Western Powder Mfg. Co. v. Interstate Coal Co.

• Decision Date: 08 January 1934
• Docket Number: No. 204-D.,204-D.
• Citation: 5 F. Supp. 619
• Parties: WESTERN POWDER MFG. CO. v. INTERSTATE COAL CO.
• Court: U.S. District Court — Eastern District of Illinois

5 F. Supp. 619

WESTERN POWDER MFG. CO. v. INTERSTATE COAL CO.

No. 204-D.

District Court, E. D. Illinois.

January 8, 1934.

Geo. W. Dowell, of Du Quoin, Ill., Leal W. Reese, of Taylorville, Ill., Oral P. Tuttle, of Harrisburg, Ill., Nobel Y. Dowell, of East Peoria, Ill., and C. C. Dreman, of Belleville, Ill., for petitioners.

Thurlow G. Lewis, of Benton, Ill., for defendant Rea.

Gillespie, Burke & Gillespie, of Springfield, Ill., for interveners.

West & Eckhart, of Chicago, Ill., for receivers.

LINDLEY, District Judge.

The original bill herein, filed some years ago, resulted in the appointment of receivers for the Interstate Coal Company. The court's administration of the property has ensued. Among the assets is a shaft coal mine at West Frankfort known as "Mine No. 21." Prior to the filing of the petition herein, the receivers of the coal company had by written instrument, duly authorized by the court, leased the mine and all its equipment to one Herman Rea upon a royalty basis. Rea was, at the time of the filing of petition in possession of the property, employing a number of men who were engaged in cleaning up the mine and getting it ready for operation, and since the filing of the petition he has begun to operate it by producing coal. Over the mine the court has no jurisdiction except such as is necessary to protect the collection of rentals from the lessee. The receivers have no part in the operation or management of the property.

The petitioners intervening in the original suit, filed on or about December 1, 1933, their petition, which was later amended, reciting that they are employees at the mine; that the same had been closed since March 28, 1933, when an operating receiver appointed by the court ceased operation; that directly prior to the closing, the employees, including petitioners, had mined coal, some of it loaded in cars and some lying in the rooms, ready to be hoisted to the top; that the pay roll for producing same has not been paid; and that they are entitled to have said mined coal applied upon such pay roll.

Petitioners further allege that they are members of the Progressive Miners of America and have elected officers whom they have chosen to represent them in collective bargaining; that Rea, the lessee, and others, attempting to operate the mine, are violating the Code of Fair Competition for the bituminous coal industry adopted pursuant to the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act (48 Stat. 195), in that Rea has made a contract with the United Mine Workers of America to employ the members thereof in the mine and refuses to employ petitioners who are members of an opposing union, namely, Progressive Miners of America; that petitioners have a right to organize and bargain collectively and cannot be required, as a condition of employment, to join any company union or to refrain from joining, organizing, or assisting a labor organization of their own choosing; and that defendants have refused to permit the petitioners to work unless they would renounce their membership in the Progressive organization.

The petition seeks to restrain the receivers from disposing of the coal mined by petitioners without applying the same upon indebtedness due them; to restrain all defendants from violating the Code of Fair Competition, and especially from employing persons to take the places formerly held by petitioners; and to restrain Rea from operating until they shall have been paid what was owing them from the operating receiver under the former operation.

Thus it appears that the petition is twofold: First, the petitioners seek a decree of this court which will direct the receivers to apply the proceeds of the coal mined to the application of the employees' debts; second, they seek to restrain the person operating the mine, namely, the lessee Rea from employing only United Mine Workers.

The United Mine Workers were allowed to intervene and become parties defendant, so that the present defendants are the receivers, the lessee Rea, and the United Mine Workers of America.

The defendants assert that two or more causes of action are joined over which the court has no jurisdiction which may be invoked in a proceeding dependent upon another equity cause; that the controversy between the petitioners and Rea as lessee is not properly the subject of a dependent or ancillary proceeding in the original cause and pertains in no way to the administration of the estate, but is a controversy wholly between persons not parties to the original suit; that the court now has no jurisdiction over the operation of the property; that the relief sought against Rea and the United Mine Workers may not be granted except upon application of the United States attorney; that the controversy involves a labor dispute between employees and employer as defined by the Norris-La Guardia Act, the conditions precedent to a court action under which have not been complied with.

The court heard evidence submitted by the parties and reserved action upon motions to dismiss until disposal of the case upon its merits.

As to the controversy between petitioners on the one hand, and the lessee Rea and the United Workers on the other, it is apparent at the threshold that there is a very serious question as to the right of petitioners to invoke the jurisdiction of the court under the provisions of the National Industrial Recovery Act. Section 3, cl. (c), of that act, 15 USCA § 703 (c) is as follows: "The several district courts of the United States are hereby invested with jurisdiction to prevent and restrain violations of any code of fair competition approved under this chapter; and it shall be the duty of the several district attorneys of the United States, in their respective districts,...