There are two primary questions which are raised by this motion; first, whether the Court has jurisdiction over the subject matter of this action and’ the persons of the defendants, and second, whether the activities of the strikers complained of in the bill, and which are sought to be restrained, grow out of a labor dispute.
• Briefly, the factual situation appears to be the following: The plaintiffs are engaged in the production and distribution of beer and malt products in interstate commerce. The defendants are the national and certain local unions of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America, all of which unions are affiliated with the American Federation of Labor, and certain officers and agents of said unions. For many years, the International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal and Soft Drink Workers of America was affiliated with the American Federation of Labor and claimed jurisdiction over all persons employed in and by the breweries of America. This union has insisted on the industrial or vertical type of union in breweries, and disputes have arisen between it and the American Federation of Labor because of its refusal to release jurisdiction over the drivers and helpers in the brewery industry. On account of such refusal, the International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal and Soft Drink Workers of America was expelled from the American Federation of Labor in 1941.
The three plaintiff breweries are all located in St. Paul, Minnesota, and have for a number of years jointly negotiated and bargained with various labor unions con *627 cerning the employees of each in their respective establishments. In March, 1942, they entered into a contract with local unions Nos. 97, 204, and 314 of the International Union of United Brewery, Flour, Cereal and Soft Drink Workers of America (hereinafter referred to as Brewery Workers’ Union) concerning, among other things, hours of work, amount of pay, and conditions of employment, and such contracts specifically included and covered the drivers and helpers of each of the aforementioned breweries. On the 21st day of February, 1944, the defendant Brewery and Beverage Drivers and Helpers’ Union Local No. 993, charted by the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen and Helpers of America (hereinafter referred to as Teamsters’ Union), claiming to represent a majority of the drivers and helpers employed by the three breweries, requested recognition as the exclusive bargaining agent of such employees. Such recognition was refused on the grounds that there was an existing contract between the companies and the Brewery Workers’ Union. A petition was subsequently filed with the National Labor Relations Board by the Brewery Workers’ Union for an election to determine the proper bargaining agent and representative of the plaintiff companies. After a hearing on March 24, 1944, and on July 21, 1944, the National Labor Relations Board made its decision and direction of election in a proceeding entitled “United States of America before the National Labor Relations Board, Case No. 18-R-955.” Thereafter, the Teamsters’ Union filed its ten-day strike notice in pursuance of the Labor Relations Act of the State of Minnesota. Subsequent thereto, the strike was delayed for thirty days under the state statute by order of the Governor of Minnesota. A motion for reconsideration was filed with the National Labor Relations Board by the Teamsters’ Union, but on December 19, 1944, the Board reaffirmed its decision and direction of election. It was on December 13, 1944, that the Teamsters’ Union called a strike, and the bill alleges that the strike was called “for the purpose of coercing and compelling plaintiffs to disregard the decision and direction of election of the National Labor Relations Board and for the purpose of coercing and compelling plaintiffs to recognize the Teamsters’ Union as the sole bargaining agent and representative of the drivers and helpers employed by plaintiffs.” After the strike was called as aforestated, the National Labor Relations Board held its election on January 2, 1945, and on January 10, 1945, issued a certificate of representation to the Brewery Workers’ Union as the sole collective bargaining agent and representative of certain employees at the three breweries, including the drivers and helpers. The Teamsters’ Union declined to participate in the election when it learned that the Board refused to hold the election on a craft basis.
It appears that the breweries have been closed down 'since December 13, 1944. This has been occasioned primarily on account of the refusal of other American Federation of Labor workers employed by the breweries to go through picket lines which the Teamsters’ Union has placed in front of the plants, office facilities and businesses of the plaintiffs. No violence has occurred, though plaintiffs claim that threats of violence have been made and that violence will result if any attempt is made to carry on the delivery of beer, either by trucks or railroad cars. The bill sets forth very substantial and irreparable loss which will result to the three breweries if the enforced close-down continues. It is pointed out that finished beer is deteriorating and beer in the process of manufacture is approaching spoilage and will be valueless in a matter of a few days. It is plaintiffs’ position that there is no labor dispute pending at the three breweries; that the action of the National Labor Relations Board has finally settled any dispute which may have existed between these two unions; and that plaintiffs are neutral in the dispute but have no alternative but to obey the mandate of the National labor Relations Board. It is contended, therefore, that the Norris-LaGuardia Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 101 et seq., does not apply and that this Court, sitting in equity, should restrain all of the activities of the strikers in the furtherance of their alleged illegal strike. It is asserted that all of the activities in connection with the strike are solely directed to an unlawful end, in that they are carried on for the purpose of compelling and coercing the plaintiffs to ignore the mandate of the National Labor Relations Board with reference to the Brewery Workers’ Union’s being certified as the sole bargaining agent of the employees in *628 question. No attempt has been made by-plaintiffs to comply with the conditions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act. A restraining order was issued out of this Court on February 12, 1945. Obviously, if the NorrisLaGuardia Act applies, the restraining order was improvidently granted.
