upholding position that Board lacked power to review reasonableness of union disciplinary rule imposed on members who crossed picket line
How later courts described this case
- upholding position that Board lacked power to review reasonableness of union disciplinary rule imposed on members who crossed picket line
- when union discipline does not interfere with the employer-employee relationship or otherwise violate a policy of the NLRA, the Board may not evaluate the fairness of union discipline meted out to protect a legitimate union interest
- Secretary of Labor's interpretation of statute entitled to 'great deference'
- "This Court . . . , in holding that court enforcement of union fines was not an unfair labor practice in NLRB v. Allis-Chalmers Mfg. Co., relied on congressional intent only with respect to the first part of this section"
Written by the judges who cited it.
The opinion
Mr. Chief Justice Burger,
dissenting.
It is odd, to say the least, to find a union urging on us severe limitations on NLRB authority, and telling us that state courts are the proper forum to resolve questions regarding the reasonableness of fines imposed on workers for violation of union rules. For years, there has been unrelenting union opposition to state court “intervention” into industrial disputes and union activities. We have been told cóuntless times that the “expertise” of the Labor Board, based on its overview and intimate familiarity with labor problems, is essential in this area.
A union must, of course, have some disciplinary powers or it would disintegrate. However, the power to discipline can easily turn from a means of enforcing valid *79 rules to an oppressive and coercive device of retribution, a weapon which, when used to extremes, may deprive a working man of his very means of sustenance. Whether a particular fine is required in a particular situation involves a weighing of the delicate balance of relations between the employers, employees, and the union involved. Such an intimate knowledge of labor relations has consistently been ascribed to the Board, often by the unions. It is the Board that deals with such matters on a daily basis. It is the Board that has the jurisdiction and experience to devise and employ national standards to govern union conduct; there are valid reasons for essential uniformity and consistency in the matters of fines. To isolate this sensitive subject and thrust it on the state courts is contrary to the entire history of the federal labor statutes and opens the door to a wide disparity of fines for the same conduct in different States.