The justices clarified the boundaries of a doctrine holding that state and local efforts to regulate conduct-including state common-law tort claims-are preempted when that conduct is even arguably protected or prohibited by the National Labor Relations Act.

The Supreme Court reversed a Washington state high court decision finding that federal labor law blocked the claims against the union. The company accused the union of coordinating with truck drivers to time their strike so mixed concrete would harden and go to waste. The ruling stems from concrete supplier Glacier Northwest Inc.’s tort claims against an International Brotherhood of Teamsters affiliate. The justices’ 8-1 decision on Thursday delivers a glancing blow to organized labor by opening the doors to costly lawsuits against striking unions based on the economic consequences of their protests and potentially sparking state legislation to curb strike conduct.īut the opinion turned on the facts of the case and didn’t remake the law on strike protections. Federal labor law doesn’t prevent a ready-mix concrete company from suing a union in state court for alleged intentional destruction of property during a strike, the US Supreme Court ruled.

Are union strike legal