Diversity of citizenship between the parties does not exist. The jurisdiction of this Court is sought to be invoked under 28 U.S.C.A. § 41, which provides in part: “The district courts shall have original jurisdiction as follows: * * * Eighth. Of all suits and proceedings arising under any law regulating commerce.”
Plaintiffs point out that the obligation resting upon them to comply with the order of the National Labor Relations Board is an affirmative one, and that it exacts “the negative duty to treat with no other.” National Labor Relations Board v. Jones 6 Laughlin Steel Corporation,
And as stated in Burlington Mills Corporation v. Textile Workers Union, D. C.,
It seems evident from the bill that a labor dispute did have its inception on February 21, 1944, when the Teamsters’ Union claimed to represent the majority of the drivers and helpers employed at the three breweries and requested the recognition of said union as the exclusive bargaining agent to represent the drivers and helpers employed by said companies. The three breweries refused recognition on the ground that they were covered and bound by an existing contract between said companies and the Brewery Workers’ Union. After the National Labor Relations Board intervened in the dispute and made its decision and direction of election, the Teamsters’ Union, in a protest against the decision and direction of election, filed its notice of strike. The Teamsters’ Union did call the strike, and it has remained out on strike since December 13, 1944.
We commence, therefore, with the premise or proposition that a labor dispute had its inception in February, 1944, and that, growing out of such dispute, a strike of the Teamsters’ Union was called apparently a month before the certificate of representation was issued by the National Labor Relations Board. It fairly appears that the activities of the Teamsters’ Union in connection with its strike are substantially the same at the present time as existed prior to the issuance of the certificate by the Board. The. query then arises : Did the labor dispute end with the Board’s certificate of representation which it issued on January 10, 1945?
*629
At the outset, it should be noted that there is an utter absence of any provisions in the National Labor Relations Act, 29 U.S.C.A. § 151 et seq., which require a union to cease a labor dispute because of the certificate of the Board designating another union as the sole bargaining agent and representative of the employees. True, the minority union has no standing as the collective bargaining agent of the employees covered by the election, but the Board’s mandate does not prevent the minority union from striking or otherwise seeking to manifest its dissatisfaction or opposition to the results. Its right to strike is preserved by Section 163, Title 29, U.S. ■C.A., which provides: “Nothing in sections 151-166 of this title shall be construed so as to interfere with or impede or diminish in any way the right to strike.” Certainly, it is clear that no court has authority to order the striking teamsters back to work. In absence of some prohibition in the National Labor Relations Act, it seems logically to follow that this strike may continue in so far as it may pursue lawful means to publicize its grievances. That there are legitimate channels in which the striking union may direct its activities seems quite apparent. It must be remembered that this jurisdictional dispute is not a local affair. It has existed in the brewery industry throughout the Nation for some fifty years. See Green v. Obergfell,
But plaintiffs contend that the strike has for its primary purpose the coercing and compelling of the breweries to disobey the National Labor Relations Board certification and thus become guilty of an unfair labor practice, and that, while the union’s right to strike is inviolate, the strike cannot be carried on for an unlawful purpose. It may well be that any activities of the strikers which have for their objective such unlawful purposes are amenable to the jurisdiction of an equity court. The difficulty, however, in granting relief on the present bill of complaint is to be found in the limitations which are saddled on the equity jurisdiction of Federal courts by the 'NorrisLaGuardia Act; that is, we cannot divorce from the strike which is now in existence the objections which the members of the Teamsters’ Union continue to make to the representation of their craft by the. Brewery Workers’ Union. Certainly, there continues to be some kind of a dispute between these two unions. The members of the Teamsters’ Union have deserted the breweries and refuse to work. One cannot close his eyes to that fact. The dispute had its genesis in the objection that the Teamsters’ Union had to any representation by the Brewery Workers’ Union. Such dispute continues. It follows that the present dispute must be characterized as a labor dispute if one will realistically consider the entire picture. If the action of the National Labor Relations Board were fortified by appropriate legislation so that its ruling became a decision which forbade the defeated union to protest against it by way of strike, it may well be that, under such circumstances, one could say that the labor dispute had ended and the mere fact that a strike had been called violated the mandatory legislation which applied. However, as hereinbefore observed, there are no provisions in the National Labor Relations Act which impose any duty upon the defeated union except that, if its members remain at work, they must recognize the certified union as the proper bargaining agent of all the employees.
If it should be claimed that all of the activities of the strikers are directed to an unlawful end, that is, the coercion of the breweries into the performance of an *630 unfair labor act, and that therefore a restraining order might issue because any strike which has for its purpose an unlawful end may be properly enjoined, we are nevertheless confronted with the fact that even such illegal activities cannot be enjoined unless and until the plaintiffs comply with the conditions precedent of the Norris-LaGuardia Act. In other words, once it is made to appear that a labor dispute exists, whether the activities of the strikers are justified or not, and whatever their motives may be, this Court is helpless to grant any injunctive relief without a strict compliance with the Norris-LaGuardia Act.
