United States Supreme Court Cases & Opinions

U.S. Supreme Court

Sinclair Refining Co. v. Atkinson, 370 U.S. 195 (1962)

Sinclair Refining Co. v. Atkinson

No. 434

Argued April 18, 1962

Decided June 18, 1962

370 U.S. 195

Syllabus

This suit under § 301 (a) of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, was brought by an employer to enjoin work stoppages, strikes, peaceful picketing and similar activities by labor unions and their officers and members, allegedly in violation of a collective bargaining agreement containing a no-strike clause and providing a grievance procedure culminating in compulsory, final and binding arbitration of "any difference regarding wages, hours or working conditions."

Held: such an injunction was barred by §4 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act, which, with exceptions not here material, bars federal courts from issuing injunctions "in any case involving or growing out of any labor dispute." Pp. 370 U. S. 196-215.

(a) This case involved a "labor dispute" within the meaning of the Norris-LaGuardia Act -- even if the alleged work stoppages and strikes constituted breaches of a collective bargaining agreement. Pp. 370 U. S. 199-203.

(b) The subsequent enactment of § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, authorizing suits in federal courts "for violation of contracts between an employer and a labor organization" has not so narrowed the provisions of § 4 of the Norris-LaGuardia Act as to permit the injunctions originally proscribed thereby when such injunctions are sought as remedies for breaches of a collective bargaining agreement. Pp. 370 U. S. 203-210.

(c) Brotherhood of Railroad Trainmen v. Chicago R. & I. R. Co., 353 U. S. 30; Textile Workers v. Lincoln Mills, 353 U. S. 448; United Steelworkers v. American Mfg. Co., 363 U. S. 564; United Steelworkers v. Warrior & Gulf Navigation Co., 363 U. S. 574, and United Steelworkers v. Enterprise Wheel & Car Corp., 363 U. S. 593, distinguished. Pp. 370 U. S. 210-213.

(d) Section 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, presents no real conflict with the anti-injunction provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act. Pp. 370 U. S. 213-215.

290 F.2d 312 affirmed.

Page 370 U. S. 196