Harlan F. Stone

“ The effect of the Board's order, as we construe it, is to preclude the petitioner from taking any benefit of the contracts which were procured through violation of the Act and which are themselves continuing means of violating it, and from carrying out any of the contract provisions, the effect of which would be to infringe the rights guaranteed by the National Labor Relations Act. It does not foreclose the employees from taking any action to secure an adjudication upon the contracts, nor prejudge their rights in the event of such adjudication. ”

“ It likewise forestalls collective bargaining with respect to discharged employees, first providing that a discharged employee may submit to the employer facts indicating that his discharge was unreasonable and then stipulating that the 'question as to the propriety of an employee's discharge is in no event to be one for arbitration or mediation.' The effect of this clause was to discourage, if not forbid any presentation of the discharged employee's grievances to appellant through a labor organization or his chosen representatives, or in any way except personally. ”

“ In addition the restriction upon the employee's right to ask a signed agreement extending only to agreements with 'any union' is in plain conflict with the public policy of the Act to encourage the procedure of collective bargaining, see § 1, since it discriminates against labor organizations by forbidding signed contracts with labor unions while it permits them with the individual workers. ”

“ For that reason there is no occasion to consider now how far the contract rights, if any, of the employees may be passed upon by the Board and their exercise restricted by its order in proceedings to which the employees have been made parties. As the Board's power can be effectively exercised only upon petitioner, the employees are entitled to notice and hearing only if the statute requires them to be made parties to the proceeding. ”

“ In a proceeding so narrowly restricted to the protection and enforcement of public rights, there is little scope or need for the traditional rules governing the joinder of parties in litigation determining private rights. Ordinarily where the rights involved in litigation arise upon a contract, courts refuse to adjudicate the rights of some of the parties to the contract if the others are not before it. ”

“ Such injury, if any, as the petitioner might have suffered from the Board's order requiring it to recognize and bargain with the Union, is avoided by the direction of the Court of Appeals that this part of the order be conditioned upon a determination by an election that the Union is still the choice of a majority of the employees. ”

“ But different considerations may apply even in private litigation where the rights asserted arise independently of any contract which an adverse party may have made with another, not a party to the suit, even though their assertion may affect the ability of the former to fulfill his contract. ”

“ Since the Court of Appeals has confirmed the findings of the Board, there is no occasion here to review the evidence in detail. Cincinnati, etc., Ry. Co. v. Interstate Commerce Commission, 206 U.S. 142, 154, 27 S.Ct. 648, 653, 51 L.Ed. 995; Illinois Central R.R. Co. v. ”