Montgomery Ward and Company vs. Northern Pacific Terminal Company of Oregon Records, 1951-1953
Collection Number: 5370
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Cornell University Library
DESCRIPTIVE SUMMARY
Title:
Montgomery Ward and Company vs Northern Pacific Terminal Company of Oregon Records, 1951-1953
Repository:
Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation & Archives
Collection Number:
5370
Abstract:
Brief, reply brief, and opinion argued before the United States District Court, District
of Oregon [Civil Case No. 1686]. This suit was filed by Montgomery Ward to recover
damages from motor carriers. The damages resulted from a strike and a secondary boycott
of Montgomery Ward. The filings by the plaintifs and defendants date from 1951, the
opinion of the presiding judge dates from 1953.
Creator:
Montgomery Ward and Company
Northern Pacific Terminal Company of Oregon (PTRC)
Fee, James Alger, 1888-1959.
Quanitities:
0.33 cubic feet
Language:
Collection material in English
On December 7, 1940, the clerks and warehousemen at Montgomery Ward's Portland plant
went on strike over the terms of settlement in a labor dispute. When the negotiations
over the terms of settlement broke down on December 20, the Teamsters Union, representing
the warehousemen, called for a general boycott of the goods being shipped to and from
the plant.
A contract clause in the Agreement between the Teamsters and the Carriers servicing
Montgomery Ward stated that the Union was not in favor of sympathetic strikes and
further provided that the Union would not interfere with interstate commerce or in
the intrastate commerce moving over the lines of the operator. Despite the language
in this provision, there were innumerable instances of direct coercion of employers
and employees to restrict handling of Ward's merchandise. After a brief period of
struggle with the boycott, the carriers abandoned all attempts to service Montgomery
Ward.
In addition to the general boycott, a secondary boycott was developed against the
company which exhibited equal strength. Major oil companies refused to sell or deliver
fuel oil to the plant, longshoremen refused to handle Ward's merchandise, the Post
Office refused to handle any more goods than had been customary before the strike,
and railroads did not switch cars onto Ward's sidings.
Only after hearings before the Interstate Commerce Commission did the carriers resume
service. Soon afterward, Ward's entered suit against the carriers involved in the
strike and boycott in the District Court for recovery of damages that resulted.
Since the case was not ruled on until 1953, the decision was more concerned with
carrier liability than with the actual award of damages. The judge, the Honorable
James Alger Fee, ruled on the basis of common law that the "carriers were each responsible
for the acts and defaults of their own servants...and that 'tertiary' boycotts to
isolate a single business from the facilities of commerce...(is) against the labor
policy of the United States." As the carriers had consciously withheld their services
from use by Wards, they were in violation of the law and, as such, "they should pay
for the natural and probable consequences of having failed their duty."
Inclusive date range: 1951 - 1953
Bulk date: 1951 - 1953
This collection consists of the briefs filed in 1951 by the plaintiffs, Montgomery
Ward, and the reply brief of the defendants, the Northern Pacific Terminal Company
of Oregon and other rail carriers as well as the opinion of Judge James Alger Fee,
who was the chief judge of the District Court of the United States for the District
of Oregon at the time of this filing. The suit filed by Montgomery Ward was an attempt
to gain recompense for damages suffered during a strike and secondary boycott that
began in December 1940. Judge Fee ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in June 1953.
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INFORMATION FOR USERS
Montgomery Ward and Company vs. Northern Pacific Terminal Company of Oregon Records
#5370. Kheel Center for Labor-Management Documentation and Archives, Cornell University
Library.
Names:
Montgomery Ward.
Northern Pacific Terminal Company of Oregon.
United States. District Court (Oregon)
International Brotherhood of Teamsters, Chauffeurs, Warehousemen, and Helpers of America
Subjects:
Arbitration, Industrial -- Oregon.
Strikes and lockouts -- Oregon.
CONTAINER LIST
|
Container
|
Description
|
Date
|
|
| Box 1 | Folder 1 |
Defendants' Brief
|
1951 |
|
Scope and Contents
Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc. (Plaintiff) vs. The Northern Pacific Terminal Company
of Oregon, et al., (Defendants). No. Civ. 1686. October 1951.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 2 |
Reply of the Rail Carrier Defendants
|
1951 |
|
Scope and Contents
Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc. (Plaintiff) vs. The Northern Pacific Terminal Company
of Oregon, et al., (Defendants). No. Civ. 1686. December 1951.
|
|||
| Box 1 | Folder 3 |
Opinion of the Judge, James Alger Fee
|
1953 |
|
Scope and Contents
Montgomery Ward & Co., Inc. (Plaintiff) vs. The Northern Pacific Terminal Company
of Oregon, et al., (Defendants). No. Civ. 1686. June 1953.
|
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