Source: https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/412/958/
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 04:58:51+00:00

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Justia › US Law › US Case Law › US Supreme Court › Volume 412 › UNITED MINE WORKERS v. MCGUIRE SHAFT & TUNNEL CORP.
McGUIRE SHAFT AND TUNNEL CORPORATION et al.
On petition for writ of certiorari to the Temporary Emergency Court of Appeals of the United States.
the Norris-LaGuardia Act,2 29 U.S.C. 101 et seq., permitting a district court to enjoin a work stoppage in violation of regulations of the Pay Board.
On January 14, 1972, respondent construction companies entered into a collective bargaining agreement with the United Mine Workers of American providing for a wage increase in excess of 18%. In accordance with the Economic Stabilization Act, this agreement was submitted to the Pay Board for approval, but the Board authorized an increase of only 9.54%. Subsequently, employees of the construction companies, members of three different locals of the United Mine Workers went out on strike in support of their demand for a wage increase as provided by the agreement. Pickets soon appeared at five coal mines operated by two other respondents, and the miners honored the picket lines.
with other labor legislation. See, e. g., Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, Local 770, 398 U.S. 235 ( 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act); Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Howard, 343 U.S. 768. We have stated before that 'the Norris- LaGuardia Act's ban on federal injunctions is not lifted because the conduct of the union is unlawful under some other, nonlabor statute.' Order of R. R. Telegraphers v. Chicago & N. W. R. Co., 362 U.S. 330, 339. See also Brotherhood of R. R. Trainmen v. Chicago R. & I. R. Co., 353 U.S. 30, 42. The unmistakable mandate of the Norris-LaGuardia Act is to preclude the federal courts from interfering with peaceful labor disputes by resort to 'objectives test.' See Order of R. R. Telegraphers v. Chicago & N. W. R. Co., supra, 362 U.S. at 336; Milk Wagon Drivers Union, Local No. 753, International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Stablemen and Helpers of America v. Lake Valley Farm Products, Inc., 311 U.S. 91, 101. Although the Economic Stabilization Act affects wages, it is clear to me that it falls within the area of general economic legislation rather than the narrow scope of 'labor legislation' as that concept is used in our prior decisions.
'The Norris-LaGuardia Act . . . expresses a basic policy against the injunction of activities of labor unions. . . . [T]he policy of the Act suggests that the courts should hesitate to fix upon the injunctive remedy for breaches of duty owing under the labor laws unless that remedy alone can effectively guard the plaintiff's right.
Petitioner contends that private injunctions are not a necessary part of the enforcement scheme of the Economic Stabilization Act, which includes provisions for governmental enforcement, supplemented by private actions for damages.
Finally, 210(a) of the Economic Stabilization Act provides for 'appropriate relief.' Petitioners argue that the word 'appropriate' must be construed to encompass the ordinary constraints of federal equity jurisprudence, thus precluding private suits for injunctive relief against a union in a labor dispute. [Footnote 5] See Hecht Company v. Bowles, 321 U.S. 321. They buttress this argument with the assertion that the legislative history of the Act gives no indication that 210(a) was meant to override the anti-injunction provisions of the Norris- LaGuardia Act.
To my mind, this case presents substantial questions that deserve consideration by this Court. The decision below is a clear extension of the accommodation doctrine as it has developed in this Court and threatens to erode the Norris-LaGuardia Act. We hardly can conclude that wage and price controls are merely a specter of the past. I would grant the petition for a writ of certiorari and set the case for oral argument. I would not without impelling legislative reasons make the Norris-LaGuardia Act-once the pillar of labor strength-a mere ghost to be driven hence by the slogan 'stabilization' and made a mockery by financial aggrandizement.
Footnote 3 The District Court also concluded that the strike violated provisions of the collective bargaining agreement and could be enjoined under Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, Local 770, 398 U.S. 235. The Court of Appeals did not reach this issue.
Footnote 4 Petitioners concede that the Norris-LaGuardia prohibitions do not apply in Government suits to enforce the Economic Stabilization Act. See 209 of the Act, 85 Stat. 743.
Footnote 5 The Government contended below, as amicus curiae, that the dispute between the parties does not come within the Norris-LaGuardia Act's definition of 'labor dispute,' 29 U.S.C. 113(c).

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