John Paul Stevens

“ There is no disagreement that labor protective provisions related to the effects of an abandonment or sale may be the subject of collective bargaining. It follows, I believe, that when railway labor unions request the inclusion of such provisions in their collective-bargaining agreements by proper statutory notice, see ante, at 496-497, and n. 5, the employer must maintain the status quo during the statutorily mandated negotiating process or risk a strike as a consequence of its breach of that duty. ”

“ This Court held that because the RLA "command [s] that employees as well as railroads exert every reasonable effort to settle all disputes 'concerning rates of pay, rules, and working conditions,' " the union had a right to strike to prevent the railroad from implementing the partial abandonment without bargaining over effects. ”

“ It is like the suitor who, when seeking the hand of a young lady, was told by her to 'go to father.' But, as the parody goes, 'She knew that he knew that her father was dead; she knew that he knew what a life he had led ”

“ The Court adm ts the force of this proposition and acknowledges that an employer has some duty to bargain when a sale is announced. Ante, at 504, 512. Nevertheless, it indicates that this particular dispute did not obligate the railroad to preserve the status quo, for the Court would prohibit any bargaining that "in effect challenged the decision to sell," and would allow negotiations to cease as soon as the sale is closed. ”