United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Labor Board v. Drivers Local Union, 362 U.S. 274 (1960)

Labor Board v. Drivers, Chauffeurs,

Helpers, Local Union No. 639, International Brotherhood

of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen

and Helpers of America

No. 34

Argued January 14, 1960

Decided March 28, 1960

362 U.S. 274

Syllabus

Peaceful picketing by a labor union, which does not represent a majority of the employees, to compel the employer to recognize the union as the exclusive bargaining agent of its employees, is not conduct of the union "to restrain or coerce" the employees in the exercise of rights guaranteed in § 7 of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended, and therefore such picketing is not an unfair labor practice under § 8(b)(1)(A) of the Act, as added by the Taft-Hartley Act. Pp. 362 U. S. 275-292.

(a) Section 13 of the Act, as amended by the Taft-Hartley Act, is a command of Congress to the courts to resolve doubts and ambiguities in favor of an interpretation of § 8(b)(1)(A) which safeguards the right to strike as understood prior to passage of the Taft-Hartley Act. Pp. 362 U. S. 281-282.

(b) Section 8(b)(l)(A) does not vest broad power in the Labor Board to sit in judgment upon, and to condemn, a minority union's resort to a specific economic weapon such as peaceful picketing. It is a limited grant of power to proceed against union tactics involving violence, intimidation and reprisal, or threats thereof -- conduct involving more than the general pressures implicit in economic strikes. Pp. 362 U. S. 282-290.

(c) In the Taft-Hartley Act, Congress authorized the Board to regulate peaceful "recognitional" picketing only when it is employed to accomplish objectives specified in § 8(b)(4). P. 362 U. S. 290.

107 U.S. App.D.C. 42, 274 F.2d 551, affirmed.

Page 362 U. S. 275