Source: http://openjurist.org/371/us/542
Timestamp: 2015-08-04 10:08:44
Document Index: 275317168

Matched Legal Cases: ['§ 1257', '§ 54', '§ 1257', '§ 8', '§ 158', '§ 14', '§ 1257']

371 US 542 Local No 438 Construction General Laborers' Union Aflcio v. S J Curry | OpenJurist
371 U.S. 542 - Local No 438 Construction General Laborers' Union Aflcio v. S J Curry Home
371 US 542 Local No 438 Construction General Laborers' Union Aflcio v. S J Curry 371 U.S. 542
83 S.Ct. 531
9 L.Ed.2d 514
LOCAL NO. 438 CONSTRUCTION & GENERAL LABORERS' UNION, AFL—CIO, Petitioner,v.S. J. CURRY et al., etc.
Argued Nov. 7 and 8, 1962.
John S. Patton and Edwin Pearce, Atlanta, Ga., for petitioner.
In the face of petitioner's claim that the subject matter of this suit was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board, the Supreme Court of Georgia reversed the denial by the trial court of a temporary injunction sought by respondents. 217 Ga. 512, 123 S.E.2d 653. We granted certiorari to consider the jurisdiction of the Georgia court to authorize the entry of an injunction and requested the parties to brief also the question of our own jurisdiction to review the Georgia court's judgment under 28 U.S.C. § 1257. 369 U.S. 883, 82 S.Ct. 1159, 8 L.Ed.2d 286.
Respondents then brought this action for an injunction in the Superior Court of Fulton County, Georgia, alleging that petitioner's picketing was for the purpose of forcing respondents to hire only union labor, all in violation of the Georgia right-to-work statute.1 A hearing upon respondents' request for a temporary injunction was held. According to the union its picketing was for the sole purpose of publicizing the facts about the wages being paid by respondents, and in any event its activities were claimed to be within the exclusive jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board. It was stipulated that respondents had purchased more than $50,000 worth of goods and commodities from outside the State of Georgia.2 The temporary injunction was denied without opinion and respondents appealed. The Georgia Supreme Court found the picketing to be peaceful and the evidence sufficient to sustain a finding that respondents were not paying wages conforming with those paid on similar types of work in the Atlanta area. Relying upon and quoting from an earlier case, the court nevertheless concluded on the whole record that the picket was placed on the job for the purpose of forcing the employer 'to employ only union labor, or be unable to comply with the terms of his contract * * * such picketing is for an unlawful purpose, and clearly a violation of the provisions of Code Ann.Supp. § 54—804 * * *.'3 The judgment of the court was that 'the trial judge erred in refusing the interlocutory injunction,' this judgment later being entered upon the minutes of the trial court and made the judgment of that court.
Upon such a record, we hold that this Court has appellate jurisdiction under § 1257 and we reverse the judgment below as beyond the power of the Georgia courts. The allegations of the complaint, as well as the findings of the Georgia Supreme Court, made out at least an arguable violation of § 8(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 158(b).4 Consequently, the state court had no jurisdiction to issue an injunction or to adjudicate this controversy, which lay within the exclusive powers of the National Labor Relations Board. Plumbers, etc., of Local No. 298, A.F. of L. v. Door County, 359 U.S. 354, 359, 79 S.Ct. 844, 847, 3 L.Ed.2d 872; San Diego Bldg. Trades Council, etc., Local 2020 v. Garmon, 359 U.S. 236, 244—245, 79 S.Ct. 773, 779, 3 L.Ed.2d 775; Hotel Employees Union, Local No. 255 v. Sax Enterprises, Inc., 358 U.S. 270, 79 S.Ct. 273, 3 L.Ed.2d 289; Weber v. Anheuser-Busch, Inc., 348 U.S. 468, 478, 481, 75 S.Ct. 480, 486—488, 99 L.Ed. 546; Garner v. Teamsters, Etc., Union No. 776, 346 U.S. 485, 489—491, 74 S.Ct. 161, 165—166, 98 L.Ed. 228. Nor is the jurisdiction of the Georgia courts sustainable, as respondents urge, by reason of the Georgia right-to-work law and by § 14(b) of the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. s 164(b). This precise contention has been previously considered and rejected by this Court. Local Union 429, etc., v. Farnsworth & Chambers Co., 353 U.S. 969, 77 S.Ct. 1056, 1 L.Ed.2d 1133, reversing 201 Tenn. 329, 299 S.W.2d 8. The Georgia Supreme Court clearly exceeded its power in authorizing the issuance of a temporary injunction.
Respondents would nevertheless have us dismiss this case as beyond our appellate jurisdiction since 28 U.S.C. § 1257 limits our authority to the review of final judgments of state courts and since the Georgia Supreme Court authorized the issuance of only a temporary injunction, thus leaving a permanent order still to be issued after further hearings in the trial court. But we believe our power to review this case rests upon solid ground. The federal question raised by petitioner in the Georgia court, and here, is whether the Georgia courts had power to proceed with and determine this controversy. The issue ripe for review is not whether a Georgia court has erroneously decided a matter of federal law in a case admittedly within its jurisdiction (compare Gibbons v. Ogden, 6 Wheat. 448, 5 L.Ed. 302) nor is it the question of whether federal or state law governs a case properly before the Georgia courts. Compare Local 174, Teamsters, etc., v. Lucas Flour Co., 369 U.S. 95, 82 S.Ct. 571, 7 L.Ed.2d 593. What we do have here is a judgment of the Georgia court finally and erroneously asserting its jurisdiction to deal with a controversy which is beyond its power and instead is within the exclusive doma