National Labor Relations Board v. Jones Laughlin Steel Corporation

• Decision Date: 19 May 1947
• Docket Number: No. 418,418
• Parties: NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD v. JONES & LAUGHLIN STEEL CORPORATION
• Court: U.S. Supreme Court

331 U.S. 416

67 S.Ct. 1274

91 L.Ed. 1575

NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS BOARD

v JONES & LAUGHLIN STEEL CORPORATION.

No. 418.

Argued March 7, 1947.

Decided May 19, 1947.

Rehearing Denied June 16, 1947.

See 331 U.S. 868, 67 S.Ct. 1725.

Ruth Weyand, of Washington, D.C., for petitioner.

Mr. John C. Bane, Jr., of Pittsburgh, Pa., for respondent.

[Argument of Counsel from page 417 intentionally omitted] Mr. Justice MURPHY delivered the opinion of the Court.

Like National Labor Relations Board v. Atkins & Co., 331 U.S. 398, 67 S.Ct. 165, this c ase involves the rights of militarized plant guards under the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C. § 151 et seq., 29 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq. But certain problems are raised here which are not present in the Atkins case.

Respondent owns and operates several large steel manufacturing works and was engaged in the production of war materials during the recent war. At respondent's Otis works at Cleveland, Ohio, about 4,700 individuals are employed. Production and maintenance employees constitute the great bulk of these workers. But there is also included in the total a group of guards and watchmen, numbering about sixty men normally.

A union affiliated with the United Steelworkers of America, C.I.O., has been the exclusive bargaining agent for the production and maintenance employees. Under a contract made with respondent late in 1942, this union disclaimed any representation of 'Foremen or Assistant Foremen in charge of any classes of labor, watchmen, salaried employees and nurses.' On March 15, 1943, this union filed a petition for investigation and certification of representatives pursuant to § 9(c) of the Act, in which it sought to be certified as the collective bargaining representative of the guard force. A hearing was then held. Respondent claimed that a unit composed of these guards was inappropriate because they 'perform certain assigned work that is strictly representative of management.' Respondent also claimed that any allegation by the union that a unit including watchmen is appropriate was 'a direct contravention' of the 1942 contract. And it was further alleged that any unionization of watchmen or guards was particularly inappropriate during a time of war, that their duties 'do not differ greatly from the duties performed by members of a city, county or state police force' and that these guards had been sworn in as auxiliary military police of the United States Army.

The testimony at the hearing showed that there were currently 72 plant protection employees. Of these, 58 were patrolmen whose sole duty was to protect and guard the Otis Works; there were 2 firemen to maintain the fire equipment; 2 dump laborers were assigned to work at a refuse dump while watching that section of the plant; and there were 8 lieutenants and 2 fire captains supervising the others. All of them were carried on respondent's payroll and were under respondent's control as to pay, benefits and conditions of employment. And, as respondent had alleged, they had been sworn in as civilian auxiliaries to the military police of the United States Army, in the same manner and under the same conditions as detailed in the Takins case.

On May 3, 1943, the Board issued its decision and direction of election. 49 N.L.R.B. 390. It found that 'all patrolmen, watchmen, and firemen, including dump laborers, employed by the Company at its Otis Works, but excluding lieutenants, captains and supervisors' constituted an appropriate unit and that an election should be held by the employees in this unit to determine if they desired to be represented by the Steelworkers union. It rejected all of respondent's contentions, pointing out among other things that the union, while representing production and maintenance employees, intended to bargain for the plant guards and watchmen as a separate unit.

The election resulted in the selection of the Steelworkers union as the bargaining representative of the unit in question. The union was certified as the exclusive representative of the unit, respondent refused to bargain with the union and the Board issued its complaint based upon that refusal. On December 2, 1943, the Board reaffirmed the appropriateness of the unit and found that respondent had committed unfair labor practices in refusing to bargain. The usual order was entered. 53 N.L.R.B. 1046.

