Court Opinion

ID: 9462694
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-04 22:47:37.877084+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T17:37:43.535523
License: Public Domain

SEITZ, Chief Judge
(concurring and dissenting).
I agree with Judge Gibbons that under the 1974 Agreement the grievances here *1084involved were subject to arbitration and that, in consequence, a Boys Market preliminary injunction of proper scope would have been warranted against the local union.
However, I am unable to agree that a preliminary injunction should have been issued against the district and international unions. The district court was presented with evidence that the local union was engaging in work stoppages violative of the collective bargaining agreement. However, the plaintiff offered no evidence whatsoever indicating that the district or international unions had ordered, approved or even condoned the actions of the local. As the district court itself stated:
“The evidence presented before me up until now relates only to the procurement of a preliminary injunction to compel members of Local 1248 to continue their employment in the mine in spite of any grievances or complaints which are susceptible to the grievance machinery.” 393 F.Supp. at 940.
Consequently, on the evidence before the' district court, a preliminary injunction restraining the local union was all that was necessary to preserve the status quo pending the final resolution of the controversy. Whether the district or international unions should ultimately share responsibility for the local’s actions, and thus be included in any final order, is an issue which should be resolved after a full hearing on the merits.
Nor do I believe that a district court may enter an order at the preliminary injunction stage prospectively enjoining work stoppages over disputes other than those specifically before it. The function of a preliminary injunction is to preserve the true status quo. That principle is violated by a preliminary injunction which, in essence, adjudicates other disputes and future grievances. Moreover, strict adherence to this principle is especially important in the labor injunction context where the powers of the federal courts have been severely circumscribed by the Norris-LaGuardia Act. Consequently, in my opinion the district court should have restricted the scope of its preliminary injunction to include only those work stoppages over disputes which if found arbitrable under the collective bargaining agreement in question.
Although I believe that a rather broad prospective decree such as that mandated by Judge Gibbons is inappropriate in the preliminary stage of a proceeding, I express no opinion as to whether Section 9 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act precludes a federal court from permanently enjoining a pattern of conduct which results in repeated and similar violations of a collective bargaining agreement after a final adjudication on the merits.
Finally, I agree with Judge Gibbons that any injunction entered should include an order directing United States Steel to arbitrate. Any Boys Market injunction must necessarily contain such an order since the duty to arbitrate constitutes the quid pro quo for the union’s no-strike pledge.
Before SEITZ, Chief Judge, and VAN DUSEN, ALDISERT, ADAMS, GIBBONS, ROSENN, HUNTER, WEIS and GARTH, Circuit Judges.