Reliance is placed on Oberman & Co. v. United Garment Workers, D.C.Mo.,
And on page 26 of the decision in 21 F.Supp., the court states with reference to the section above quoted: “It will be observed from this that the Congress made the Norris-LaGuardia Act inapplicable to situations such as are here presented. * * * The District Court, therefore, was regarded as having jurisdiction in controversies like the one here presented.”
Apparently, it was the court’s view that, when the National Labor Relations Board had determined the union which should represent the employees for bargaining purposes, and in view of the fact that the statute did not clothe the Board with power to enforce such order as against the employees, the courts, therefore, must necessarily be clothed with such power. But we doubt the soundness of these deductions. The quoted language from Section 160(h), 29 U.S.C.A., has reference only to the equity jurisdiction which is vested in the Circuit Courts of Appeals in enforcing the Board’s orders, and where it becomes necessary for the Circuit Courts of Appeals to enforce such orders by injunction or otherwise, the provisions of the Norris-LaGuardia Act do not apply. And there is no basis for the assumption that Congress intended to abrogate the Norris-LaGuardia Act when and if the District Court under the circumstances herein should assume to exercise its equity jurisdiction. This is made plain by the language of Judge Sanborn in Donnelly Garment Co. v. International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, 8 Cir.,
The court then makes reference to the portion of Section 160(h), 29 U.S.C.A., which was referred to in the Oberman case, and anent this section Judge Sanborn said,
It is significant that Judge Sanborn then referred, among other cases, to the dissenting opinion of Judge Otis in Donnelly Garment Co. v. International Ladies’ Garment Workers’ Union, D.C.,
Moreover, the Oberman case was decided before Lauf v. E. G. Shinner & Co.,
Plaintiffs also rely on Union Premier Food Stores v. Retail Food C. & M. Union, 3 Cir.,
We are also referred to certain state cases from which plaintiffs seem to find support for their position herein. R. H. White Co. v. Murphy, 1942,
Reference may be made to the case of Wilson Employees’ Representation Plan v. Wilson & Co., D.C.,
In Houston & North Texas Motor Freight Lines v. Local Union No. 886, etc., D.C.Okl.,
In International Brotherhood, etc., v. International Union, etc., 9 Cir.,
The court further stated,
The following Federal cases are helpful: Blankenship v. Kurfman, 7 Cir.,
We cannot emphasize too strongly the very evident intention of Congress when it provided in the National Labor Relations Act that nothing contained therein should impede or diminish labor’s right to strike. This, coupled with the failure of Congress to provide any legislation whereby orders of the National Labor Relations Board become binding upon the employees, impels us to the conclusion that a labor dispute exists herein notwithstanding that the representative of the employees for collective bargaining purposes has been determined by the Board. As stated in Lund v. Woodenware Workers Union, D.C.,
The right of labor to publicize its grievances if it does so in a peaceful manner, regardless of the apparent injustice to third parties, has been upheld by the Supreme Court in such sweeping language that no doubt can now exist as to this right. Carlson v. People of State of California,
Summarizing our views, therefore, we are constrained to hold that the only jurisdiction conferred by the National Labor Relations Act upon the Federal courts is that which is conferred upon the Circuit Courts of Appeals; that the applicability of the Norris-LaGuardia Act to a labor dispute is unimpaired by the National Labor Relations Act in so far as the jurisdiction of the District Courts is concerned; that the action of the National Labor Relations Board in endeavoring to settle a dispute as to the bargaining representatives and agents of the employees by its certification after election does not prevent an aggrieved union from striking and using all peaceful methods in proclaiming its dissatisfaction and in endeavoring to enlist public opinion in support of its cause; and that a strike under such circumstances by the aggrieved union must be characterized as one which stems out of a labor dispute and therefore any activities growing oiit of such strike cannot be restrained by this Court without a strict compliance with the Norris-LaGuardia Act.
It may be urged that the situation presented strongly emphasizes the extreme one-sidedness of the National Labor Relations Act legislation; that is, the employer is bound to comply with the orders of the Board, but the employees ar.e free to flout the Board’s decision and create the anomalous and often calamitous situation of an employer’s being caught, without fault on his part, between the upper and nether millstones. We are not unmindful of the apparent harsh consequences of our ruling, but such a result must not be permitted to affect our judgment in applying the law in the field of interpretation. We do not have the power to legislate. In labor disputes, we have only such equity jurisdiction as Congress has seen fit to grant.
It follows, therefore, that the motion to vacate the restraining order and to dismiss the bill of complaint should be granted. It is so ordered. An exception is allowed to the plaintiffs.