Citation(s) 323 US 192 (1944) | Location Alabama, United States | |
Court Supreme Court of the United States | ||
Steele v Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co 323 US 192 (1944) is a US labor law case, concerning the right to equal treatment in labor unions for everyone to gt labor rights.
Contents
Facts
Steele was an employee in Alabama of the Louisville & Nashville Railroad Co, and a member of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen and Enginemen, a majority white union. The union, without notifying any of the black employees, including Steele, gave the employer a notice that it wished to amend the collective agreement to exclude black staff members, that only white firemen only should be promoted and assigned to permanent jobs. The eventual agreement was no more than 50% of firemen staff should be black. Mr Steele, who had worked in a desirable ‘passenger pool’ job, lost his position and was forced to shift to a worse job. He petitioned for breach of statutory duty, for the union not representing black employees, simply because of their race. Supreme Court of Alabama held there was no violation, because the Act did not require expressly any regard for the specific interests of minorities.
Judgment
The Supreme Court held that under the Railway Labor Act, as an exclusive bargaining representative a union was obliged to represent all employees without discrimination, in the same way the Constitution requires equal protection by the legislature of every citizen. There is a duty to represent minorities, by considering their requests and views, and give notice of and opportunity for hearing about its actions.
Stone CJ gave the court’s judgment.