Northern California Newspaper Organizing Committee v. Solano Associates

We hold that a state court has jurisdiction to adjudicate whether a labor union has the right under the California Constitution to distribute literature concerning a labor dispute subject to the National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) ( 29 U.S.C. § 1 et seq.) in a private shopping mall not involved in the labor dispute.

I

Facts

Respondents are Northern California Newspaper Committee, a labor union (Union), and Peter Rockwell, a Union representative. In 1984, Union was certified by the National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) as the exclusive bargaining representative of the employees of the Daily Republic, a local newspaper in Fairfield. Following certification, Union requested that the Daily Republic bargain with Union for a first contract, but the newspaper refused to do so. In response, Union filed a charge with the NLRB complaining that the Daily Republic had committed an unfair labor practice by refusing to bargain. The NLRB rendered a decision ruling that the Daily Republic had committed an unfair labor practice and ordered the newspaper to negotiate with Union. The Daily Republic, in turn, filed a petition to set aside the NLRB ruling.

Concurrently with these…