Note:
Neil S. Manne, The Role of State Courts in Labor-Related Access Disputes, 57 Texas L. Rev. 131 (1978).
 

Abstract:
The “Garmon rule” of labor law, which divests state courts of their jurisdiction in matters subject to the National Labor Relations Act, has operated, subject to certain narrow exceptions, to keep state courts out of labor disputes for the past two decades. The preemption rule implements a desire for uniform interpretation and application of labor law and reflects a fear of state courts’ hostility to union activity. The thrust of the Garmon rule, then, is non-cooperative; the National Labor Relations Board has exclusive primary jurisdiction. The United States Supreme Court, in Sears Roebuck & Co. v. San Diego County District Council of Carpenters, broke with the Garmon rationale. The court endorsed a cooperative state-federal approach to the problem of providing adequate remedies in a particularly troublesome area of labor law: conflicts over the right of non-employees to engage in section 7 activity on an employer’s private property. This Note argues that, contrary to the Court’s intent, the role created for state courts is a major one, and that state courts will, therefore, have a significant impact on labor disputes.