ORDER OF RAILWAY CONDUCTORS OF AMERICA
v.
SOUTHERN RAILWAY CO.
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State courts lack the power to interpret collective bargaining agreements and adjudicate disputes between railroads and unions concerning pay for services.
A railroad sought a declaratory judgment in state court interpreting a collective-bargaining agreement regarding conductor pay. The union had already …
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Mr. Justice Black delivered the opinion of the Court.
This case raises the same statutory question as Slocum v. Delaware, L. & W.
R. Co., ante, p. 239, The petitioner, Order of Railway Conductors, is the only accredited bargaining representative of conductors employed by the respondent Southern Railway. A dispute arose between certain conductors and the railroad concerning the railroad’s obligation under the collective-bargaining agreement to give conductors extra pay for certain services. The claims of the conductors were referred to the union, which sought by negotiation to persuade the railroad to pay. The railroad refused, and thereafter prayed a South Carolina state court for a declaratory judgment interpreting the agreement as not requiring the claimed payments.
The trial court first refused to exercise jurisdiction. Citing Order of Conductors v. Pitney, 326 U. S. 561, it held that state courts, like federal courts, should leave settlement of such disputes to the National Railroad Adjustment Board. The State Supreme Court reversed, holding that the state court did have power to interpret the bargaining agreement and adjudicate the dispute. 210 S. C. 121, 41 S. E. 2d 774. After a lengthy trial the lower court held that the collective agreement did not require the compensation sought by the conductors and entered the declaratory judgment requested. The Supreme Court affirmed. 215 S. C. 280, 54 S. E. 2d 816.
For reasons set out in the Slocum case, ante, p. 239, we hold that the South Carolina state court was without power to interpret the terms of this agreement and adjudicate the dispute. We discuss this case separately because it sharply points up the conflicts that could arise from state court intervention in railroad-union disputes. After the railroad had sued in the state court, the union filed a petition for hearing and award before the Adjustment Board. The state court nevertheless proceeded to adjudicate the dispute. Sustaining the state court’s action would invite races of diligence whenever a carrier or union preferred one forum to the other. And if a carrier or a union could choose a court instead of the Board, the other party would be deprived of the privilege conferred by § 3 First (i) of the Railway Labor Act, 48 Stat. 1191, 45 U.
S. C. § 153 First (i), which provides that after negotiations have failed “either party” may refer the dispute to the appropriate division of the Adjustment Board.
The judgment of the South Carolina Supreme Court is reversed, and the cause is remanded for proceedings not inconsistent with this opinion.
It is so ordered.
Mr. Justice Reed is of the view that the decision below should be affirmed for the reasons set out in his dissent in Slocum v. Delaware, L. & W. R. Co., ante, p. 245.
Mr. Justice Douglas took no part in the consideration or decision of this case.
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Cited By (28 total)
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Transportation-Communication Emps. Union v. Union Pac. R.R. Co., 385 U.S. 157 (U.S. 1966)…at 243-244. (Emphasis supplied.) We adhere to our holdings in Pitney and Slocum that the Adjustment Board does have exclusive jurisdiction to hear and determine disputes like this. See also Order of Railway Conductors of America v. Southern R. Co., 339 U. S. 255. Petitioner argues that we are barred from this holding by Whitehouse v. Illinois Cent. R. Co., 349 U. S. 366, decided after Pitney and Slocum. There is some language in Whitehouse which, given one interpretation, might justify an inference agains…
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Bhd. of Locomotive Eng'rs v. Louisville & Nashville R.R. Co., 373 U.S. 33 (U.S. 1963)…r without the consent of the other, has been firmly established. Trainmen v. Chicago R. & I. R. Co., 353 U. S., at 34. And the-other party may not defeat this right by resorting to some other forum. Thus, in Order of Conductors v. Southern R. Co., 339 U. S. 255, the Court held that a state'court could not take jurisdiction over an employer’s declaratory judgment action concerning an employee grievance subject to § 3 First, because, “if a carrier or a union could choose a court instead of the Board, the oth…
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Pa. R.R. Co. v. Day, 360 U.S. 548 (U.S. 1959)…iction over disputes between unions and carriers based on the provisions of a collective bargaining agreement. Slocum v. Delaware, L. & W. R. Co., 339 U. S. 239. On the same day, we also decided Order of [*551] Railway Conductors v. Southern R. Co., 339 U. S. 255, holding that the principles of Slocum were fully applicable to a claim by a group of conductors that they were entitled to extra compensation for certain “side trips” under the terms of their agreement with the carrier. That case, like the case now…
Previewing 3 of 28 citing cases — full citator treatment, depth of discussion, and citing context are member features.
Join FLexlaw to unlock all legal intelligenceAuthorities Cited
- Order of Ry. Conductors of Am. v. Pitney, 326 U.S. 561 (U.S. 1946)