chaffer

In 1935 the Beaver Valley Lodge No. 200, affiliated with the Amalgamated Association of Iron, Steel and Tin Workers of America, filed a verified charge with the National Labor Relations Board alleging that the Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation had engaged in unfair labor practices by discriminating against union members with regard to hire and tenure of employment and by coercing and intimidating employees to interfere with their self-organization. The Board issued a complaint against the corporation, which appeared specially to contest jurisdiction, admitted the discharges, and asserted they were made for inefficiency, rule violations, or other good reasons unrelated to union membership. After the Board denied the corporation’s motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction, the corporation withdrew from further participation. The Board then received evidence on the merits and issued findings and an order directing the corporation to cease discrimination, reinstate ten named employees, make good their lost pay, and post notices of non-discrimination for thirty days. The Board petitioned the Circuit Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit to enforce the order, but that court denied the petition, holding the order lay beyond federal power, after which the Supreme Court granted certiorari. The Jones & Laughlin Steel Corporation is organized under Pennsylvania law with its principal office in Pittsburgh and operates manufacturing plants in Pittsburgh and Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, where it produces a diversified line of steel and pig iron as the fourth largest steel producer in the United States. The corporation maintains a completely integrated enterprise owning and operating ore, coal and limestone properties, lake and river transportation facilities and terminal railroads. It owns or controls mines in Michigan and Minnesota, operates four ore steamships on the Great Lakes, owns coal mines in Pennsylvania, operates towboats and steam barges, owns limestone properties in Pennsylvania and West Virginia, and owns interconnecting railroads. Approximately 75 per cent. of its product is shipped out of Pennsylvania. The ten employees whose reinstatement was ordered included motor inspectors, a tractor driver, crane operators, a washer in the coke plant, and laborers, several of whom served as officers or group leaders in the union. The Board found they were discharged because of union activity.

In 1953 the Textile Workers Union of America entered into a collective bargaining agreement with Lincoln Mills of Alabama. The agreement was to run for one year and from year to year thereafter unless terminated on specified notices. It contained a no-strike clause and established a multi-step grievance procedure whose final step, available to either party, was arbitration. Several grievances concerning work loads and work assignments arose under the agreement. The union processed the grievances through every step of the contractual procedure, after which the employer denied them. The union then requested arbitration, but the employer refused. The union filed suit in federal district court seeking an order compelling the employer to arbitrate the grievances. The district court held that it possessed jurisdiction and directed the employer to comply with the arbitration provisions of the agreement. On appeal the Court of Appeals reversed by a divided vote, concluding that the district court lacked authority under either federal or state law to grant the requested relief. The Supreme Court granted certiorari. After the Court of Appeals decision but before oral argument, Lincoln Mills terminated its operations, ceased all work at the mill in March 1957, and contracted to sell its mill properties. Some of the grievances sought back pay for increased workloads, and the collective bargaining agreement authorized the arbitration board to adjust compensation retroactively.