American Federation of Labor v. National Labor Relations Board

Two unions made up of longshore workers on the Pacific Coast were affiliated with the American Federation of Labor (AFL) (plaintiff). In January 1938, a different union of longshore workers on the Pacific Coast affiliated with the Congress of Industrial Organization (the CIO union) petitioned the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) (defendant) to certify the appropriate collective-bargaining representative for Pacific Coast longshoremen, as the NLRB was authorized to do under § 9(c) of the Wagner Act. After an investigation, the NLRB certified the CIO union as the collective-bargaining representative for Pacific Coast longshore workers employed by certain companies. The AFL, seeking to set aside the NLRB’s certification, brought a petition in the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. The AFL argued that in designating one exclusive bargaining representative for the longshore workers of most employers on the Pacific Coast, the certification denied longshore workers who did not want to be represented by the CIO union the opportunity to be represented by the AFL-affiliated unions. The District of Columbia Court of Appeals held that the Wagner Act did not authorize the court to review the NLRB’s certification of a bargaining representative. Therefore, the court dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction. The AFL appealed.