General Drivers, Warehousemen and Helpers, Local Union No 89 v. Riss and Company, 180
| Decision Date | 18 March 1963 |
| Docket Number | No. 180,180 |
| Parties | GENERAL DRIVERS, WAREHOUSEMEN AND HELPERS, LOCAL UNION NO. 89 et al., Petitioners, v. RISS AND COMPANY, Inc |
| Court | U.S. Supreme Court |
David Previant, Milwaukee, Wis., for petitioners.
H. Bemis Lawrence, Louisville, Ky., for respondent.
Petitioners are a union and six of its members employed by the respondent interstate motor freight common carrier. The present action was brought in the United States District Court for the Western District of Kentucky, and jurisdiction was predicated on § 301 of the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, 29 U.S.C. § 185. In their complaint, petitioners alleged that the respondent had refused to comply with a ruling of the Joint Area Cartage Committee, directing that the individual petitioners be reinstated with full seniority and back pay. The Committee's ruling was asserted to have been handed down in accordance with the grievance procedures established in the collective bargaining agreement between the union and the employer. The relief demanded in the complaint included the reinstatement of the individual petitioners, with full back pay and fringe benefits to the time of reinstatement.
Respondent, after filing its answer, moved to dismiss the complaint. The District Court granted the motion on the pleadings as supplemented at pretrial conference by excerpts from the Local Cartage Agreement between the union and the employer. The District Court's ground for dismissing the complaint was want of federal jurisdiction, a result deemed compelled by our decision in Association of Westinghouse Salaried Employees v. Westinghouse Elec. Corp., 348 U.S. 437, 75 S.Ct. 489, 99 L.Ed. 510. The Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit affirmed, 6 Cir., 298 F.2d 341, but added two more grounds in support of the order of dismissal: (1) That the determination of the joint Area Cartage Committee was not an arbitration award and so not enforceable under § 301; (2) That on the merits petitioners were not entitled to the relief ordered by the Joint Area Cartage Committee. We granted certiorari, 371 U.S. 810, 83 S.Ct. 31, 9 L.Ed.2d 53. We reverse and remand to the District Court for trial.
According to the allegations of the complaint, the six individual petitioners were discharged because they chose to respect and did respect a picket line established by another union at a place of business of respondent. Contending that such discharge violated Article IX of the Local Cartage Agreement, which provides in part that 'it shall not be cause for discharge if any employee or employees refuse to go through the picket line of a union * * *,' petitioners invoked the grievance machinery set up by the Agreement, and processed their grievances through the provided channels culminating in the Joint Area Cartage Committee's determination. Article VIII, § 1(e), of the Agreement provides: 'It is agreed that all matters pertaining to the interpretation of any provisions of this contract shall be referred, at the request of any party at any time, for final decision to the Joint Area Cartage Committee * * *.'
If, as petitioners allege, the award of the Joint Area Cartage Committee is under the...
To continue reading
Request your trial
-
Valdiviezo v. Phelps Dodge Hidalgo Smelter, Inc., CIV 96-785 PHX RCB.
...awards are reviewed under the same standards as arbitration awards.13 See, e.g., Gen. Drivers, Warehousemen & Helpers Local Union No. 89 v. Riss & Co., 372 U.S. 517, 83 S.Ct. 789, 9 L.Ed.2d 918 (1963); Teamsters Local Union No. 30 v. Helms Exp., Inc., 591 F.2d 211 (3rd Cir.), cert. denied, ......
-
Donnelly v. United Fruit Co.
...extent consistent with the contract and accomplishment of justice to the disputants. See General Drivers, etc., Union No. 89 v. Riss & Co., Inc., 372 U.S. 517, 83 S.Ct. 789, 9 L.Ed.2d 918, 920 (1963); Blumrosen, 'Legal Protection for Critical Job Interests,' 13 Rutgers L.Rev. 631 As has bee......
-
Union Switch & Signal Div. American Standard Inc. v. United Elec., Radio and Mach. Workers of America, Local 610
...Sec. 185. If it was not, the district court lacked subject matter jurisdiction to vacate it. Truck Drivers Union v. Riss & Co., 372 U.S. 517, 520, 83 S.Ct. 789, 791, 9 L.Ed.2d 918 (1963). System Council U-2 was a direct appeal, however, and its characterization of the issue as jurisdictiona......
-
California Trucking Ass'n v. Brotherhood of Teamsters & Auto Truck Drivers, Local 70
...appellation is irrelevant when the parties' intent indicates a desire fully to arbitrate. General Drivers, W&H v. Riss and Co., 372 U.S. 517, 518-520, 83 S.Ct. 789, 790-791, 9 L.Ed.2d 918 (1963); Santos v. District Council of New York City & Vicinity of United Brotherhood of Carpenters & Jo......