Allen-Bradley Local No. 1111 v. Wisconsin Employment Relations Board

Allen-Bradley Local No. 1111 (the union) (plaintiff) was a labor union made up of employees of Allen-Bradley Co. (the company), a manufacturing company. In 1939, the company canceled its contract with the union. On May 11, 1939, the union called a strike, which lasted for three months. The company continued to operate during the strike, and conflicts arose between the striking employees and those who continued to work. Accusing the union of engaging in unfair labor practices, the company filed a petition against the union with the Wisconsin Employment Relations Board (the state board). The union argued that the state board did not have jurisdiction over the dispute but that the dispute was instead subject only to the provisions of the federal Wagner Act, which regulated interactions between employers and labor unions, and the jurisdiction of the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB). Nevertheless, the state board determined that the union was guilty of unfair labor practices because, among other things, the union’s members and officers had prevented working employees from going to work; obstructed the company’s entrances and exits, as well as public streets around the factory, through mass picketing; and threatened working employees and their property. The state board ordered the union to cease and desist. The state circuit court sustained and enforced the state board’s order. Because the NLRB chose not to exercise jurisdiction over the case, the Wisconsin Supreme Court found that there was no conflict between Wagner Act and the order of the state board, and it affirmed.