Hinton v. COLUMBIA RIVER PACKERS ASS'N INC.

Decision Date20 October 1942
Docket NumberNo. 9456.,9456.
Citation131 F.2d 88
PartiesHINTON et al. v. COLUMBIA RIVER PACKERS ASS'N, Inc.
CourtU.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit

Ben Anderson, of Portland, Or., for appellant.

Jay Bowerman, of Portland, Or., and Ralph E. Moody, of Salem, Or., for appellee.

Before GARRECHT, HANEY and STEPHENS, Circuit Judges.

HANEY, Circuit Judge.

We have before us for a second consideration a decree of injunction issued under the anti-trust laws.

Appellee is an Oregon corporation engaged in the business of purchasing, processing, canning, merchandising and distributing fish and other products. It is engaged in interstate commerce. In carrying on its business it purchases fish and other products of the Pacific Ocean from producers, many of whom are members of the Pacific Coast Fishermen's Union, hereafter called the Union.

Prior to April 29, 1939, appellee was able to and did purchase its requirements from fishermen, and the Union demanded that appellee enter into a contract with it, whereby appellee would promise to purchase no fish from anyone except a member of the Union. Appellee refused to sign the contract, whereupon the Union induced all fishermen in the area near Reedsport, Oregon, to refrain from selling appellee any fish caught in the waters in that area. The price to be paid for fish was fixed by agreement of the Union and the various dealers, and there was no disagreement between appellee and the Union over the price to be paid for the fish appellee sought to buy.

The record discloses that at the time of trial, from 90% to 100% of the fishermen operating along the coast of Oregon, Washington and Alaska were members of the Union and the Union controlled the production of fish so much that appellee could not operate its business in Oregon and Washington unless it entered into the contract with the Union. From these facts the court below concluded that appellants had violated the Sherman Anti-Trust Act, 15 U.S.C.A. §§ 1 — 7, 15 note, and enjoined them from interfering with appellee's business.

On appeal, this court reversed the decree of the court below on the ground that the Norris-La Guardia Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq., was applicable, and had not been complied with. 117 F.2d 310. The judgment of this court was then reversed on the ground that there was not involved a "labor dispute" within the meaning of the Norris-La Guardia Act because the controversy related "solely to the sale of fish" and not to "wages or hours or other terms and conditions of employment". 315 U.S. 143, 62 S.Ct. 520, 522, 86 L.Ed. 750. The cause was remanded to this court for further consideration. Three questions are now argued.

First. Is the Union exempt from the provisions of the anti-trust laws by reason of the statutes authorizing fishermen's cooperatives, 15 U.S.C.A. §§ 521, 522? Without going into detail, we believe United States v. Borden Co., 308 U.S. 188, 203-206, 60 S.Ct. 182, 84 L.Ed. 181, which answers the question in the negative with respect to the similar Capper-Volstead Act, 7 U.S.C.A. §§ 291, 292 is applicable, and that the answer to the instant question must also be in the negative.

Second. Do the anti-trust laws...

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7 cases
  • Harper v. Brennan
    • United States
    • Michigan Supreme Court
    • 14 Mayo 1945
    ...therein.' Cooke on Combinations, Monopolies, and Labor Unions (2d Ed.), § 116, and cases there cited.' In Hinton et al. v. Columbia River Packers Ass'n, 9 Cir., 131 F.2d 88, 90 per cent of the fishermen operating along the coast of Oregon were members of defendant union. They controlled the......
  • Alabama Power Co. v. Alabama Electric Cooperative, Inc.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Fifth Circuit
    • 2 Abril 1968
    ...nor the power of the Secretary exempts fishermen and their association or union from the antitrust laws. Hinton v. Columbia River Packers Ass'n, 131 F.2d 88 (9th Cir. 1942). There are various specific exemptions from antitrust laws in the labor field. Section 20 of the Clayton Act13 withdre......
  • Commonwealth v. McHugh
    • United States
    • United States State Supreme Judicial Court of Massachusetts Supreme Court
    • 7 Julio 1950
    ... ... 458; Potter Press v. C. W ... Potter, Inc., 303 Mass. 485, 491-492, 22 N.E.2d 68 ... conditions of employment. Columbia River Packers ... Association, Inc., v. Hinton, ... ...
  • Sunkist Growers, Inc. v. Winckler & Smith Citrus Prod. Co.
    • United States
    • U.S. Court of Appeals — Ninth Circuit
    • 30 Septiembre 1960
    ...L.Ed. 181; United States v. Maryland & Virginia Milk Producers Ass'n, 1949, 85 U.S.App.D.C. 180, 179 F. 2d 426; Hinton v. Columbia River Packers Ass'n, 9 Cir., 1942, 131 F.2d 88; United States v. Maryland Cooperative Milk Producers, Inc., D.C.D.C.1956, 145 F.Supp. 151; Cape Cod Food Product......
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2 books & journal articles
  • Table of Cases
    • United States
    • ABA Antitrust Library Handbook on the Scope of Antitrust Procedural issues
    • 1 Enero 2015
    ...113 (1895), 40 Hinds Cnty., Miss. v. Wachovia Bank N.A., 700 F. Supp. 2d 378 (S.D.N.Y. 2010), 148 Hinton v. Columbia River Packers Ass’n, 131 F.2d 88 (9th Cir. 1942), 210 A Handbook on the Scope of Antitrust Hise v. Phillip Morris, Inc., 46 F. Supp. 2d 1201 (N.D. Okla. 1999), 86 H.J. Inc. v......
  • Antitrust and Agriculture
    • United States
    • ABA Antitrust Library Handbook on the Scope of Antitrust Issues of sector-wide applicability
    • 1 Enero 2015
    ...no immunity under the FCMA, apparently because the group included vertically integrated members. Hinton v. Columbia River Packers Ass'n, 131 F.2d 88, 89 (9th Cir. 1942). A subsequent Ninth Circuit case, Local 36, Int’l Fishermen & Allied Workers of Am. v. United States, 177 F.2d 320 (9th Ci......

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