Byron White

“ Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers, supra, the Court today permits the Board to short-circuit that process by securing a federal injunction, solely upon allegations that the conduct of the union was arguably protected under federal law and was within the exclusive jurisdiction of the NLRB. The Board does not, however, intimate what provisions of the LMRA the union was violating in picketing this employer. It does not assert the existence or imminence of an unfair labor practice by either side in connection with the picketing. ”

“ Section 8 of the National Labor Relations Act, as amended by the Labor Management Relations Act, 1947, specifies unfair labor practices by employers and unions. Section 9 provides for Board determination of bargaining units and employee representatives. Section 10 specifies the procedures to be employed in preventing unfair labor practices prohibited by § 8. Two aspects of § 10 are critical here. First, the Board is not granted unqualified powers to enforce the Act. The statute conditions Board action against unfair labor practices upon the filing of a charge; it may not act on its own motion. ”

“ The Court emphasized that because the doctrine of sovereign immunity gives the Government a privileged position, it has been 'appropriately confined,' 312 U.S., at 84, 61 S.Ct., at 486, and noted that 'the government does not become the conduit of its immunity in suits against its agents or instrumentalities merely because they do its work.' Ibid., quoting Keifer & Keifer v. ”