A coal shortage resulting from failed contract negotiations between mine operators and the United Mine Workers (UMW) led President Harry S Truman to declare an emergency, seize the mines, and order the miners back to work. When the union miners refused to work, the government got an injunction against further strikes. When the union members still did not work, the federal court fined the UMW $3.5 million and its president, John Lewis, $10,000. The union claimed the 1932 Norris-LaGuardia ActNorris-LaGuardia Act prohibited the federal courts from issuing injunctions, and the government claimed the 1942 War Labor Disputes Act took precedence when the president declared an emergency. By a 7-2 vote, the Supreme Court found that the 1932 Norris-LaGuardia Act did not apply when the government was in effect the employer. Chief Justice Fred M. VinsonVinson, Fred M.;United Mine Workers, United States v.[United Mine Workers, United States v.] wrote the majority opinion, with Justices Felix Frankfurter and Robert H. Jackson concurring only in the judgment. Justices Hugo L. Black and William O. Douglas concurred in part but dissented in part from the majority decision. Justices Frank Murphy and Wiley B. Rutledge, Jr., dissented. The controversy led Congress to pass the 1947 Taft-Hartley Act curbing labor union powers.Labor;United Mine Workers, United States v.[United Mine Workers, United States v.]Injunctions and equitable remedies;United Mine Workers, United States v.[United Mine Workers, United States v.]

Injunctions and equitable remedies

Labor

Presidential powers