Court Opinion

ID: 9467373
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-05 01:47:27.646163+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:40:19.032261
License: Public Domain

WEIS, Circuit Judge,
dissenting.
In our previous opinion in this case, we emphasized the importance of resolving industrial disputes peacefully, and pointed to the favorable climate generated by Boys Markets, Inc. v. Retail Clerks Union, 398 U.S. 235, 90 S.Ct. 1583, 26 L.Ed.2d 199 (1970), Gateway Coal Co. v. UMW, 414 U.S. 368, 94 S.Ct. 629, 38 L.Ed.2d 583 (1974), and this court’s decisional law following that trend, e. g., Island Creek Coal Co. v. UMW, 507 F.2d 650 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 423 U.S. 877, 96 S.Ct. 150, 46 L.Ed.2d 110 (1975); NAPA Pittsburgh, Inc. v. Automotive Chauffeurs Local 926, 502 F.2d 321 (3d Cir.) (in banc), cert. denied, 419 U.S. 1049, 95 S.Ct. 625, 42 L.Ed.2d 644 (1974). Since that time, however, Buffalo Forge Co. v. Steelworkers, 428 U.S. 397, 96 S.Ct. 3141, 49 L.Ed.2d 1022 (1976), has narrowed the legal remedies available to federal courts in labor-management disputes.
Nevertheless, it seems to me that the point we made in Dow I, 530 F.2d 266 (3d Cir.), cert. denied, 429 U.S. 834, 97 S.Ct. 100, 50 L.Ed.2d 100 (1976), is still valid and represents an enlightened view on the resolution of these disputes. Our position was simply that stability in industrial relations is enhanced by the continuance of a collective bargaining agreement, and therefore, its unnecessary termination should be discouraged. Thus, we thought that even though the strike was illegal, the Board should consider whether termination of the contract was justified when the company had not exhausted the available grievance procedures or its options to proceed in court. Despite our opinion, the Board did not explore the ramifications of our suggestion and, instead, on remand decided the case on a different, and, as the majority explains, erroneous basis.
The reluctance of the Board to seriously consider our more civilized approach to settling labor-management differences is regrettable. It is disturbing that given the opportunity, the Board failed to take a stand against the unnecessary “tooth and claw” industrial warfare which we decried.
Dow Ts philosophy is that both labor and management should be required to exhaust every possible peaceful method through grievance proceedings arbitration, administrative action, and court proceedings before being permitted to resort to self-help which necessarily inconveniences the public at large. Because the Board did not measure the parties’ actions by that standard, I would remand once again.