants more flexible work rules and could not reach an agreement on wage and health care issues.
Earlier this month, the UAW filed unfair labor practice changes with the National Labor Relations Board against the Peterbilt unit, accusing the company of refusing to provide information requested by union negotiators.
PACCAR, which also makes the Kenworth line of trucks, has said the lockout's impact has been minimal and it continues to make trucks at the Tennessee plant.
The plant employed as many 1,400 workers at a peak in early 2000 before the soft economy caused a downturn in the trucking market.