The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals denied the Board's petition for a decree enforcing its order. 146 F.2d 718. While upholding the Board's determination that the militarizedguard forc es were employees within the meaning of the National Labor Relations Act, the court felt that the unit selected for bargaining purposes was inappropriate and reflected a disregard by the Board of the national welfare. In the eyes of that court, the Board's fatal error was its authorizing the militarized guards to join the same union which represented the production and maintenance employees because 'when they were inducted into the Unions and became subject to their orders, rules and decisions, the plant protection employees assumed obligations to the Unions and their fellow workers, which might well in given circumstances bring them in conflict with their obligation to their employers, and with their paramount duty as militarized police of the United States Government.' 146 F.2d at page 722.

The Board filed a petition in this Court for a writ of certiorari. As in the Atkins case, the Board pointed out that the plant protection employees had been demilitarized at a date (May 29, 1944) subsequent to the refusals to bargain, but urged that this fact did not make the case moot. We granted the writ of certiorari at the same time as we granted the writ in the Atkins case, vacated the judgment below and remanded the cause to the Circuit Court of Appeals 'for further consideration of the alleged changed circumstances with respect to the demilitarization of the employees involved, and the effect thereof on the Board's orders.' 325 U.S. 838, 65 S.Ct. 1413, 89 L.Ed. 1965.

The Board and the respondent then entered into a stipulation relative to the dates and circumstances of the demilitarization of the guards. From this stipulation it appeared that the qualifications, strength, functions and duties of the guards continued to be the same after demilitarization as before. Also included in the stipulation were facts showing that both before and after the period of militarization, August 5, 1942, to May 29, 1944, the guards were commissioned, sworn and bonded as private policemen of the City of Cleveland and exercised 'the legal powers of peace officers in their work as plant guards.' It was further stipulated that because of 'the magnitude and other characteristics of the Otis Works, its police protection by the ordinary police of the City of Cleveland is not practical or feasible; and, as a result, for a great many years, the police protection of the Works and the enforcement of law, peace and good order therein has been delegated wholly to the plant guard force. For similar reasons, the work of preventing and extinguishing fires has been in large part the responsibility of the guard force, rather than that of the municipal fire department.'

The Board filed a motion in the Circuit Court of Appeals for a decree enforcing its order. That court denied the motion and held that the facts concerning both the demilitarization and deputization were to be considered as though they had been presented at the hearing before the Board; on that basis, the court reaffirmed its belief that the guards were employees within the meaning of the Act, but concluded that in view of the 'drastic police powers' exercised by the guards, it was 'improper for the Board to permit their organization by the same union which represents the production employees.' 6 Cir., 154 F.2d 932, 934.

Our decision in the Atkins case makes clear that the demilitarization of the guards did not render this case moot. The order was a continuing command which may be effectuated in the future. But unless the order was valid when it was issued, there is no basis whatever for it and no court can decree its enforcement in the future. Hence its validity must be judged as of the time when it was issued, a time when the guards were still militarized. This is not to say, however, that events subsequent to demilitarization are irrelevant in deciding whether the order should be enforced. All that we hold is that demilitarization in and of itself is not enough to render the order or the case moot.

The Atk ins decision likewise disposes of any issues relating to the effect of militarization upon the status of the guards as employees within the meaning of § 2(3) of the National Labor Relations Act. To that extent, the Board's order here was plainly valid. Unanswered by the Atkins decision, however, is the question whether the militarization of the plant guards precluded the Board from grouping the guards in a separate unit and permitting them to choose as their bargaining representative a union which also represented production and maintenance employees. To that issue, which is the primary one raised by this case, we now turn.

The Board, of course, has wide discretion in performing its statutory function under § 9(b) of deciding 'the unit appropriate for the purposes of collective bargaining.' Pittsburgh Plate Glass Co. v. National Labor Relations Board, 313 U.S. 146, 61 S.Ct. 908, 85 L.Ed. 1251. It likewise has discretion to place appropriate limitations on the choice of bargaining representatives should it find that public or statutory policies so dictate. Its determinations in these respects are binding upon reviewing courts if grounded in reasonableness. May Dept. Stores Co. v. National Labor Relations Board, 326 U.S. 376, 380, 66 S.Ct. 203, 206, 90 L.Ed. 145. A proper determination as to any of these matters, of course, necessarily implies that the Board has given due consider- ation to all the...