Jones & Laughlin Steel Corp. v. United Mine Workers

• Decision Date: 16 December 1946
• Docket Number: No. 9342.,9342.
• Citation: 159 F.2d 18
• Parties: JONES & LAUGHLIN STEEL CORPORATION v. UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA et al.
• Court: U.S. Court of Appeals — District of Columbia Circuit

159 F.2d 18 (1946)

JONES & LAUGHLIN STEEL CORPORATION v. UNITED MINE WORKERS OF AMERICA et al.

No. 9342.

United States Court of Appeals District of Columbia.

Argued November 12, 1946.

Decided December 16, 1946.

Mr. John C. Bane, Jr., of Pittsburgh, Pa., of the Bar of the State of Pennsylvania, pro hac vice, by special leave of Court, with whom Messrs. John J. Wilson and John C. Gall, both of Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for appellant.

Mr. William E. Leahy, of Washington, D. C., with whom Messrs. Welly K. Hopkins and Harrison Combs, of Washington, D. C., were on the brief, for appellees United Mine Workers and John L. Lewis.

Mr. Harry I. Rand, of Washington, D. C., Attorney, Department of Justice, with whom Messrs. Edward M. Curran, of Washington, D. C., United States Attorney at the time the brief was filed, and J. Francis Hayden, Special Assistant to the Atty. Gen., were on the brief, for appellees J. A. Krug, Secretary of the Interior, and Admiral Ben Moreell, Coal Mines Administrator.

Messrs. Gerhard P. Van Arkel, General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board, and A. Norman Somers, Assistant General Counsel, National Labor Relations Board, both of Washington, D. C., were on the brief for appellees National Labor Relations Board and Paul M. Herzog, John M. Houston and Gerard D. Reilly, the Members thereof.

Before EDGERTON, CLARK, and PRETTYMAN, Associate Justices.

CLARK, Associate Justice.

This is an appeal from a District Court judgment denying appellant's motion for a preliminary injunction, sustaining the motion of appellees United Mine Workers Union and John L. Lewis to dismiss appellant's complaint, and sustaining the motion of appellees J. A. Krug, Secretary of Interior, Admiral Ben Moreell, Coal Mines Administrator, and Paul M. Herzog, John M. Houston, and Gerard D. Reilly, the members of the National Labor Relations Board, for summary judgment.¹ The complaint sought a declaratory judgment that the Union had not legally qualified as the exclusive representative, under a Certificate issued by the Labor Board, of the supervisors in appellant's coal mines, and that appellees Krug and Moreell be enjoined from recognizing or treating the Union as such.

Four bituminous coal mines owned by the appellant were among those of which possession was taken by the United States Government under the President's Executive Order 9728² May 21, 1946. In accordance with its provisions, the Secretary of the Interior took possession of the mines and designated Admiral Ben Moreell as Deputy Coal Mines Administrator with full authority to act in his behalf.

Thereafter, the Coal Mines Administrator entered into an agreement with the United Clerical, Technical and Supervisory Employees, hereafter referred to as UCT, a Division of District No. 50, United Mine Workers of America, which in effect recognized it as the exclusive collective bargaining representative of the supervisors at appellant's mines, and which established changes in the terms and conditions of employment for these supervisors. This agreement was limited solely to the period of Government possession. Application was thereupon made by the Government to the National Wage Stabilization Board for an order requiring those changes. This order was issued on July 30, 1946 and approved by the President on August 7, 1946.

Appellant does not attack the legality of the Government's action in taking possession of the mines, nor does it challenge the validity of the statutes under which the President assumed his authority and power to act and under which the Secretary of the Interior and Coal Mines Administrator acted. What is contested is the action taken by the Government, through its properly designated officials, in its capacity as operator of the mines. It is contended that the Government should not have proceeded in the manner it did in changing the terms and conditions of employment at the appellant's mines, that the status of exclusive representative can be established only by proceedings before the National Labor Relations Board.

In our view the single issue in the case for our determination is the authority of the Government to establish changes in terms and conditions of employment in mines under its possession. We do not feel compelled to pass on the propriety of the Certification issued by the National Labor Relations Board on May 29, 1946 after due hearing and an election, both conducted prior to the Government's assuming control of the mines, certifying the UCT as the exclusive representative of the mine's supervisors for purposes of collective bargaining, nor on the legal status of the union under that Certification. It is to be noted at the outset that the Government in its action followed strictly the procedure of the statutes under which it operated. Section 3 of the War Labor Disputes Act³ empowered the President with authority to take possession of the mines. Section 5 provided for the procedure to be followed by the Government Agency operating the mines in securing "A change in wages or other terms or conditions of employment" in such mines. This authorized approach was for the operating agency to make application to the National War Labor Board (now the National Wage Stabilization Board) for such change. The Board, "after such hearings and investigation as it deems necessary, * * * may order any changes in such wages, or other terms and conditions, which it deems to be fair and reasonable and not in conflict with any Act of Congress or any Executive order issued thereunder. Any such order of the Board shall, upon approval by the President, be complied with by the Government agency operating such * * * mine * * *." The President, by his Executive Order, limited the duration of any such change to the period of...